Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was expected to spend Sunday night at a Denver hospital after sustaining a head injury in Sunday’s 15-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Bridgewater hit the side of his head on the turf while scrambling for a first down with 5:47 remaining in the third quarter.
“Everything has checked out good up to this point,” coach Vic Fangio said after the game. “They’re going to keep him overnight for observation, but they do think he will be and should be fine.”
On the play, Bridgewater left his feet to avoid Bengals linebacker Joe Bachie and as he was nearing the turf he was hit by defensive tackle B.J. Hill, which likely made the impact of hitting the turf more severe. He was instantly motionless.
The Broncos’ trainers rolled Bridgewater to his back and stabilized his neck area, removing his face-mask. A back-board was slid under him, all of his extremities were secured and he was carted off the field to an ambulance.
“Itap really tough (to see),” tight end Albert Okwuegbunam said. “You don’t want to see anybody have that kind of injury. It was a big blow.”
Said outside linebacker Bradley Chubb: “Itap scary because you saw it earlier in the week when (Los Angeles Chargers tight end Donald Parham) hit his head (on the turf). You see Teddy lying there and you wish for the best at the time and when you see him turn over and move his hands a little bit, you know he’s OK. But itap still traumatic to see our leader go down.”
Drew Lock made his third relief appearance of the season and capped the drive Bridgewater started with a 25-yard touchdown pass to receiver Tim Patrick to give the Broncos a 10-9 lead.
Safety Justin Simmons said Fangio gave the locker room an update on Bridgewater’s health immediately following the game.
“We’re going to support Drew 100% and Brett (Rypien) 100% and we can win games,” Simmons said. “It just stinks because you know how much Teddy puts into this.”
If Bridgewater is diagnosed with a concussion, it will be his second of the season. He left the Week 4 loss to Baltimore early after absorbing a helmet-to-helmet hit but played seven days later at Pittsburgh.
