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Nick Wagoner
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Bradford-Holding-Out-Hope/cdf64326-ae6f-4398-9fa2-45018f72e7f2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-eve ... 018f72e7f2</a>
If Sam Bradford has his way, he did not play his final game of the 2011 season on Dec. 12 against Seattle.
“Absolutely,” Bradford said. “I’ve said that now for the past two weeks. I’ve told Coach (Steve Spagnuolo) that I’m trying to get my ankle as healthy as quick as possible. I want to be out there soon as it’s good enough to go. I expect to be on the field. Now, obviously Coach and (Head Athletic Trainer) Reggie (Scott) still have to feel comfortable enough for me to be out there and feel that I can protect myself and that I can play at a level to help this team. As soon as I get back to that point, I expect to be back in the huddle.”
After the aforementioned Monday night game against the Seahawks, speculation swirled that Bradford would be shut down for the rest of the season, possibly even placed on injured reserve to create roster space for the final three games.
But Bradford has every intention of continuing to rest the high sprain in his left ankle and make an effort to get back on the field, perhaps as soon as Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh.
The mere suggestion that he shouldn’t return is enough to make Bradford bristle. When asked why he shouldn’t just call it a season and come back fully healthy for next season, Bradford made it clear he doesn’t like the idea.
“It’s my job,” Bradford said. “That’s why I’m here. I’m here to play football. I’m not here to ride the bike; I’m not here to sit on the sideline. No matter what happens…I mean why wouldn’t I want to play? You put so much time in, you put so much work in and then to just have it taken away and not to be able to go out there and do what you love to do, it’s not easy. It sucks sitting on the sideline. I don’t like it and it’s miserable. There’s nothing fun about it, so soon as I can get back out there playing you’ll probably see me smile a little more.”
Bradford initially suffered the injury way back on Oct. 16 against Green Bay. After that he missed the next two games at Dallas and against New Orleans. The hope was that he had rested the ankle enough to get back to full strength.
After returning on Nov. 6 at Arizona, Bradford played in each of the next four games before a setback on Nov. 27 when Arizona came to St. Louis.
As Spagnuolo has reiterated time and again, high ankle sprains need time to heal and any exertion on them can lead to a setback.
“Anytime you play football there’s a risk of injury,” Bradford said. “Whether the risk of reinjuring this or creating further damage is more now as compared to a couple of weeks ago, I don’t know. I’m sure Reggie knows more about that than me, but that’s really not a concern to me. I think if it’s good enough to go, it’s good enough to go.”
Bradford has spent most of the past two weeks working with strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson while his teammates practice. Most of that time has been spent on an exercise bike, something Bradford doesn’t particularly enjoy.
After sitting last week’s game against Cincinnati, Bradford is out of his walking boot and feeling better than he has in a little while.
“It feels good,” Bradford said. “It feels better than it did last week that’s for sure. I haven’t really tested it as far as running or putting much stress on it, but it felt good enough to get out of the boot which is a positive thing. I think the plan is still day-to-day and see how it feels. Hopefully, each day add a little bit more to it and see where it’s at by the end of the week.”
In other words, Bradford is holding out hope a return could come as soon as this week even if it seems unrealistic in a short week with a team like Pittsburgh coming up next.
Of course, Bradford might be able to look across the field and see another quarterback going through the exact same thing as him. Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has the same injury and attempted to hobble through it last week against the 49ers.
“Yeah, I think for him to even be out there says a lot about him,” Bradford said. “To go out there on, however many, 9-10 days rest after suffering that injury it’s tough to play with. He battled through it and it just says a lot about his character.”
Make no mistake, though, the Rams have no intention of pushing Bradford to return this week or anytime soon. They’ll continue to monitor the injury and be smart about when or if Bradford returns to action this season.
“I would say the status is about the same,” Spagnuolo said. “Again, it’s not that we tried to rush him today. It’s not a push thing to find out where he is. It’s pretty much rest right now.”
MCNEILL’S HAPPY HOMECOMING: Wearing No. 82 for his hometown team, newly-signed tight end Mike McNeill couldn’t be more pleased about his latest NFL opportunity.
McNeill is a Kirkwood native signed off the Indianapolis practice squad on Tuesday. Growing up in the St. Louis area, McNeill dreamed of one day playing for the Rams when his family shared a pair of season tickets.
“We'd rotate who got to go,” McNeill said. “I never thought I'd be a kid watching the Rams play then playing for the Rams. It's pretty amazing.”
When McNeill got the call, he immediately called his parents and let them know he was coming home.
"My mom didn't believe me at first," McNeill said. "I was surprised she didn't cry. But they were pretty happy."
SMITH UPDATE: Rams tackle Jason Smith hasn’t been around much since suffering a neck injury and a severe concussion in the team’s Oct. 23 game against Dallas.
Smith was permanently placed on injured reserve back on Nov. 25, ending his season. While Smith has yet to be cleared to resume any sort of football activities, Spagnuolo said Smith is making progress.
“Jason’s doing fine,” Spagnuolo said. “I don’t know exactly, I know I told you last time he’s been doing some exertion and where he’s at, but I couldn’t tell where that is right now. He’s frustrated obviously; he’s not able to play. Usually when you’re dealing with one of those things it’s not like you can be in there and get your frustrations out with lifting and running and kind of sink in, so he has to be careful. It’s a little bit frustrating for him.”
INJURY REPORT: Receiver Brandon Lloyd returned to practice Wednesday after missing Tuesday’s workout with an illness.
Bradford, A.J. Feeley (thumb), end Chris Long (ankle), cornerback Josh Gordy (abdominal) and cornerback Justin King (shoulder) did not practice.
Gordy has been limited two days in a row after playing last week against the Bengals.
“What Reggie didn’t want to do was take a chance of setting him back today and have him not be healthy for the game,” Spagnuolo said. “Hopefully he can get out there tomorrow, do most of what we do in tomorrow’s practice and be ready to go.”
The prognosis for King doesn’t seem to be as positive.
“Don’t know if that’s going to happen,” Spagnuolo said. “We’ll see where we are tomorrow with him but my guess is if he doesn’t go tomorrow then we probably aren’t going to get him for the game.”
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Bradford-Holding-Out-Hope/cdf64326-ae6f-4398-9fa2-45018f72e7f2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-eve ... 018f72e7f2</a>
If Sam Bradford has his way, he did not play his final game of the 2011 season on Dec. 12 against Seattle.
“Absolutely,” Bradford said. “I’ve said that now for the past two weeks. I’ve told Coach (Steve Spagnuolo) that I’m trying to get my ankle as healthy as quick as possible. I want to be out there soon as it’s good enough to go. I expect to be on the field. Now, obviously Coach and (Head Athletic Trainer) Reggie (Scott) still have to feel comfortable enough for me to be out there and feel that I can protect myself and that I can play at a level to help this team. As soon as I get back to that point, I expect to be back in the huddle.”
After the aforementioned Monday night game against the Seahawks, speculation swirled that Bradford would be shut down for the rest of the season, possibly even placed on injured reserve to create roster space for the final three games.
But Bradford has every intention of continuing to rest the high sprain in his left ankle and make an effort to get back on the field, perhaps as soon as Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh.
The mere suggestion that he shouldn’t return is enough to make Bradford bristle. When asked why he shouldn’t just call it a season and come back fully healthy for next season, Bradford made it clear he doesn’t like the idea.
“It’s my job,” Bradford said. “That’s why I’m here. I’m here to play football. I’m not here to ride the bike; I’m not here to sit on the sideline. No matter what happens…I mean why wouldn’t I want to play? You put so much time in, you put so much work in and then to just have it taken away and not to be able to go out there and do what you love to do, it’s not easy. It sucks sitting on the sideline. I don’t like it and it’s miserable. There’s nothing fun about it, so soon as I can get back out there playing you’ll probably see me smile a little more.”
Bradford initially suffered the injury way back on Oct. 16 against Green Bay. After that he missed the next two games at Dallas and against New Orleans. The hope was that he had rested the ankle enough to get back to full strength.
After returning on Nov. 6 at Arizona, Bradford played in each of the next four games before a setback on Nov. 27 when Arizona came to St. Louis.
As Spagnuolo has reiterated time and again, high ankle sprains need time to heal and any exertion on them can lead to a setback.
“Anytime you play football there’s a risk of injury,” Bradford said. “Whether the risk of reinjuring this or creating further damage is more now as compared to a couple of weeks ago, I don’t know. I’m sure Reggie knows more about that than me, but that’s really not a concern to me. I think if it’s good enough to go, it’s good enough to go.”
Bradford has spent most of the past two weeks working with strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson while his teammates practice. Most of that time has been spent on an exercise bike, something Bradford doesn’t particularly enjoy.
After sitting last week’s game against Cincinnati, Bradford is out of his walking boot and feeling better than he has in a little while.
“It feels good,” Bradford said. “It feels better than it did last week that’s for sure. I haven’t really tested it as far as running or putting much stress on it, but it felt good enough to get out of the boot which is a positive thing. I think the plan is still day-to-day and see how it feels. Hopefully, each day add a little bit more to it and see where it’s at by the end of the week.”
In other words, Bradford is holding out hope a return could come as soon as this week even if it seems unrealistic in a short week with a team like Pittsburgh coming up next.
Of course, Bradford might be able to look across the field and see another quarterback going through the exact same thing as him. Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has the same injury and attempted to hobble through it last week against the 49ers.
“Yeah, I think for him to even be out there says a lot about him,” Bradford said. “To go out there on, however many, 9-10 days rest after suffering that injury it’s tough to play with. He battled through it and it just says a lot about his character.”
Make no mistake, though, the Rams have no intention of pushing Bradford to return this week or anytime soon. They’ll continue to monitor the injury and be smart about when or if Bradford returns to action this season.
“I would say the status is about the same,” Spagnuolo said. “Again, it’s not that we tried to rush him today. It’s not a push thing to find out where he is. It’s pretty much rest right now.”
MCNEILL’S HAPPY HOMECOMING: Wearing No. 82 for his hometown team, newly-signed tight end Mike McNeill couldn’t be more pleased about his latest NFL opportunity.
McNeill is a Kirkwood native signed off the Indianapolis practice squad on Tuesday. Growing up in the St. Louis area, McNeill dreamed of one day playing for the Rams when his family shared a pair of season tickets.
“We'd rotate who got to go,” McNeill said. “I never thought I'd be a kid watching the Rams play then playing for the Rams. It's pretty amazing.”
When McNeill got the call, he immediately called his parents and let them know he was coming home.
"My mom didn't believe me at first," McNeill said. "I was surprised she didn't cry. But they were pretty happy."
SMITH UPDATE: Rams tackle Jason Smith hasn’t been around much since suffering a neck injury and a severe concussion in the team’s Oct. 23 game against Dallas.
Smith was permanently placed on injured reserve back on Nov. 25, ending his season. While Smith has yet to be cleared to resume any sort of football activities, Spagnuolo said Smith is making progress.
“Jason’s doing fine,” Spagnuolo said. “I don’t know exactly, I know I told you last time he’s been doing some exertion and where he’s at, but I couldn’t tell where that is right now. He’s frustrated obviously; he’s not able to play. Usually when you’re dealing with one of those things it’s not like you can be in there and get your frustrations out with lifting and running and kind of sink in, so he has to be careful. It’s a little bit frustrating for him.”
INJURY REPORT: Receiver Brandon Lloyd returned to practice Wednesday after missing Tuesday’s workout with an illness.
Bradford, A.J. Feeley (thumb), end Chris Long (ankle), cornerback Josh Gordy (abdominal) and cornerback Justin King (shoulder) did not practice.
Gordy has been limited two days in a row after playing last week against the Bengals.
“What Reggie didn’t want to do was take a chance of setting him back today and have him not be healthy for the game,” Spagnuolo said. “Hopefully he can get out there tomorrow, do most of what we do in tomorrow’s practice and be ready to go.”
The prognosis for King doesn’t seem to be as positive.
“Don’t know if that’s going to happen,” Spagnuolo said. “We’ll see where we are tomorrow with him but my guess is if he doesn’t go tomorrow then we probably aren’t going to get him for the game.”