i believe the nfl wants us to believe that it has been revolutionized. and it may have.

but i have every reason to believe that the nfl brings back players earlier than they really should.

every single article i read has said that the first year back carries a huge risk for a re-tear. why is that? probably because it’s in its initial healing period. wait two years. and the probablity goes down. there’s a reason for that.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by zn.

well. this is what i would do and probably not what the rams would do and probably why i would never even sniff a job in coaching.

now depending on what the doctors say. and i would get like 10 different opinions after they’ve done their separate diagnoses. if i’m confident he has a reasonable chance of coming back from the surgery, i would talk to sam about getting a two year extension at a very low salary. that extension hopefully cuts down on the salary cap impact 2015 would have. i don’t know. i don’t even know if that’s possible. but if it was. that’s what i would do.

i would then tell him to take two full years off. he can practice and get reps but no contact whatsoever. let that knee completely heal. have him wear a heavy brace while he’s practicing.

this benefits bradford. i don’t think it’s in his best interests to shop around for a deal with some other team. he knows this coaching staff. training staff. teammates. he knows the offense. when he comes back. there’s no transition period there. the only thing he has to worry about is getting healthy. unless of course the coaching staff is fired. which who knows. that could happen. target 2016 as his return date.

in the meantime, the rams draft a legitimate qb prospect in 2015 and groom him in the event of any setback or even as competition for sam.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.

ok. well according to article zn posted he didn’t feel much pain because the newly reconstructed joint hadn’t had time to be properly innervated and didn’t have a blood supply.

also. in an ideal world a player would have 2 years to properly heal but since this is the nfl and we’re not interested in a player’s long-term health they usually are back in less than a year.

on re-tears the rate of return decreases significantly. on the first, it’s 95%. i’ve read that the prognosis usually decreases 2 fold. that article was dated 2013, so i’m thinking that it drops to around 90%. the article i read said 11% i think (or 89%).

the guy doesn’t think bradford is injury prone. i don’t agree, but he’s a doctor. so what do i know? i guess he’s alluding to the fact that re-tears aren’t uncommon in the first year. but so what? they’re running out of options on ligaments they can salvage from other parts of his body. my guess is these other options are less effective. the last resort is using a ligament from a cadaver which has the worst prognosis.

regardless. do i take a chance and come back in a year when i know this is my last chance? or close to it? when i know that it takes two full years for the joint to properly heal. to have a fresh supply of nerves and blood to replenish it. or do i come back in 6 to 9 months and just go for it.

best possible thing for sam is to wait more than a year. that puts him well into the regular season next year. in an ideal world. he doesn’t even play in 2015 taking a full two years off. most he sees is a practice field.

i just see what happened to danario. i don’t want to see the same happen to sam. whether he’s with the rams or not.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by InvaderRam.

he seems to have versatility too. he can line up at defensive tackle or defensive end.

it only seems fair that they pay him this year. the rehabilitation costs alone have to be through the roof. astronomical i would think. and he got injured on the job. so he should be compensated for that. next year though. i don’t know how that all works.

tough tough break. i was so sure he was gonna have a good year this year.

good. i hope the rams wouldn’t want him either. hill’s better than he is…

it does sound cold. from what tackledummy says it sounds like he can’t be cut this year. but i wasn’t thinking about this year anyway. i think they owe him this year.

i’m wondering about next year. would they save any cap space cutting him for 2015? cuz he’s not coming back for awhile.

if they do care about his career. he takes more than a year to come back. look at what happened to danario. and i understand that it’s a different position and different stresses are put on the joints. but that’s two tears in less than a year.

cut him for 2015. i’d even bring him back as a backup qb if he was willing. he might not be. but it’s in his best interests to start out as a backup. if i’m his family, i’m telling him to take a job as a backup qb with an eye toward maybe getting a starting gig in the future.

yeah. we could very likely re-sign him for cheap. and truthfully. the rams would be the best option for him. he knows the team. he knows the coaches. the offense. the players. trying to come back from a second injury AND going to a new team and a new offense? that’s a lot.

i keep thinking danario alexander and what he went through. no. bradford’s a huge risk at this point.

i say go with what you have and reevaluate in the offseason. hill should be fine. i thought he looked alright in the few times i’ve seen him. draft a quarterback next year.

Just saw some doctor a little while ago on ESPN talking about it. He said should be a longer recovery time(a year) and arthritis could be a problem. He said Sam could come back but it’s going to be a long road. I know this doesn’t matter in terms of how the Rams approach this but it was just some general comments on this type of injury.

yeah. i’m no expert. but anytime you operate on the same site twice. the chances of recovering from the second operation plummet. just a guess. and i think that’s true with anything. rebuild something two times. it’s just not the same.

honestly, i’m disappointed but not crushed. rams will survive this. whatever qb goes in there is going into a great situation. but i feel bad for bradford. this is going to be one helluva climb back for him.

yeah. i can’t think of another starting qb with the injury history this guy has had who’s made it.

alex smith?

he had a shoulder injury which they chose not to do surgery on. they finally decided to have surgery on it when they realized it wouldn’t heal on its own.

then he had to have a second shoulder surgery. mind you this was not necessarily contact related rather it was related to a wire they had left from the first surgery.

besides that he blew out his knee.

bradford has had three major ligament injuries. he had an ankle injury which still hadn’t healed going into the next season i believe.

and i’m just taking a guess at this. but my guess is one ligament tear is bad enough. the prognosis for a SECOND tear on the SAME ligament. my guess is the prognosis takes a huge dip.

i didn’t see anything out of the ordinary with that hit. i think most qbs don’t injure themselves on a play like that because most qbs aren’t injury prone like sam is.

well yeah. they’ll keep him for that last year. i didn’t mean literally drop him from the team. but he’s done. next season should be his farewell season.

i don’t care if he even has a good season. he’s just an injury waiting to happen at this point. draft a quarterback in 2015. don’t look back. hopefully, he can catch on somewhere else.

i don’t think they can rely on him at all. they gotta let him go. this is the worst rams news i’ve heard in awhile.

i was very encouraged by britt and quick.

that could change things for sure.