The biggest knock against Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was his deep ball accuracy.

Well, offensive coordinator Norv Turner said on Wednesday that he hasn’t seen that as a weakness from the rookie.

“I knew he’d make great decisions, quick decisions, but he has been outstanding throwing the deep ball, which some people thought would be an issue.

“I think in the six-to-eight weeks we’ve had him on the field, I think he’s been put in a position where’s he’s had to make most of the throws he would have to make. I think he can make all the throws he needs to make.”

Bridgewater has the best chance of his rookie class to post decent (low- to midrange-QB2) numbers. The team has already said that they’d like him to win the job, so we have him penciled in as the starter at this point in the offseason. Norv Turner is a capable play-caller, and Bridgewater will have no shortage of weapons at his disposal in Minnesota. Adrian Peterson will be the focus of the defense, so Bridgewater can pick his spots and deliver the ball to Cordarrelle Patterson, Greg Jennings and Kyle Rudolph.

Michael Rand of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says that the Vikings QB situation is settled. "Unless (Matt Cassel) is hurt or (Teddy Bridgewater) absolutely blows the Vikings away, Cassel will be the starter when the season opens, Bridgewater will be his understudy and his backup, and (Christian Ponder) in the final year of his rookie contract will hold a clipboard and only see the field in case of an emergency. That's how it should be, and that's how it will be no matter what the coach says right now. You can bank on that."

Rand speaks as if he knows something we don't, though we doubt that the Vikings would continue to start Cassel if Bridgewater plays well enough to make a close contest. OC Norv Turner did try to acquire Cassel when he was in Cleveland, so he is a fan of the journeyman quarterback.

Vikings QB Matt Cassel received the majority of the first team reps during OTAs over Teddy Bridgewater and Christian Ponder. We’ve seen a slight increase in first team reps for Bridgewater during the final week of OTAs. Nothing dramatic to draw any conclusions, and Cassel will probably continue to receive the majority of the first team reps during minicamp, but it’ll be interesting to see if Bridgewater’s first team reps continue to gradually increase. The Vikings clearly don't plan to rush Bridgewater into an immediate starting quarterback, but he has looked good so far.

Bridgewater has the best chance of his rookie class to post decent (low- to midrange-QB2) numbers. The team has already said that they’d like him to win the job, so we have him penciled in as the starter at this point in the offseason. Norv Turner is a capable play-caller, and Bridgewater will have no shortage of weapons at his disposal in Minnesota. Adrian Peterson will be the focus of the defense, so Bridgewater can pick his spots and deliver the ball to Cordarrelle Patterson, Greg Jennings and Kyle Rudolph.

Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater met OC Norv Turner for the first time earlier this year, but it hasn't taken long for the Vikings rookie quarterback to gain the ultimate appreciation for his offensive coordinator.

"He's one of the best coaches in the game right now, an offensive mastermind," Bridgewater said.

Bridgewater said he met Turner "multiple times" when the first-year Vikings coordinator was looking at quarterbacks they might pick in last month's NFL Draft. Perhaps the most significant time was April 12 in Bridgewater's native South Florida.

Bridgewater has now had more than a month to work with Turner, and he described their relationship as "pretty unique."

"It started back in the pre-draft process," Bridgewater said. "He would come multiple times. He's a great coach. It's somebody who wants the best out of every quarterback on the roster. The relationship we have right now is just a great relationship."

We're expecting Bridgewater to start Week 1, but he'll have to beat out the capable Matt Cassel for the honor.

"We'll see how it plays out once it goes to training camp," Vikings QB Christian Ponder said via the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "but obviously there's an agenda to try to get (Teddy Bridgewater) ready, and (Matt Cassel) is the starter right now."

Although Cassel will enter camp atop the depth chart, the Vikings hope Bridgewater can close the gap by the end of the preseason action.

Vikings QB battle update: After both Matt Cassel and Teddy Bridgewater looked sharp in last week's open OTA, each of them had a rougher day on Wednesday. Cassel had his final throw batted down in 11-on-11 work, and Bridgewater was intercepted by Dom DeCicco on a pass over the middle. The rookie also was sacked a couple times during a blitz drill, and missed three of his four throws. The Vikings' defense was using a number of different looks on Wednesday, though, and it seemed clear that the offense was trying to digest a number of new concepts while facing a more nuanced defense. Days like Wednesday are part of the growing pains in a new system. Christian Ponder didn't get as much work as Cassel or Bridgewater, but he actually made some nice throws, hitting Jarius Wright on a throw over the middle in a receiver-vs.-cornerback drill and connecting with Kain Colter on a long pass off a broken play during a two-minute drill.

Had play-caller Norv Turner had his way last season in Cleveland, the team would have made a deal for Matt Cassel.

"I think that would have been, at the time, a good move for us," said Turner. "I gave my evaluation (for the Browns to sign him). I thought he would have fit. ... Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't."

Now serving as coordinator for the Vikings, Turner has found his way to Cassel, who opted to re-sign with Minnesota largely because of Norv's reputation as a quarterback whisperer.

The important takeaway here is that Turner likes Cassel, and that makes it more likely that he'll win the QB1 job if Teddy Bridgewater isn't ready to start. We still feel like Bridgewater will start Week 1, but wouldn't be shocked if it's Cassel under center against the Rams.

Vikings beat writer Ben Gosseling on the team's QB play at practice:

Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who missed the Vikings' final two OTAs last week while he was attending a NFL rookie marketing event in Los Angeles, is back this week and was impressive in his first full-team work open to the media. He hit his first nine throws in 11-on-11 work, connecting with Adam Thielen on a long sideline pass against tight coverage on his first attempt of the day. Bridgewater also connected with Jarius Wright on a long corner throw during his two-minute drill, which ended with a rushing touchdown. "I thought Teddy did a nice job in the two-minute situation, hit a nice long ball there," coach Mike Zimmer said. "He left for those two days, he was a little rusty when he came back, and he's picked it up since then. He's kind of feeling his way a little bit around the guys, which will come in time. He'll keep progressing, getting more comfortable. I like him a lot."

Matt Cassel got the majority of the first-team snaps at quarterback, though Bridgewater had some in his two-minute drill. Cassel, by my count, was 8-for-9 in the Vikings' first 11-on-11 period, and hit four of his eight throws during the two-minute drill (though Kyle Rudolph was arguing for interference on one of the incompletions). Cassel found Wright for a touchdown on a red zone throw, and threw another touchdown on a broken play, though the play wouldn't have developed that way had a defense actually been coming after Cassel.

We're expecting Bridgewater to win the job, but he'll have to beat out Cassel who was reasonably solid in 2013.

As for Teddy Bridgewater and the other quarterbacks, it was a mixed bag. Bridgewater got some reps with a group of offensive players that included many of the present starters -- does that technically count as first-team reps? -- and only a few of passes touched the ground, including a throwaway. Matt Cassel, who got most of the snaps with first-teamers, was solid, too. Christian Ponder, meanwhile, did not get many snaps. And on one of those snaps in the two-minute drill at the end of practice, he locked onto his primary receiver at the snap and never took his eyes off of him as he threw a poor interception to cornerback Derek Cox. Remember, though, that this was just one day in early June.

We're expecting Bridgewater to win the starting job, but Cassel's experience makes him a tough guy to beat.

HC Mike Zimmer is leaving open the possibility that QB Teddy Bridgewater could start as a rookie...

“Teddy will play when we feel like he’s ready, if he’s the best guy, which we hope that he will be,” Zimmer said. “We always want to have competition.”

If he's indeed ready to play, Bridgewater is entering a good situation with a strong running game in Adrian Peterson, and several weapons in the passing game, namely Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Rudolph. He would be on the fantasy radar immediately as a low-end QB2.