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Teddy Bridgewater needed only 12 days with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to make his case for a roster spot. What made his preseason breakout even more notable was his insistence that the credit belonged elsewhere. The veteran quarterback pointed to offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, who helped design a simplified game plan that Bridgewater could execute against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The result was a sharp debut in Tampa Bay’s 17-14 preseason victory that may have reshaped the team’s quarterback depth chart.
Bridgewater threw two first-quarter touchdown passes, finishing 6 of 11 for 85 yards while leading the Buccaneers to a 14-0 lead. He connected with running back Bucky Irving on a corner route for the opening score, then found rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka on a sliding grab in the back of the end zone.
“Earlier in the drive, it might have been the previous drive, they had a similar concept and I was telling (quarterbacks coach) Thad (Lewis), ‘I can throw this corner route, but I haven’t thrown corner routes to these guys so I don’t know the timing and their body language and everything like that,” Bridgewater said. “So I missed that opportunity, and I saw the opportunity came up again in man coverage, and I said, ‘You know what? I’m just going to throw it to a spot,’ and Emeka did a great job of winning versus the coverage that he had, going to the ground and making a great catch.”
Teddy Bridgewater has a special bond with Buccaneers OC Josh Grizzard
The 31-year-old last coached high school football in Miami before a short stint with Detroit late last season. Despite the layoff, he looked decisive in a Buccaneers uniform. His timing with receivers was not perfect, but he managed the offense with poise and showed why he has remained a valued veteran presence across multiple franchises.
Head coach Todd Bowles was noncommittal on whether Bridgewater has overtaken Kyle Trask as the primary backup to Baker Mayfield. Trask struggled in Pittsburgh, completing only 3 of 10 passes for 30 yards.
“We wanted to see (Bridgewater) play,” Bowles said. “We didn’t want to see him playing mop-up time. So we wanted to put him out there, take a look at him, and see where he is. He did a good job.”
The Buccaneers also leaned on their defense with three interceptions, including Antonio Grier’s 31-yard return that set up Chase McLaughlin’s game-winning field goal. But the story remained Bridgewater, whose composure and experience impressed teammates.
For now, the veteran insists his success belongs as much to Grizzard as to himself.
