Teddy Bridgewater rolled right Taron Johnson Jersey , kept moving and then zipped a pass down the field on the run.

If his first practice of organized team activities with the New York Jets was a test of his health and confidence, the quarterback passed in a big way. And so did his surgically repaired left knee.

”It feels great,” a smiling Bridgewater said Tuesday.

Bridgewater missed most of the past two seasons after suffering a gruesome, career-threatening injury in August 2016 while with the Minnesota Vikings. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and dislocated the knee joint on a non-contact play that had many wondering if he’d ever play again.

The comeback trail took a positive turn late last season, when he threw two passes – one was intercepted – in a game for the Vikings. But Minnesota moved on from the former Louisville star, who was a first-round pick in 2014, and allowed him to become a free agent.

After signing with the Jets in March, Bridgewater is moving on from his painful past.

”I’m just focused on the now and what’s ahead of me,” he said. ”I’m happy to be here. We have a great team, a group of young guys who are anxious to continue to make noise in this league. That’s very exciting to be a part of.”

It was uncertain as to how much Bridgewater would be able to do at the start of OTAs, but the quarterback wasn’t limited at all despite having his left knee wrapped. It was an encouraging performance as he worked behind incumbent starter Josh McCown with the first-team offense in team drills.

”He moved well today,” coach Todd Bowles said.

His throws were mostly sharp, and he scrambled around the field several times – showing some flashes of the playmaking ability that made him a Pro Bowl selection in his second season in 2015.

”I’ve been working with the training staff,” Bridgewater said. ”We’ve been making some great progress. The goal is to get better each day. That’s our primary focus right now. That’s my focus as an individual goal, and we’re going to continue to just make those strides.”

Bridgewater adds an interesting element to what will be a must-see quarterback competition Nevin Lawson Jersey , that now won’t include Christian Hackenberg after he was traded to Oakland for a conditional seventh-round draft pick Tuesday.

New York took Sam Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick in the draft last month and the former USC star has already been anointed by many as the franchise quarterback of the future – and maybe of right now.

In his first OTAs practice, the 20-year-old Darnold looked like, well, a rookie. He overthrew a few passes in team drills and had a few throws picked off in the 7-on-7 period. Darnold also fumbled a snap, but it was no cause for alarm.

”It’s Day 1,” Bowles said. ”First time going up against a different defense and putting the offense against 11 guys over there.”

McCown was solid as the starter last season, instilling a leadership presence and having a career year while throwing for 2,926 yards and 18 touchdowns before missing the three games with a broken left wrist. But, he’ll turn 39 on July 4 and is clearly not part of the Jets’ long-term plans.

Bridgewater, however, is still just 25 and could give both McCown and Darnold a run for the starting job. Or, perhaps play well enough this summer to be a trade chip for New York.

”Control what you can control,” Bridgewater said. ”My primary focus is to be the best teammate I can be, be the best-caliber player I can be to help the New York Jets win football games. We’re going to continue to push each other in that room, motivate each other and it’s going to trickle down the line with everyone in this locker room.”

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LeBron James is friends with Draymond Green Tony Romo Jersey , has worked out with Kevin Durant, speaks with great reverence for Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr.

They all do like each other.

And, to those watching the NBA Finals, that might be easy to forget at times.

Turns out, when the same franchises meet for the fourth consecutive year to decide the NBA championship, familiarity indeed does breed contempt. Tensions have been high at times in the first two games of this series, emotions have started to boil over on a couple of occasions, and that trend will likely be continuing until someone hoists the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

”Even with turnover from players, you have a continuity of management, continuity of culture in organizations,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. ”There’s the institutional memory there of the wins and the losses. And so, I think it is very meaningful and when you have the same teams that are meeting for the fourth time, it’s part of a larger storyline. It’s not just a one-off game or a one-off series.”

Translated: Everyone should have seen this coming.

There was the dustup at the end of Game 1 when Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson was angered by the Warriors’ Shaun Livingston trying a jumper with the outcome already decided. There was Klay Thompson angered by the recklessness of J.R. Smith crashing into his leg early in the series opener. There was Kendrick Perkins jawing at Stephen Curry after the third quarter of Game 2.

The Warriors and the Cavaliers are certainly not lacking for intensity in these finals.

”Much ado about nothing,” Curry said Sunday night, likely not the most completely honest statement of his career since it couldn’t have been just a coincidence that he made all five of his 3-pointers in the next 8:33 to turn the game into a blowout.

Game 3 is in Cleveland on Wednesday night Cooper Kupp Jersey , with the Warriors up 2-0. Emotions will simmer until then.

”It’s just basketball,” Tristan Thompson said. ”It’s just a competitive sport. Of course we’re going to get irritated with each other, just because we’re both competitors and we both want it all. But it never goes off the court. Maybe for some guys it does, but not for me.”

Rivalries are what make the sport great.

There was the Celtics-Lakers hatred of eras gone past. Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons otherwise known as the Bad Boys. Pat Riley, back in the day, used to forbid his Knicks and Heat teams from helping up opponents when they knocked them over and discouraged fraternizing with the enemy – ever, including the offseason.

Times have changed. Guys vacation together now. It’s a new era.

”We’re not holding hands and singing songs as friends,” Curry said. ”We’re enjoying the competitive environment. I think that’s the consistent thing between our two teams. Obviously we see each other twice a year during the regular season and then you wait until June. … It’s just about winning a championship. You don’t want to let anything distract us from that on the floor.”

Sometimes, the ribbing goes off the court.

James raised eyebrows when he showed up with a suit jacket and matching shorts for Game 1, then arrived at Game 2 with a similar look. Never missing a chance to get under someone’s collar, Green showed up at Game 2 also in the jacket-shorts mode.

”Fun,” Green said.

There’s basketball beefs, and then there’s real-world beefs. Someone tried to get Green to draw a parallel between the Warriors-Cavs animus and the recent musical rivalry between Pusha T and Drake.

He didn’t bite.

”This is nothing like that, nothing at all like that,” Green said.

Everything is fun for the Warriors right now Jarrad Davis Jersey , since they’ve won the first two games. Understandably, not much seems like fun to the Cavaliers. But no matter how this series ends, whenever it ends, there will be hugs and handshakes.

Until then, it’s just all part of the game.

That’s why things, while often heated, never seem to get overheated.

”They’re a championship team, we’re a championship team, and we both have experience,” the Warriors’ Kevon Looney said. ”So it’s going to get a little chippy out there.”

The commissioner is fine with that, provided things stay within reason.

”The game ends, they take their proverbial cold shower and then they put it behind them,” Silver said. ”Until the next game.”

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