Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater Cleared to Practice for the First Time in 14 Months

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is finally ready to return to the football field.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has announced that the fourth-year pro has finally been given the go signal to participate in practice by his surgeon, Dr. Dan Cooper, but he won't come off the physically unable to perform (PUP) list just yet.

"He's going to practice, but he has 21 days and he'll stay on the PUP list until he's ready to play," Zimmer said, via NFL.com. "We'll take it one day at a time just like we did for the last 14 months," he continued.

Bridgewater hasn't practiced since he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and dislocated his left knee in August 2016, and he hasn't played since the 2015 season.

News of his return couldn't come at a better time for the Vikings.

Right now, there just so much uncertainty surrounding Sam Bradford's surgically-repaired left knee. He's undergoing Regenokine treatments for his knee, but his status for the coming weeks remains questionable. Bridgewater will give the Vikings more depth at the quarterback position when he makes his return.

In the meantime, Case Keenum will continue to start at quarterback for the Vikings and he's not worried about potentially losing the job to Bridgewater or Bradford.

"I don't make anything of it. I'm playing quarterback, and I love to play quarterback," Keenum said, via 1500 ESPN. "There's a lot of externals in this business, and it's your job (in the media) to talk through every possibility in everything that goes on, but that's not my job, so I don't have to answer that question," he added.

Keenum has played well so far this season. He completed 24 of 38 passes for 239 yards in last Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers, and also recorded a touchdown.