In facing the music from his coaches, team and media, Teddy Bridgewater owned up to his 'unacceptable' moment

Teddy Bridgewater didn’t have to answer questions on Monday.

Quarterbacks rarely do, even with a bye week approaching. Usually, in the wake of a Sunday game and subsequent press conference, you don’t hear from passers again until the following Wednesday.

So when it was announced by a member of the Broncos’ public-relations staff that Bridgewater would be answering questions, it came as a mild surprise. But this was crisis mode – the furor over Bridgewater’s decision to not be any kind of obstruction to Eagles cornerback Darius Slay as he sprinted 82 yards with Melvin Gordon’s fumble.

“When you slow it down with the clicker and the remote in your hand, it’s just like, ‘Man, this is bad,’” Bridgewater said.

Yes, Gordon’s second fumble in his last 34 touches was the root cause of the Broncos’ misery. But Bridgewater’s step into and back from contact was the slow-motion replay that launched an exponential tally of frustrated epithets into the local and national media universe, not to mention the social-media sphere — and even from former NFL players.

Some of the critiques were pointed, like this one from former Broncos cornerback Ray Crockett:

Bridgewater, I’m sorry you couldn’t play for me doing that BS!💯💯I know you are a quarterback but save the freakin play so we can live another day🤷🏾‍♂️😡

— Ray Crockett (@SlickPickSix39) November 14, 2021

The moment called for damage control.

It also called for accountability. That came in the form of Bridgewater talking to teammates, being called out by coach Vic Fangio in the team-wide gathering Monday and — finally — by sitting down in front of a camera to absorb a fusillade of pointed questions.

“I’m right there,” Bridgewater said. “It’s an opportunity to just dive, sacrifice, do whatever I can to help the team in that moment. I failed, and I own up to it. It’s unacceptable as a football player, as a member of this team.

That’s one of those moments where I’ve just got to accept the fact that I didn’t give everything I had in me on that play,” he added, “and I understand that there’s going to be some backlash that comes with it, and I’m a grown man, I’m a professional athlete, and I understand that’s what comes with it. But it doesn’t define who we are as a football team; it doesn’t define me as a man and as a football player.”

Bridgewater knows that he cannot undo his decision Sunday.

But he can try to move past it and make amends.

“Honestly, you replay the whole game in your mind,” Bridgewater said, “and then you come to work [Monday] and guys are giving you their thoughts on it, and honestly, it’s just like, ‘Hey, we’re all aware of what happened, let’s just address it, put it behind and move forward.’”

What Bridgewater did Monday before he and the Broncos scatter for the bye was only a first step. But it was a necessary one.

If he is to rebuild the confidence that was lost in him, it started by doing what he did Monday: admitting that he could have done more.