Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater exited Sunday's win over the St. Louis Rams with a concussion. The injury came early in the fourth quarter with the second-year quarterback scrambling to gain some yards.
After giving himself up by taking sliding to the turf, Rams defensive back Lamarcus Joyner laid a tremendous blow to the shoulder and head area of Bridgewater — leaving the quarterback out cold for a bit:
Bridgewater did not return to action.
Following the game, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer didn't seem too pleased with the hit Joyner laid on his young quarterback:
"If we were out on the street, we would have had a fight," Zimmer said. "I do know that there's a history there with their defensive coordinator (Gregg Williams). I'll leave it at that."
Zimmer is pointing to Williams' tenure as the New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator during the entire BountyGate scandal a few years back.
It also appears that Zimmer had somewhat of an issue with Rams head coach Jeff Fisher following the game:
To make matters more interesting, Vikings offensive lineman Brandon Fusco didn't hold back in calling out the Rams following the close win:
"Some of the players on that team are pretty cheap to tell you the truth," Fusco said. "I kind of hope we play them again."
As it relates to Fisher, the Rams head coach indicated after the game that this wasn't the first time in league history that a quarterback was hit after giving himself up.
Unfortunately for Fisher and the Rams, the video of the play itself doesn't paint this as an accident in any way. It sure looks like Joyner was targeting the Vikings quarterback.
As it is, the NFL is going to look into the hit and make a determination after that.
Bridgewater seemed to be okay. He celebrated the win with the team after the game and went as far to say he could have returned to action.
The second-year quarterback will have to pass through the league's concussion protocol in order to play next week against the Oakland Raiders.
If not, Shaun Hill will get the start.