NFL Week 4’s Top Storylines: Quarterback questions
By Andrew Garda
Are Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles ready?
The Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars both had the same idea—let their rookies sit on the bench for a year and roll with their veteran options.
An injury to Matt Cassel foiled the Vikings’ plan while Chad Henne being….. well, Chad Henne messed it up for the Jaguars.
Both quarterbacks did reasonably well when they arrived mid-game for their respective teams, especially considering that as a backup neither player got more than a handful of reps with the starters the week before the game.
That’s not the case this week, as both players were poised to start this week. Bortles gets a tough San Diego Chargers defense while Bridgewater takes on an Atlanta Falcons team you can throw on (ranked No, 24 against the pass) but embarrassed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3.
These are rookies, so we expect to see the up and down play that comes with that. Bridgewater was poised and smart with the football last week, though he made a few poor throws. Bortles was aggressive under center which led to some big plays as well as two interceptions.
Will a week practicing full time with the starters help? Will Bortles and Bridgewater find a way to snag a victory this weekend?
It’s going to be fun to find out.