Rudolph on Vikings’ loss of Bridgewater: ‘No one feels bad for us’

The shock has subsided. The reality has taken hold.

The Minnesota Vikings have come to grips with the fact Teddy Bridgewater is lost for the season to a severe knee injury in practice on Aug. 30. Now, they must go about the business of doing all they can to succeed with his replacement, Shaun Hill.

‘We have to move forward’

“We have to move forward as a team,” Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph told Alex Marvez and Bill Polian on Movin’ The Chains. “Although it’s extremely unfortunate what happened to Teddy and we feel awful for Teddy, no one feels bad for us as a team. The Tennessee Titans (Minnesota’s season-opening opponent) don’t care that we don’t have our starting quarterback. So we have to get ready for Week One and have all the confidence in the world in Shaun Hill, who actually played a little bit with us starters this preseason.

Shaun Hill ‘as good as it gets’

“Shaun’s as good as it gets. Shaun’s a guy that’s extremely experienced, been around a lot of teams and a lot of offenses. And he’s the ultimate professional in the way he goes about his business. It’s unbelievable when you have a guy as a backup quarterback. Obviously, everyone can’t be a leader at the starting quarterback role, but the way Shaun was able to be a leader, even while Teddy was around, guys just gravitate towards him and his experience.”

For Rudolph, Hill proved his readiness to take over the team two weeks ago, in a preseason game against Seattle.

‘Most talented’ Vikings team ‘I’ve been around’

“Shaun goes out there with the starters, us minus Adrian (Peterson) and the Seahawks minus Kam Chancellor, and we ended up going into the locker room with an 11-0 lead,” Rudolph said. “So I know I have all the confidence in the world in Shaun. I also have all the confidence in the world in everybody else in our locker room. This is definitely the most talented team I’ve been around in my time here in Minnesota.”

 

 

Philly mayor says NFL Draft brings ‘one of the large juggernauts of the economy’ to town

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the city anticipates a huge economic boost from the 2017 NFL Draft being staged in his city.

And he says it is a continuation of large entities finding Philadelphia an ideal spot to stage major events.

City on the upswing

“Philadelphia’s been on the upswing for a number of years now,” Kenney told Zig Fracassi and James Lofton on the SiriusXM Blitz. “We did the Pope (visit), which was a huge event, an international event. We had the (Democratic National Convention). We’ve got ‘Made in America’ this weekend, with Jay Z and Rihanna.

‘Done some nice, large events’

“We’ve done some really nice, large events and I think this is right up our alley. The iconic backdrop of the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Rocky steps, with the first-round draft picks and the rest of the picks I think will be really fun to see and the NFL, when they first saw the view down the parkway from the Art Museum, I think they were really sold.”

Kenney, a lifelong Eagles fan, is well aware of the city’s salty reputation when it comes to booing their hometown teams whether playing in Philadelphia or making unpopular choices, such as the selection of quarterback Donovan McNabb as the second overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft.

‘Philly fans will appreciate having Draft’

“I think that’s going to be different in April,” Kenney said. “With the excitement of the NFL Draft coming here, I think people will really appreciate the fact that the NFL is here. You have to remember, Pete Rozelle was a real genius. This is one of the large juggernauts of the economy in America, and we’re just happy they’re going to be spending some money here.”