Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has been cleared to return to practice on Wednesday, coach Mike Zimmer said Monday.
Dr. Dan Cooper, the orthopedic specialist who performed the surgery on Bridgewater's dislocated left knee last year, examined him Monday and cleared him to begin practicing.
"It's great," Zimmer said. "He's worked extremely hard. Obviously not only him but the training staff, the doctors, [head strength and conditioning coach] Mark Uyeyama, all those guys have done a great job with him to try to rehab him and get him ready to practice. It's a great deal for Teddy and we'll take it one day at a time just like we did for the last 14 months."
Bridgewater injured his knee in practice on Aug. 30, 2016, and has been on the physically unable to perform list this season.
Bridgewater has been present in team meetings throughout the past 14 months. Zimmer said he is caught up on the playbook and receives the game script every week to run by himself.
"He'll be ready," Zimmer said. "Teddy's smart."
When Bridgewater practices, it opens a 21-day window for the Vikings to decide whether to promote him to the active roster or place him on injured reserve.
ESPN's Courtney Cronin contributed to this report.
