JT on Bradford in Phil

Healthy Bradford reaches comfort zone in Philly

Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/healthy-bradford-reaches-comfort-zone-in-philly/article_69aae424-964a-5fe9-a76b-0220f801dfb0.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share

INDIANAPOLIS • Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford threw 20 passes Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium, and every one of them was right on target.

Seventeen resulted in completions. And what of the three “misses?”

The first went right in the mitts of Nelson Agholor, the first-round pick in 2015 out of Southern California. Somehow Agholor couldn’t hold on, the ball popped in the air, and the result was an interception.

The second was a well-thrown fade pattern to the left corner of the end zone to newly acquired Dorial Green-Beckham, the former Missouri star. But Green-Beckham had trouble tracking the ball, started back-pedaling like an outfielder, and the ball fell incomplete.

The third and final “miss” was a ball that veteran tight end Brent Celek corralled but had jarred loose by Indianapolis defender Chris Milton.

The Colts were short-handed in the secondary because of a rash of injuries. Nonetheless, it was the kind of performance Rams fans dreamed of when the team selected Bradford No. 1 overall in 2010 out of Oklahoma. But we all know how that ended — in injuries, dashed hopes and a March 2015 trade to Philadelphia.

Although he didn’t elaborate, Bradford indicated Saturday that the Rams didn’t always shoot straight with him in terms of his roster status leading up to the trade.

“I was probably told some things in that building that were different from what the reality of it was,” he said following the Eagles’ 33-23 preseason victory. “But the fact that my agent (Tom Condon) knew kinda what was really going on, the trade really didn’t catch me by surprise.”

Despite the injuries and the won-lost record, Bradford enjoyed his five seasons in St. Louis and enjoyed the city. He misses eating at Scape in the Central West End, misses the barbecue at Sugarfire on Olive, misses hanging out in Clayton.

“The people were awesome there,” he said. “The hardest thing about getting traded was there were some people in that town and in that organization that really kind of took me under their wing and who really looked after me. Who cared for me.

“That was the first time I had ever been away from Oklahoma. I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better place to go, to be honest.”

He feels bad about the fact that the St. Louis Rams are now the Los Angeles Rams.

“I do,” he said. “Obviously, I wasn’t there last year. I still talk to quite a few of the guys who were there last year. But it’s gotta be frustrating. I thought our fans were great. Obviously, we didn’t win enough games for them there, but to have a team just uprooted and they’re gone now — that’s gotta be tough.”

In just a year’s time, Bradford went from being traded to Philadelphia to asking Philadelphia to trade him. This occurred after the Eagles moved up to No. 2 overall in the 2016 draft for North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz.

But the trade “demand” went nowhere, and Bradford now is reduced to keeping the seat warm until Wentz is ready to take over. Whether that means a month, or a season, is uncertain.

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“I just take it a day at a time,” Bradford said. “I control what I can control. I try to get better every time we step on that field. I try to put this team in good situations when we’re out there. Try to be the best quarterback I can be and try to help us win football games. At the end of the day that’s really all I can do.”

Of course, if Bradford keeps completing 17 of 20 passes for two touchdowns, as he did in two-plus quarters against the Colts, it may be a long apprenticeship for Wentz, who has been sidelined by a rib injury.

A pair of season-ending left knee injuries just 10 months apart wrecked his time in St. Louis, but Bradford is healthy as can be these days. For the first time since the 2012-13 offseason, he has been able to participate in a full offseason program.

“I was able to do everything,” Bradford said. “I haven’t been limited in training camp. My knee isn’t in pain any more. It feels great. Just to know that I’m not worried about the knee, it feels like a weight that’s been lifted off my shoulders.”

Those who know Bradford see a maturation process taking place as well.

“Everybody matures at a different rate,” wide receiver Chris Givens said Saturday. “And he had to grow into his own and figure out what’s the best way he can motivate and do those things. I think he’s figured it out.

“I just feel like he’s much more relaxed and he trusts himself a lot more. He’s not really trying to force it. He’s going through all his reads and making the correct read. And he’s become a lot more vocal — that’s one of the things that I’ve noticed.”

Givens was Bradford’s teammate for three seasons in St. Louis, and was his teammate in Philadelphia until Sunday, when he was released.

Bradford has completed 80 percent of his passes this preseason, but has been around long enough to take exhibition play for what it is. Oftentimes, it has no bearing on what happens once the regular season starts.

Even so, it’s always good to get a rhythm going on offense, even in August. And that’s definitely where the Eagles are at, even though they have deficiencies at wide receiver.

“Obviously, it’s nice to get out there and execute,” Bradford said. “But the thing that I really think of now when I get to that third preseason game is just getting out healthy.

“I look back to that year (2014) where I tore my ACL in Cleveland, I think it was one of the most frustrating things ever just because I felt like I was playing really well. Probably the best football I’ve ever played. And to not be able to carry it over to the regular season, that was pretty frustrating.”

That’s not an issue this year. There’s a comfort level for Bradford, even though he has yet another new head coach (Doug Pederson), new coordinator (Frank Reich) and new playbook.

“For me, the longer I’ve been in this league, you just get more comfortable with the position, with the role of being the leader,” Bradford said. “I think I just understand the game a little bit better.”