Bradford ready for next step in his return/PD

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Bradford ready for next step in his return
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_2ac05e5a-476e-5a16-b0f1-7e0fc28f5fa7.html

Physically, Sam Bradford has shown he’s fine. Mentally, he has shown confidence in his surgically repaired left knee — the confidence to step into his throws and scramble when necessary.

So the first step of this critical season for the Rams’ starting quarterback has been accomplished.

Now comes step two. With the Green Bay Packers in town for Saturday’s 3 p.m. preseason game at the Edward Jones Dome, Bradford will be facing live pass-rushers for the first time in nearly 10 months.

(Step three — the final step — is whether Bradford can stay healthy and play well. And that can’t be determined until the regular season.)

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been out there for real, and I can’t wait to get back out there,” Bradford said. “Going through OTAs and going through training camp, I mean that’s great and all, but we’re here to play the game.”

Coach Jeff Fisher indicated Thursday that Bradford would play a quarter, maybe more, against the Packers, which means he’ll be involved in maybe 15 to 20 plays.

Strange as it may sound, Bradford is almost looking forward to getting hit. Not that he’ll be telling his linemen: OK, let them through on this one, I want to be sacked and sacked hard.

“It’s important just to be out there knowing that I can get hit, knowing that I’m probably going to take a few hits in the preseason,” he said. “I think it’s probably bigger for everyone else to see that it’s gonna be OK.”

Because Bradford isn’t worried.

“I’m gonna get hit; it’s part of the game,” Bradford said. “It’s no big deal. I’ve come back from an injury before. But it’ll be nice to take that first hit and get up knowing that everything’s fine.”

Similarly, Fisher said he has no anxiety about Bradford’s return to game action for the first time since suffering a torn ACL while being shoved out of bounds by Carolina’s Mike Mitchell last Oct. 20 in Charlotte.

“None whatsoever,” Fisher said. “He’s our starting quarterback, and he’s healthy. He’s going to play in a preseason game.”

End of story.

“That’s it,” Fisher said.

Even so, there figures to be mass wincing by spectators Saturday afternoon whenever a Green Bay pass rusher gets near Bradford or if he scrambles out of the pocket.

The first time Bradford scrambled during the opening weekend of training camp, what can best be described as a collective groan of fear came from the spectators at Rams Park. The fans got more accustomed to the sight as camp progressed.

With left tackle Jake Long and right guard Rodger Saffold sitting out today, Bradford will be protected by only three-fifths of his starting offensive line. All the more reason to make quick decisions and get the ball out quickly against the Packers.

“I just want to see an efficient operation out there,” Bradford said. “No pre-snap penalties, getting us in and out of the right plays, pushing the ball down the field, and probably taking a few hits and getting up knowing that I’ll be OK.”

Offseason pickup Davin Joseph, a two-time Pro Bowler while with Tampa Bay, looks like a more than capable replacement for Saffold at right guard. At left tackle, it could be Mike Person, who started there against New Orleans.

Before the start of camp, Fisher said the Rams would back Bradford down if there were any setbacks with the knee. But that hasn’t been necessary.

“No, I’ve taken every rep,” Bradford said. “Haven’t had to sit out, haven’t had to miss anything. My knee feels great; it’s responded really well. I think we’ve been very fortunate. Coach Fisher does a great job with our schedule. Between the special teams practices and the days off, we’ve had some time to rest and recover.”

As to whether the knee has caused him any trouble in camp, Bradford said: “Obviously during training camp all your body gets sore at some point. So it’s just kind of your normal aches and pains of training camp, but nothing out of the ordinary.”

Green Bay is a blitzing team, known to bring safeties and cornerbacks. But the Packers didn’t show a lot in their preseason opener against Tennessee. And with a huge opening game of the regular season, Thursday Sept. 4 at Seattle, the Packers may stay vanilla in exhibition play, not wanting to show much to the Seahawks.

But you never know. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary if the Packers tried a blitz or two against Bradford and the Rams’ first-team offense. And they have a couple of the game’s best pass-rushers in their 3-4 front in Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews.

Other than keeping Bradford upright, Fisher would like to see fewer penalties, better run defense and a better running game against Green Bay than was the case against the Saints.

In particular, the Rams spent a lot of time on run drills this week, particularly in Thursday’s practice. Basically the entire team ran wind sprints, or “gassers” after Monday’s practice — and ran a lot of them — as “punishment” for the 14 penalties against New Orleans.

“We’ve got to get the penalties down,” Fisher said. “We need to tackle better on defense. It will be a good challenge for us.”

The team watched some Green Bay tape from its preseason opener, just to get a measure of familiarity. But once again, there is nothing resembling a Rams game plan. Once again, the Rams will keep it basic, doing the same kinds of things against Green Bay that they did last week against New Orleans. And that they’ve done on the practice field for the past three weeks at Rams Park.

“I’d like to see some young guys step forward and show some improvement,” Fisher said. “They’ve got the jitters put behind them; they know what to expect. So go out and compete, and just execute. That’s what we want to see. We need execution from the bottom half of our roster.”