MINNEAPOLIS — Teddy Bridgewater had Minnesota’s passing attack in prime form to spark the Vikings in a 26-16 exhibition victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday night.

Bridgewater went 7-for-8 for 86 yards and backup Shaun Hill finished 8-for-9 for 104 yards and touchdown passes to Cordarrelle Patterson and Adam Thielen, and seven Vikings receivers had two catches apiece in the first half.

Jameis Winston produced mixed results at best in his first NFL action for Tampa Bay.

Winston, the first pick in the draft out of Florida State, played the whole first half and finished 9 for 19 for 131 yards. One errant pass was intercepted by Antone Exum, and he mishandled two snaps that led to a total of 19 lost yards and threw several passes well off target.

The majority of Winston’s completions came in the second quarter with backup in on defense for the Vikings. The brighter side for Winston and the Buccaneers included a 40-yard completion to Vincent Jackson with Vikings rookie cornerback Trae Waynes in coverage and an 8-yard touchdown run after the pocket collapsed around him on third down.

 

Rookie watch

Vikings middle linebacker Eric Kendricks, a second-round draft pick from UCLA, had two of five tackles for loss, including a sack and plus a quarterback hurry and a pass broken up. Audie Cole has been with the first team in training camp, but there’s time for Kendricks to win the job.

 

Fantasy watch

Jarius Wright, in line to be the Vikings’ No. 3 wide receiver, had two receptions for 50 yards.

 

Zimmer’s dad

The crowd observed a moment of silence prior to the game for Bill Zimmer Sr., who died Tuesday at age 84. Zimmer has often credited his dad, a long-time high school football and wrestling coach in suburban Chicago, for shaping his life and career. He’ll travel to the funeral Sunday.

“Tomorrow and Monday will be a lot tougher than tonight,” Zimmer said.