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With all the Sam Darnold excitement, it would be easy to forget about the low risk-high reward Teddy Bridgewater signing. After missing two years through a gruesome knee injury, Jets GM Mike Maccagnan snagged Bridgewater on an incentive laden one year contract.
Bridgewater is just 25 years old and looked to be on his way to a successful NFL career before the injury, after having it derailed and with the Vikings moving on in the form of Kirk Cousins, the former Louisville star is looking to restart his career with the Jets:
Speaking to the Courier Journal:
I’m very excited about moving forward and this opportunity I have, This team, they’re putting all the pieces together to have something special. I look at it as a second opportunity. Sometimes things don’t come around twice. I’m appreciative to get that.”
“Going through my injury, I learned that I’m human,” Bridgewater said. “As crazy as it sounds, I always used to ask myself, ‘Man, I’m not fazed by this.’ But I found out I’m human. I have emotions. The plan you have for yourself may not be the plan God has for you. ... You get to find out who you really are.”
Having worked through the injury, and having missed nearly two years of action, it’ll be a battle for Teddy to secure a roster position. The Jets QB room looks pretty cramped at the moment with rookie Sam Darnold, veteran Josh McCown and mystery man Christian Hackenberg.
The Jets are taking the best course of action by keeping all four in play, especially considering the fact that Todd Bowles recently specified that Teddy may not be 100% ready come the end of May and the start of OTA’s. With everything considered, if I’m the Jets, I keep the best players. If Teddy clearly outplays Hackenberg, then you keep Teddy. You don’t cut him free because there’s only space for one “veteran” on the team. Anything can happen during a 16 game schedule, especially when you’re relying on a rookie, a 39 year old QB and a guy who’s been in the league for 2 years and never seen an NFL field.