National Football League

Vikings' Bridgewater officially inactive, Ponder to start vs. Packers

Published Oct. 2, 2014 5:00 p.m. ET

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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Teddy Bridgewater's first NFL start proved no trouble for the talented rookie out of Louisville. Returning from a sprained ankle on a short week was more difficult.

Bridgewater will miss the Minnesota Vikings' Thursday night game at Green Bay after spraining his left ankle in last week's win against the Atlanta Falcons. Bridgewater is officially inactive for Thursday's game while Minnesota promoted quarterback Chandler Harnish from the practice squad to compensate a few hours before facing the Packers.

Christian Ponder will start for the Vikings against the Packers with Harnish as the backup.

Bridgewater, the final pick of the first round in the NFL Draft in May, was 19-of-30 passing for 317 yards in a win against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. He didn't commit a turnover and scored his first NFL touchdown on a 13-yard scramble. But he missed the final 10 minutes after spraining his left ankle on a run.

Bridgewater missed practice Monday and Tuesday and was limited in Wednesday's walkthrough.

"You have to have a few scenarios ready if he can't go," coach Mike Zimmer said on Sirius XM radio on Wednesday. "It's a long season, so we don't want to put him at risk."

Ponder will be the third Minnesota starting quarterback this season in five games. Bridgewater had replaced Matt Cassel, who started the first three games but is out the rest of the season with a broken foot.

In six games against Green Bay in his career, Ponder has completed 54.1 percent of his passes for 1,140 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions for a 76.6 quarterback rating. Minnesota has gone 1-4-1 in those games.

Last season, Ponder was 21 of 30 for 233 yards and one touchdown in a 26-all tie at Green Bay.

"I do feel pretty good," Ponder said on Tuesday. "I felt like I've paid attention during practice the whole time, taking a lot of mental reps. I feel like I'm pretty confident in what I' doing."

Ponder, of course, was Minnesota's previous first-round pick and hope to be a long-term answer at quarterback. But after three inconsistent and injury-plagued seasons, the Vikings drafted Bridgewater as the new franchise quarterback.

The Vikings decided to keep Ponder, who has played 37 career games, as an experienced third-stringer behind Cassel and Bridgewater in new coordinator Norv Turner's offense.

"I feel very comfortable in this offense," Ponder said. "I do feel like there's a lot of the mental game going on in this offense and I feel like that plays to my benefit.

Harnish, 26, was signed to the practice squad earlier this week. A seventh-round draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts in 2012 out of Northern Illinois, Harnish hasn't played in an NFL regular-season game. He was promoted over McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who has spent the past week on Minnesota's practice squad.

The Vikings released receiver Rodney Smith to make room on the 53-man roster for Harnish.

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