Sam Bradford A Minnesota Viking? Eagles" Trading QB After Two Seasons
PHILADELPHIA -- Sam Bradford knows he"s a lame duck quarterback. He knows he"s almost certainly going to be traded or released after this season so the Philadelphia Eagles can replace him with Carson Wentz.
But that"s something he"ll worry about in January, not now. Now, he"s excited for the start of the season. Excited to be completely healthy and not worrying about a left knee that twice has had the ACL torn.
"I"m excited," Bradford said. "As I"ve said all preseason, I think we"ve had a really good camp and I think we"ve gotten better each week. You can see the progress when you turn on the tap."
Most people aren"t expecting much from the Eagles this season. They are coming off a 7-9 season. They have changed coaches. Bradford, as mentioned, is a lame duck QB. They have a dangerous lack of depth at several positions. Their starting right tackle (Lane Johnson) is expected to be suspended 10 games for his second PED violation.
Once he gained confidence in his knee last year, Bradford played very well. His 97.4 passer rating over the last nine weeks of the season was the eighth-best mark in the league. He set single-season franchise records for completions (346) and completion percentage (65 percent) despite a league-high 50 drops by his receivers.
"This year, (the knee) is a non-issue," Bradford said. "I feel 100 percent. It"s something I don"t think about. Going through the entire year last year and not having any issues with it gave me a lot of confidence in it."
He picked up new coach Doug Pederson"s West Coast hybrid offense quickly this spring and summer. Completed 32 of 40 passes in the preseason, and four of those eight incompletions were drops.
"I think we"re going to be balanced this year," said Bradford, who ran an offense last year that ran the ball just 40 percent of the time.
"I think we"re going to have a good mix of the run and the pass. I think we"re going to be more efficient, hopefully, on third down and in the red zone than we were earlier last year. I think if we can be good in those areas, I think we"ll be a really good offense."
Bradford has the full support of the locker room, even though most of the people in it know he"s probably going to be gone after this season.
"I think the relationships that I"ve built in this locker room, the trust that I have in those guys, the trust they have in me, I think nothing"s really changed (from last year), to be honest."
The Eagles just need Bradford to stay healthy. They brought in ex-Kansas City Chief Chase Daniel to back him up. But Daniel has thrown just 77 passes in six NFL seasons.
While he knows Pederson"s offense, he hasn"t operated it very well in the preseason. And Wentz is a long way from being ready. The Eagles had hoped to get him a lot of work in the preseason. But he broke two ribs and missed three of the four preseason games.
--Linebacker Mychal Kendricks was the only projected Eagles starter who played in the final preseason game against the Jets. Doug Pederson said it was because they wanted him to "knock off the rust" after missing more than two weeks with hamstring tightness. But it"s clear that defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz wasn"t happy with how long it took the oft-injured Kendricks to get back on the field and might"ve been sending him a message. Kendricks didn"t hide his anger over having to play in the final preseason game.
--Cornerback Eric Rowe, who was the team"s second-round pick last year and started five games, is on the roster bubble. It could come down to whether the Eagles keep five or six corners.
--Kicker Caleb Sturgis outperformed Cody Parkey in training camp and the preseason and is expected to win the kicking job.
--Running back Wendell Smallwood, the team"s fifth-round pick, is expected to be the team"s fourth running back even though he carried the ball just two times in the preseason. He was sidelined with a quad injury much of camp, then suffered a concussion in the third preseason game on his only carry.
Source: http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2016/09/03/Sam-Bradford-not-conducting-business-like-lame-duck/3151472881559/
