Vikings QB Matt Cassel was ruled out early in the second quarter of Sunday's 20-9 loss to the New Orleans Saints after suffering a toe injury.

Cassel was quickly carted to the locker room for tests. After the game, head coach Mike Zimmer said that Cassel had "several fractured bones" in his foot.

Zimmer confirmed that rookie Teddy Bridgewater will start for the foreseeable future. Bridgewater did well in his debut and didn't turn the ball over. He'll bring a new, much-needed element to the Vikings offense to hopefully pair up for WR Cordarrelle Patterson. He could have some value in certain matchups either as a QB2 or in a committee.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said he won't be quick to replace Matt Cassel with Teddy Bridgewater.

"We throw an interception the first play of the game, I'm not going to yank him," Zimmer said.

Whoever is under center will enjoy a plethora of weapons, including Cordarrelle Patterson, Greg Jennings and Kyle Rudolph, and there are even rumblings that Adrian Peterson will be more involved in the passing game this season.

Matt Cassel is the Minnesota Vikings’ starting quarterback.

The team was informed at a meeting this morning that Cassel will start, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reports.

Teddy Bridgewater will likely be the No. 2 quarterback, while Christian Ponder is third string. Barring something unforeseen, this will be the first time since 2007 that no rookie quarterbacks have started in Week 1. That was the year JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn were the first-round quarterbacks.

The move comes as no surprise as Cassel did nothing wrong to give up the job. Bridgewater is the quarterback of the future in Minnesota and probably presents more fantasy upside but right now the Vikes have a better chance to win with Cassel. However, Bridgewater could find himself under center if the Vikings struggle at any point this season. For the time being, Cassel could post QB2-type numbers given a capable coordinator (Norv Turner) and a nice set of weapons around him.

QB Teddy Bridgewater rallied the Vikings to two late scores in last Saturday’s comeback win against the Cardinals, but those heroics haven’t changed the look of the team’s quarterback depth chart.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Monday, via Ben Goessling of ESPN.com, that Matt Cassel will remain the team’s starter for the team’s preseason game next Satuday against the Chiefs.

Bridgewater may get a chance to make one last case to keep Zimmer from making a final decision. The coach said Saturday that Bridgewater could get time with the first team against Kansas City and repeated that on Monday, but everything the Vikings are doing makes it seem that they want to go with the veteran for at least the short term.

With the third preseason game usually serving as a dress rehearsal for the regular season, it would seem that Cassel is destined to start in St. Louis come September 7. Cassel hasn't done anything to lose the job and seems to be picking up Norv Turner's offense. What he'll likely have to do is win or we could end up seeing Bridgewater at some point this season. There probably won't be a ton of fantasy interest in Cassel in typical leagues, but he could serve as a committee starter in certain matchups.

Greg Jennings may not be quite as quick as he once was. Maybe he’s not as fast. But you can’t tell. The veteran receiver is polished, has as good a set of hands as you’ll see in this League, is a GREAT leader, and is always open. What more could you ask for from a veteran receiver who presides over an otherwise very young group of pass catchers? Yes, Jennings still has it, and had one of the best training camps of any Viking. He also made one of the best training camp’s best plays just a few days ago.

Jennings dealt with some injuries in 2013 but he showed a nice rapport with Matt Cassel, averaging 5.9 catches for 70 yards and 0.57 TD with Cassel under center. Unfortunately Christian Ponder and Josh Freeman dragged the Vikings FP/Att into the bottom seven in the league. Assuming Cassel or promising rookie Teddy Bridgewater can offer better efficiency, Jennings should bounce back as most fantasy eyes are set squarely on Cordarrelle Patterson. For what it’s worth, Cassel’s FP/Att was 0.971, which was very close to the league average. Jennings is going in the 13th round even though he finished as the #39 WR in 2013.

Coach Mike Zimmer clearly is content with the way Matt Cassel is playing, saying, “I hope Matt continues to do what he’s been doing.”

As for Teddy Bridgewater, Zimmer is practicing patience.

“He’s got so much going on in his mind right now that I just want him to play,” Zimmer said. “That’s what I told him [Wednesday], and that’s what I’m going to tell him before the ballgame. Just go play. You’ve been doing this since you were 5 years old. Go play and have some fun. Throw the ball in there. If you make a mistake, we’ll fix it and go on.”

Apparently, Bridgewater has bought in.

“Basically, I have to stop overthinking,” he said. “I haven’t been pressing, but I have been overthinking.”

Cassel averaged around 240 yards, 1.5 TD and 1.2 INT in six starts last season, which equates to 244 fantasy points, which is about what Ryan Tannehill scored as fantasy football's #16 QB. If he's under center, he'll be usable in a streaming/QBBC strategy with Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Rudolph to throw to and a strong running game to lean on.

Vikings QB Matt Cassel entered camp No. 1 on the depth chart, holding a narrow lead over rookie Teddy Bridgewater. But the gap has widened, and a strong showing in Saturday's preseason game against the Cardinals at TCF Bank Stadium could end the debate weeks ahead of the Sept. 7 opener at St. Louis.

Cassel looked good while playing just the first series in last week's preseason opener against Oakland. He completed 5 of 6 passes for 62 yards on the Vikings' only touchdown drive of a 10-6 win.

Cassel averaged around 240 yards, 1.5 TD and 1.2 INT in six starts last season, which equates to 244 fantasy points, which is about what Ryan Tannehill scored as fantasy football's #16 QB. If he's under center, he'll be usable in a streaming/QBBC strategy with Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Rudolph to throw to and a strong running game to lean on.

Vikings QB Matt Cassel didn’t do much to inspire in the Vikings’ opener, but Teddy Bridgewater didn’t do enough to make the Vikings change plans.

So according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Vikings are going to stick with Cassel this week, before deciding whether to give Bridgewater any work with the ones beyond that.

“We’ll see after this week,” Zimmer said of Bridgewater getting a chance with starters. “I don’t know.”

Cassel completed 5-of-6 passes for 62 yards against the Raiders in his one series. Bridgewater was 6-of-13 passes for 49 yards, taking a pair of sacks. If Bridgewater can clean some things up, it’s hard to imagine them not giving him a shot, as he gives them their best chance for stability at the position in decades, the story points out. We think so too, ranking him 26th on our list.