Report: Teddy Bridgewater Won't Play for Vikings vs. Browns in London Week 8

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will not play in Week 8 against the Cleveland Browns in London.

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, "As one source explained it, the Vikings and Bridgewater definitely don't want him to play next week in London, given the notoriously slippery surfaces of the soccer pitches that periodically transmogrify into gridirons. So he'll be back on the roster for Week 10, the first post-bye game to be played by the Vikings."

While Bridgewater may be on the roster come Week 10, it's less clear if he will be the team's starter at that time. Case Keenum has filled in admirably for Sam Bradford, throwing for 1,322 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 64.2 percent of his passes.

The Vikings are 4-2 in his six appearances. 

And then there's Bradford, who is dealing with a knee injury. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer believes Bradford will return this season, according to ESPN.com.

That means the Vikings could, at some point, have all three quarterbacks healthy, leading to a fascinating quarterback controversy. There's Bridgewater, once thought to be the future of the position for the franchise, who will return after missing a season-and-a-half. There's Bradford, who was solid for the team after Bridgewater's devastating knee injury in Aug. 2015. And there's Keenum, who has played well this year in Bradford's absence.

Bridgewater is still likely the future of the position. But it's fair to question if the Vikings will throw him into the mix in the middle of the season and allow him to shake off the rust amid a playoff push. In the short term, sticking with a hot hand in Keenum or a veteran like Bradford this season—and allowing Bridgewater a full offseason to re-acclimate himself to football before making him the starter next year—may be the most practical solution.

Or perhaps the Vikings will feel Bridgewater is such an upgrade over both Keenum and Bradford that reinserting him into the starting lineup is the logical move.  In the 2015 season, however, Bridgewater threw for 3,231 yards, 14 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 65.3 completion percentage. Solid numbers, but not the sort of production that suggests Bridgewater will be immune to rust or will be a dramatic improvement upon Keenum or Bradford.

Regardless of what they decide, how they handle the position going forward will be the biggest storyline surrounding them for the remainder of the 2017 campaign.

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