Saints coach Sean Payton fully believes Teddy Bridgewater is a starting QB

In his first start with the New Orleans Saints, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater led the team to a bounce-back win over the Seattle Seahawks this past Sunday afternoon.

This saw Bridgewater play a big factor by leading the offensive charge in place of the injured Drew Brees. In light of that, head coach Sean Payton has voiced that he believes that the former Pro Bowler is more than just a backup, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports. (h/t John Sigler of Saints Wire)

“So he doesn’t think Teddy’s a backup quarterback, too,” Glazer said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, pointedly differentiating between’s Payton evaluation of Bridgewater and the Saints’ other backup quarterback, Taysom Hill. “He thinks Teddy’s a starting quarterback in this league.”

Although Bridgewater has been a backup for the last couple of years, it seems to be forgotten that he was once the starting quarterback for the Vikings. His time with the team was significantly impacted by a devastating knee injury that led to him nearly seeing his NFL career ending.

Bridgewater now has a chance to showcase that he can once again be a viable starting quarterback in the NFL. These next five starts in place of Brees will be his chance to prove that he can do just that with New Orleans.

With the confidence of the coaching staff behind him, he will have the opportunity to make the most of it. New Orleans has a stiff challenge ahead at home in Week 4 action against the surging Dallas Cowboys.