EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings’ momentum heading into Thursday night’s game at the Green Bay Packers doesn’t end with the likelihood that rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater should be able to play despite missing practice on Monday and Tuesday with a sprained left ankle suffered midway through the fourth quarter of Sunday’s upset win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Defenders also are excited about the prospect of facing Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers with a defense other than the predictable, read-and-react Tampa 2 scheme that the team employed from 2006 to last season.

“Heck,” said left defensive end Brian Robison, “there were some times when we’d line up and Aaron Rodgers was calling out our defenses as we were lining up.”

Rodgers denied Tuesday that he ever did that. But there’s no hiding the fact that his comfort level against the Vikings was higher than it was with any other opponent.

His 116.8 passer rating in 12 regular-season games against the Vikings is the highest by any quarterback against a single team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. He’s 8-4 overall, 7-1 in his last eight meetings and is completing 71.4 percent of his passes (277 of 388) for 3,382 yards, 27 touchdowns and four interceptions against the Vikings.

Most of the attention Thursday will be on Bridgewater, who set team records for completions (19), yards passing (317) and passer rating (98.9) by a quarterback making his NFL starting debut. Oh yeah, he also became the first to notch a fourth-quarter comeback win in his first start.

Just as interesting, however, will be coach Mike Zimmer’s unpredictable, pressure-based defense against Rodgers.

Rodgers faced Zimmer’s Cincinnati Bengals defenses twice. He went 0-2 while Rodgers completed 57.3 percent of his passes for an average of 252.5 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and a 74.8 passer rating. Last year’s 64.5 rating in a 34-30 loss at Cincinnati was Rodgers’ third-lowest rating since 2009.

“I have a lot of respect for [Zimmer] and the job he does,” Rodgers said. “He’s always well prepared and very confusing at times with their schemes.

“He gives you some similar works and they run different things out of it. Different blitz schemes, different coverages behind it. They give you some issues with the protections, obviously. And his defenses in Cincinnati always covered very well with a lot of talented corners, much like Minnesota does.”

Zimmer, meanwhile, called Rodgers the NFL’s No. 1 quarterback against the blitz. He also referred to him as the third “first-ballot Hall of Famer” the Vikings have faced in the last four weeks, in addition to Tom Brady and Drew Brees.

A week ago, the Vikings allowed the Falcons to convert 10 of their first 13 third-down situations. Meanwhile, in a 21-point win over the Chicago Bears, Rodgers posted a 151.2 passer rating, the highest against a Bears team in 49 years.

Rodgers faced the Vikings only once a year ago. It wasn’t pretty. His 130.6 passer rating included Rodgers completing 12 of 12 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns on third and fourth down.

The Vikings are looking forward to trying something new against him. Hey, it can’t get any worse.

SERIES HISTORY: 106th regular-season meeting. Packers lead series, 48-55-2. Packers have won five straight at home, including a wild-card matchup during the 2012 season. The Vikings haven’t won at Green Bay since Brett Favre returned to Lambeau Field as the Vikings quarterback in 2009. The teams have met twice in the playoffs, both wild-card games. The Vikings won the other matchup when they upset the Packers at Lambeau in 2004.

INJURY WATCH: LB Chad Greenway, who had his streak of 115 consecutive games played end last week, likely will miss a second straight game because of the short week. He didn’t practice Monday or Tuesday because of his broken left hand and broken rib. He will be replaced by Gerald Hodges, who is considered faster and more athletic. … RB Jerick McKinnon (ankle) has been limited in practice, but will play on Thursday night. … TE Kyle Rudolph said he’s on schedule for a relatively speedy return after last week’s sports hernia surgery. The Vikings will keep him on the active roster in hopes that he’ll be back in about five weeks from now. … CB Captain Munnerlyn (illness) missed Monday’s practice and was limited on Tuesday. But he’ll play on Thursday. … CB Josh Robinson (hamstring) has been limited in practice this week, but is expected to play on Thursday. The No. 3 corner played 64 percent of the snaps despite being listed as questionable for last week’s game.

GAME PLAN: Even without Adrian Peterson, the Vikings feel they can run the ball, control the clock and keep Aaron Rodgers on the sideline long enough to squeak out another upset win. Last week, the Vikings surprised everybody by running for a league-high 241 yards and a 5.5-yard average. The next-highest rushing total in Week 4 belonged to the Bears, who ran for 235 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Packers. The Vikings also believe coach Mike Zimmer’s defense, which is more aggressive and less predictable than the Tampa 2-based scheme that preceded it, will give them a better chance of containing Rodgers.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

Packers SS Morgan Burnett and ILB A.J. Hawk vs. Vikings RBs Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon. Suddenly, the Vikings have a running game for the run defense-challenge Packers to be concerned about. After averaging 2.8 and 2.7 yards per carry the previous two weeks, the Vikings averaged 5.5 yards while piling up 241 yards in an upset of the Falcons. McKinnon went into the game with five carries for seven yards. He had 18 carries for 135 yards, while Asiata rushed for three short touchdowns. The Packers, meanwhile, gave up 235 yards rushing in a win over the Bears. Burnett and Hawk lead the Packers in tackles with 35 apiece.

Packers WR Randall Cobb vs. Vikings CB Captain Munnerlyn. Cobb, the Packers’ slot receiver, has a team-high five touchdown catches to go with 21 catches for 239 yards. Munnerlyn, meanwhile, was brought to Minnesota not only to start but to also move inside over the slot when the Vikings go to their nickel packages. Munnerlyn hasn’t been a disappointment, but he has been the most inconsistent of the top three corners so far this season. He has struggled in his tackling and even called last week’s game against the Falcons the worst of his career.