Less than 24 hours after the Packers lost Aaron Rodgers, possibly for the season, the Vikings appear to have some good news regarding their quarterback situation. While Sam Bradford continues to battle a knee injury, 2014 first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater, who has been sidelined for nearly 14 months with a serious knee injury of his own, looks like he got medical clearance to start practicing this week.

There has been no official statement yet but those two words offer some encouragement. ESPN's Chris Mortenson reports that Bridgewater has been cleared to return to practice Wednesday after being examined Monday in Dallas by the orthopedic specialist who performed the major surgery on the dislocation.

Bridgewater dislocated his left knee and tore his ACL during an August 2016 training-camp practice and the injury required a multi-ligament reconstruction. He was set to meet with Dallas-based physician Dr. Dan Cooper on Monday, and the expectation was that he would be able to return to the practice field in some capacity in the next week or so. Once that happens, the Vikings would have 21 days to determine if Bridgewater is healthy enough to come off the Physically Unable to Perform list and join the 53-man roster or if he'll end the season on injured reserve.

Bridgewater started 16 games in 2015 and helped the Vikings to an 11-5 record and the playoffs. The team went 8-8 last season with Bradford, and is 4-2 in 2017 with Bradford starting two games and Case Keenum making five appearances. Who knows when Bridgewater will see game action again but the fact that he's on the road to recovery is welcome news. Just ask Twitter.