Vikings Quarterback Sam Bradford Will Practice This Week

The Vikings could have some extra depth at quarterback in the playoffs.

Quarterback Sam Bradford, who hasn’t played since Week 5, will return to practice this week. He was played on injured reserve on Nov. 8 after having arthroscopic knee surgery. He played exceptionally well in Minnesota’s Week 1 win over the Saints—completing 27 of 32 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns—but missed the next three games with what the team called a sore knee. He returned in Week 5 but re-injured the knee in the first half.

Head coach Mike Zimmer told reporters Monday that it’s too early to tell if Bradford will be activated from injured reserve during the postseason.

“I just want to see where he’s at, how he’s moving, things like that,” Zimmer said. “I hear he’s moving good. I hear he’s throwing the ball good. But that’s all I do is hear. We’ll just go about it and see how it goes.”

There is no sense of urgency for Bradford to take back over as quarterback, though, because the Vikings have excelled with Case Keenum under center. They scored the 10th most points in the NFL this season and Keenum was second in the league in completion percentage.

After Bradford had surgery and was placed on IR, Teddy Bridgewater was activated to be Keenum’s backup and saw limited action in Week 15, his first since a brutal 2016 knee injury.

Minnesota earned a first-round bye after going 13–3.