National Football League

Notebook: Bridgewater 'a lot better' as Vikings start short week

Published Sep. 29, 2014 5:00 p.m. ET

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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Mike Zimmer didn't go home Sunday night following the Minnesota Vikings' 41-28 win against the Atlanta Falcons, and Minnesota's head coach was already planning for another full night at the team facilities on Monday with a short week before Thursday's game at Green Bay.

Zimmer is game-planning and preparing for the Packers while hoping he has a full complement of players.

Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, off his team record-breaking first start, is dealing with an ankle injury. Linebacker Chad Greenway won't practice Monday and his status is uncertain after he had to miss Sunday's game with a broken rib and broken hand.

Zimmer confirmed that Bridgewater's magnetic resonance imaging test came back clean after Bridgewater was forced out of Sunday's win with a sprained left ankle. Bridgewater rolled his ankle on a fourth-quarter run near the goal line and missed the final 10 minutes of the win. X-rays taken on Sunday night didn't show any issues either.

"He's doing a lot better today," Zimmer said Monday. "So, we'll see."

Zimmer said he's "hopeful" Bridgewater will be able to play Thursday. Making his first NFL start on Sunday, Bridgewater was 19 of 30 for 317 yards passing and added a 13-yard touchdown run. Bridgewater didn't seem concerned after the game and said he could have returned "if needed."

"He's moving much better today," Zimmer said.

The short week is a concern as Minnesota readies to play Green Bay, though. Zimmer said the team didn't suffer any other injuries on Sunday.

"One of the big things is we've got to make sure that we get all of our bumps and bruises taken care of," Zimmer said. "I've got to be smart with the players. I've got to care of them, but we still have to prepare. I think seeing the looks that we need to see but obviously without banging people, and then getting them feeling like they're refreshed."

Greenway missed his first game since the 2006 season on Sunday. Greenway said the broken hand is manageable but the broken rib hasn't allowed him to return to the field.

"It's hard to measure without doing too much," Greenway said. "Obviously, just take it hour by hour and see how it feels."

Rudolph feeling better: Tight end Kyle Rudolph spoke with the media for the first time since undergoing sports hernia surgery by Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia last week.

Rudolph said Meyers repaired "both sides" of his abdominal muscles in the procedure. Rudolph and the team still believe he will come back within eight weeks, but haven't confirmed any timeframe for Rudolph's return to action.

"The only thing I can worry about is getting better," Rudolph said. "I know I'm better today than I was yesterday and I'm a lot better than I was earlier last week. So, just making sure that when they do give me the green light, I'm ready to go and I don't go out there and try to come back too early and mess this up again."

Rudolph said he had been dealing with an issue on his right side since early August and the opening week of training camp.

"It was something we thought we could manage," Rudolph said. "With these injuries, you know they're progressively going to get worse. But we tried everything we could to kind of make it week by week and it just got to the point where every Monday we were starting over again. Just get it fixed now so when November, December, January, I'm playing at a high level."

Rudolph said he's been able to get back on his feet and doesn't have to use crutches, stating he walked out after the surgery. He said it's the first time in his career he's had a core muscle injury.

Rudolph will likely miss about six weeks. He missed eight games last season because of a broken foot. Rudolph signed a five-year contract extension in the offseason and had slimmed down while hoping for a big role in coordinator Norv Turner's offense.

"If I was still playing on my old contract it would be tough because there was so much optimism coming into this season, and I was in such good shape and had felt the best that I ever felt physically," Rudolph said. "And then you have something like this to kind of set you back. But everything that I've heard from both the surgeon and everybody in the training room is I'll be right back to where I was, so that was encouraging."

Quarterback added: With Bridgewater's status uncertain for the week, Minnesota added quarterback Chandler Harnish to the practice squad and released wide receiver Donte Foster.

Harnish gives the team a third quarterback for practices if Bridgewater can't participate. McLeod Bethel-Thompson is also on the practice squad. Bridgewater and Christian Ponder are the only quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.

Harnish was a seventh-round draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts in 2012 out of Northern Illinois, where he played for University of Minnesota coach Jerry Kill. Harnish hasn't appeared in a regular season NFL game.

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