Written by Tom Pelissero at USAToday.com
For a guy best known for his injury history when he arrived here 15 days ago, Sam Bradford sure earned a lot of points for not backing down from a beating in his Minnesota Vikings debut Sunday night.
“That dude is one tough (expletive),” Vikings guard Alex Boone told USA TODAY Sports after Bradford completed 22 of 31 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns (and officially took 10 hits) in a 17-14 triumph over the rival Green Bay Packers.
“There was a couple times he got hit – I thought he was dead. He wasn’t moving, so I had to pick him up. I’m like, ‘Sam, don’t be dead.’ Next play: bullet. You’re going, ‘Jesus, this guy’s a beast!’”
The Vikings needed that production and resiliency from their new quarterback on a night they again struggled to get star running back Adrian Peterson going before he was carried to the locker room in the third quarter with a right knee injury.
Bradford, 28, did go briefly to the locker room Sunday for an X-ray after taking a helmet to his left (non-throwing) hand on the Vikings’ first touchdown drive, causing nasty swelling from his wrist to his pinkie that was captured by NBC’s cameras.
“It was nice and fat,” tight end Kyle Rudolph said of Bradford’s hand. “But he’s gutsy. Just to stand in there and take hit after hit – it speaks volume of him as a player and a person.”
Equally impressive: Bradford outplayed two-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers with all of two weeks to learn Norv Turner’s offense and about a half-dozen practices under his belt, including three last week getting most of the reps after veteran backup Shaun Hill started the opener.
Coach Mike Zimmer said the plan was to get Bradford into that first game at Tennessee, because he didn’t think this – the first regular-season game at the new $1.1 billion U.S. Bank Stadium, not to mention one on national TV against a blitz-happy Packers defense – was the best atmosphere for the former No. 1 overall draft pick to make his Vikings debut.
But it didn’t seem to bother Bradford, who connected with Rudolph on an out for the first score (and took a hit from Clay Matthews) and Stefon Diggs on a post for the second (and took a hit from Mike Daniels). Perhaps Bradford’s best throw was a 44-yard strike on a deep crossing route to Diggs, who made a fingertip grab that helped set up a field goal before halftime.
“It’s unbelievable to have timing like that when we haven’t even been together for two full weeks,” Rudolph said.
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