Bradford 'got the work he needed,' but does that mean he is 'ready'?
Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur's comments that Sam Bradford got "the work he needed" after Friday's practice are pretty encouraging – but could they also be revealing?
It's been a whirlwind of mystery for Vikings fans regarding their starting quarterback since Sam Bradford showed up on the injury report following Minnesota's week-one win over New Orleans.
Bradford has not seen the field since that game, and there hasn't been a date set for his return.
Thursday, it didn't seem like Bradford had much of a chance to start.
Case Keenum spoke to the media (a task normally relegated to the team's starting quarterback in a given week), which suggests he's likely to be under center again.
Also after Thursday's practice we learned Mike Zimmer indicate that Bradford will simply play when "he is ready." Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the Vikings starter.
Today, more grim news came out after color analyst Jon Gruden said he doesn't expect Bradford to be ready by the time the Vikings meet the Bears for his Monday Night Football call.
However, Pat Shurmur may have just gone against that Gruden notion with his comments out of Winter Park on Friday morning.
Is Shurmur's claim that Bradford "got the work he needed" the answer to Zimmer's premise that he will play "when he's ready"?
I'm not sure, but if someone gets "all the work they needed," by definition, aren't they technically "ready"?
Thus, if Zimmer was telling the truth that he will play when ready, Bradford should be back Monday.
If he does play, it appears it won't be without discomfort.
And Bradford himself threw this out there, via an interview with Pioneer Press reporter Brian Murphy:
So, will he play? Stay tuned for any official updates.
