Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater returned to practice Wednesday after a 14-month absence, and head coach Mike Zimmer sought to temper expectations.

But that wasn’t the case with Minnesota players. Several lauded how Bridgewater performed, including tight end Kyle Rudolph comparing him to hall of fame quarterback Joe Montana.

Bridgewater was back after having suffered a torn left ACL and dislocated knee in the final preseason practice on Aug. 30, 2016. During the 20 minutes of the session that were open to the media, Bridgewater threw a few short passes and did some general warm-up work.

“We still don’t know where it’s going to go, where that’s going to lead to,” Zimmer said before the practice. “But I think everybody feels good for him because they know what kind of kid he is and how hard he’s worked.

“He’s probably not going to play this week, so we need to put the brakes on things a little bit.”

The Vikings face Baltimore on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, with the likely starting quarterback again being Case Keenum. Sam Bradford, who has missed four of the past five games with a knee injury, did not practice Wednesday and Zimmer would not speculate on his status.

Bridgewater was placed on the physically unable to perform list at the start of the season, and was able to practice Wednesday for the first time with six weeks having passed. The Vikings have three weeks to decide whether to restore Bridgewater to the 53-man roster or place him on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

Bridgewater was unavailable for comment after the practice, but is scheduled to speak with the media Thursday. Players said afterward that Bridgewater went through the workout without any apparent limitations.

“He was getting some reps with the first team,’’ said backup quarterback Kyle Sloter. “It looks like they’re trying to get him ready to play. Case is the guy right now, he’s been playing well… But I thought (Bridgewater) looked great.’’

Sloter hardly was alone in his praise.

“I thought he looked like Joe Montana,’’ said tight end Kyle Rudolph. “He was excited. He was smiling, bringing energy to practice.’’

Perhaps Rudolph was exaggerating, but he did make the Montana reference twice. Other players simply said the quarterback looked like the old Bridgewater.

“He’s the same old Teddy,’’ said wide receiver Adam Thielen. “It was fun to have him out there…. He was out there slinging it around.’’

Running back Jerick McKinnon admitted being surprised at how well Bridgewater performed after being out so long.

“He looked good,’’ McKinnon said. “Just to see him go through that whole stage, the process of rehabbing, working through the kinks, and to come out here the first day and just be him and do him is something remarkable to see.’’

Bridgewater wore a knee brace during the workout. Zimmer said the most important thing during practices will be how well Bridgewater can elude pass rushers.

“Protect himself,’’ Zimmer said. “Move out of the way, move away from the defender when he comes free.”

As for Wednesday, McKinnon said Bridgewater “moved good.’’ Sloter agreed.

“He looked like a normal person moving around out there,’’ Sloter said. “It didn’t look like there were any glaring issues, no limp or anything like that.’’

Thielen said Bridgewater’s comeback has been helped by remaining with the team, including attending all meetings since spring drills.

“The most impressive thing for me this whole time has been the way he’s reacted to being in all the meetings and seeing the film after practices and trying to coach us up,’’ Thielen said.

Thielen said Bridgewater critiques his route running, which he likes. Keenum says Bridgewater provides him with plenty of advice.

“I lean on him quite a bit,’’ Keenum said. “It’s little intricacies of the offense, maybe how to talk to a receiver, how to read a certain defense.’’

Now, what many want to know is when Bridgewater might challenge to take over his old starting job. That’s what Zimmer is trying to temper.

“The fans, the media and everybody is so excited about Teddy being back, but he’s still got a ways to go,” Zimmer said. “So, we need to just remember (it’s) still a work in progress. If and when the time comes, we’ll get him in there and we’ll go, but for right now it’s business as usual.”