Tom Pelissero

USA TODAY Sports

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The questions and answers bounced rapidly between Sam Bradford and Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks coach Scott Turner on Thursday, walking off the practice field and into the weight room as they crammed in one last lesson before lunch.

Every second counts when you acquire a quarterback in early September to replace your injured starter, then try to accelerate a process that normally takes months to not only learn the offense, but get a feel for operating it and throwing to unfamiliar players. That’s why Bradford is getting in extra throws during special teams periods and after practice. That’s why he’s calling and texting Turner late into the night after another section of the game plan arrives on his iPad.

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It’d be a big upset if Bradford’s first start for the Vikings doesn’t come Sunday night against the rival Green Bay Packers. But this is bigger than one game. Bradford has to get prepared to play a season for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, and time isn’t on his side.

“As you’re learning the game plan, he’s also learning the foundation (of the offense),” Turner told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. “I would spend a lot of extra time with him explaining to him exactly what everything was in detail so he understood, ‘Hey, why do we call this this? What’s our read on this? What’s our drop on this?’ And then if you learn it by concept, it can carry over into different plays or different weeks or different formations with the same play.”

Normally, that’s ingrained going back to the early phases of the offseason program, as quarterbacks spend time in the classroom as well as on the field, throwing thousands of balls to different players in various settings. During the regular season, the Vikings only run approximately 40 plays in a team setting on Wednesdays and Thursdays and around 30 on Fridays.

Walkthroughs provide the visual, but not the timing. Throwing against air helps, but it’s nothing like working against a defense. So in Bradford’s situation, Turner acknowledges, “You’ve got to run the plays the way that they’re drawn up.” That's because there aren’t enough reps at this point for a quarterback to know that if he waits a split-second longer, a certain receiver is going to come open on a route they’ve practiced countless times.

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“Everyone’s aware of the nuances that we have in this offense,” tight end Kyle Rudolph said. “Not only knowing what a guy has on what play but trusting that that guy is going to win and be in the spot for you — that’s stuff that you develop over the course of years, and we’re trying to do it over a couple weeks.”

The Vikings felt they were building it with third-year pro Teddy Bridgewater, who brought his receivers to Florida for extra work in the offseason. But his major knee injury before the preseason finale triggered the decision to trade a first-round draft pick and change to the Philadelphia Eagles for Bradford, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft on Sept. 3.

Turner started that night with the basics — formations, cadence, etc. — and then moved straight to the game plan for the opener against the Tennessee Titans, since Bradford, 28, would be one injury away from ending up on the field.

“You don’t have to teach him every single thing,” said Turner. “If you’re not going to run it, why spend the time on it?”

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Shaun Hill, the veteran backup, played well enough for the Vikings to leave Tennessee with a 25-16 win. But they didn’t score an offensive touchdown, and the run game struggled as the Titans predictably stacked the box to stop star tailback Adrian Peterson, knowing Hill’s limitations in downfield passing — two of the reasons to believe Bradford will start in Week 2, even though head coach Mike Zimmer has refused to say so publicly.

This week, all the quarterbacks have been coming early for extra meetings, Turner said. They started at 7 a.m. Thursday, breaking down the Packers’ third-down defense, and Bradford’s work wasn’t expected to be done until well into the evening, after coaches had finalized the red-zone plan they’ll practice Friday.

“To his credit, too, he’s a really smart guy and he’s caught on fast,” said Turner, a former college quarterback and the son of Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner, while praising Bradford.

“He’s spent the extra time. You can tell he’s constantly looking at it even when he’s not here. And you listen to him call the plays — you’d think he’d been here forever.”

It still hasn’t been that long, though, even for a quarterback who has grown as accustomed to changing systems as Bradford over six injury-riddled seasons in St. Louis and Philadelphia.

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“Probably where I learned the most was last week on the practice field,” Bradford said Wednesday, “just getting live reps, getting out there, running the plays, calling it in the huddle, getting to the line, going through the calls, hearing the communication.”

By Sunday, Bradford will have had all of 15 days to work on that. But the process will continue far beyond that.

“There’s a fine line, because you want to give him as much information as possible, but you don’t want to overwhelm him, either. He’s got to be able to function,” Turner said.

“We could have a million great ideas, but if he can’t run them, it doesn’t matter.”

Tom's top 10

(Last week’s ranking in parentheses)

1. (1) Seattle Seahawks: Earl Thomas’ off game aside, the defense was in midseason form vs. Dolphins.

2. (2) New England Patriots: Beating Arizona said a lot. Now, three straight at home before Brady’s back.

3. (4) Pittsburgh Steelers: They hung 38 on Washington with Le’Veon Bell suspended. So potent.

4. (5) Green Bay Packers: No one's better than Aaron Rodgers, but having Jordy Nelson back helps.

5. (6) Denver Broncos: Don’t overlook the impact a healthy C.J. Anderson makes for that offense.

6. (3) Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton will be fine. Young cornerbacks need to grow up quickly.

7. (8) Cincinnati Bengals: After eating up Darrelle Revis, is A.J. Green headed for a career year?

8. (7) Arizona Cardinals: The sky isn’t falling. But they should be better than they were in the opener.

9. (9) Oakland Raiders: Rousing win at New Orleans covered up uninspiring debut for new-look D.

10. (10) Minnesota Vikings: Run game struggled in opener last year, too. O-line needs time to jell.

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Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero

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