AP

Teddy Bridgewater followed up a so-so performance in the preseason opener with a so-bad effort in practice.

But the Vikings are encouraged by the chances he’s taking, even if they end up in the hands of the defense.

Mike Zimmer obviously will change his tune about turnovers come the regular season, but said he wasn’t necessarily bothered by a three-interception day.

“Obviously we don’t want to throw interceptions in the red zone,” Zimmer said, via Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “That’s one of our core goals. But it happens. You know, like the DBs, I would always tell them that sometimes you’ve got to get beat in practice to find out how tight you can play them. If you never get beat in practice, you’re probably playing too far off of a guy. If you’re going to get beat, let’s get beat in practice. Let’s learn from what we do out here. And I think that is for everything position. This is where we learn.”

Coupled with a 6-of-13 passing night in the preseason game, Bridgewater’s had better weeks. But his coach said he’s not worried about confidence.

“His confidence is not shaken,” Zimmer said. “He’s fine.”

If he can push through some of his rookie jitters quickly, it would help. The Vikings seem content with starting Matt Cassel until Bridgewater’s ready, but the sooner that happens, the sooner they can make some real progress.