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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The three-year apprenticeship Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers served before taking over the starting job from Brett Favre -- and the tumultuous circumstances in which Rodgers eventually succeeded Favre -- is a key piece of the quarterback's story that now looks like an anachronism. Of the quarterbacks taken in the first round since the Packers selected Rodgers in 2005, only Brady Quinn went two years without starting at least 10 games in a season, and young QBs like Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck led their teams to the playoffs as rookies. The Minnesota Vikings had initially planned to take a more cautious approach with Teddy Bridgewater -- at least at the beginning of the season -- until Matt Cassel's broken foot made Bridgewater the starter by Week 4. Now, after an electrifying debut as a starter on Sunday, Bridgewater is trying to return from a sprained ankle in time for his first prime-time game against Rodgers at Lambeau Field Thursday night. Would Rodgers have been ready, had he been put in the same situation as a rookie? "Definitely not as prepared as the guys are now," Rodgers said Tuesday. "The guys coming out now are a lot more prepared than maybe myself and Alex Smith and Jason Campbell, the three guys who went in the first round in 2005. We’re all still in the league and still playing, but definitely, you look at some of the guys who have been starting the past few years, they’re a lot more prepared. "I think the coaching at the high school level and the college level, the exposure guys are able to get, makes them a little more prepared. The schemes they're running in college gives quarterbacks the freedom to read and do more things at the line of scrimmage. Obviously, we've seen some guys step in the last few years and really play well in their first, second and third years." Bridgewater had plenty of responsibility in his offense at Louisville, and it was that experience that led many analysts to call him the most NFL-ready quarterback in this year's draft class. He's won rave reviews from Vikings coaches about his ability to understand the team's offense, to the point where coach Mike Zimmer said Tuesday that Bridgewater is able to get ready for Thursday's game without the luxury of many practice snaps. "He is pretty mentally sharp on all of his stuff," Zimmer said. "He was out here today at the walk-through. He’s fine mentally. He’s good." That's an assessment usually reserved for veteran quarterbacks. And while there are certainly more nuances Bridgewater will have to learn, there's little doubt he's appeared comfortable in the Vikings' offense so far. That preparedness has made one of the game's great quarterbacks take notice.
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