Teddy has to be named the starter after the bye!

Even though he looked like the face of the franchise before his injury, Bridgewater's return doesn’t necessarily mean he will return to his job. Not because Sam Bradford, whom the Vikings gave up significant draft picks for in a trade with the Eagles, took his job. It’s because Keenum has played so well that it doesn’t make sense to remove him from the field.

Those very same things that made Bridgewater very valuable to the Vikings leading into the 2016 season are the exact same attributes that Keenum exudes when he is under center. Keenum produces very few mistakes. He makes his offensive line look better in both the run and the passing game because of his sneaky athleticism in and out of the pocket. He is accurate. He’s a gamer. He understands what type of team he has around him. He understands his role. His teammates love him. He doesn’t back down from the challenge.

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I asked Stefanski, who has been with the team in various coaching roles since 2006, what it's like to be in a room with so much uncertainty. Considering everything I’ve read and heard about both Keenum and Bridgewater, his view of the situation wasn’t surprising.

“It’s been impressive to watch Case go from a backup to a very solid starter in this league in only a few months,” Stefanski said.“He puts in as much time preparing for each game as any quarterback I’ve ever been around. He knows this is a tremendous opportunity for him, and he is taking advantage of it.”

If we place Bridgewater's statistics from 2015 side-by-side with Keenum's numbers this year, they are nearly identical. The biggest difference is Keenum's absurd ability to not get sacked, which stands at only 2 percent of his throws. That’s five sacks in 233 attempts. In contrast, Bridgewater was taken down while holding the ball nearly 10 percent of the time back in 2015.