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Howard Balzer
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.101espn.com/category/hbalzer-blogs/20111215/Spagnuolo-Has-to-Do-the-Right-Thing-with-Bradford/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.101espn.com/category/hbalzer ... -Bradford/</a>
[wrapimg=left]http://www.101espn.com/images/authors/medium/hbalzer.jpg[/wrapimg]The body language isn't good. What he says isn't spoken with a lot of confidence. Simply put, it seems the losing and ankle injury have made this season a burden, one that Sam Bradford probably deep down wishes would end already so he can look ahead to a fresh start in 2012.
He is unquestionably the team's quarterback of the present and future. Talk of anything else borders on the absurd.
Still, a season of hope has gone up in flames, and the Rams as an organization have to be careful of turning Bradford into Jason Campbell, who was forced to learn a new offensive system virtually every season in his pro career.
That is a discussion for the offseason, which will be here in 18 days. For now, even if it means playing Kellen Clemens at quarterback, it's time for the coaching staff to put Bradford out of his misery.
Wednesday at Rams Park was another day where Bradford didn't practice. Of course, he wasn't alone. Eight other players with a various assortment of ailments also didn't practice, just 34 hours after getting home from Seattle.
Tuesday, coach Steve Spagnuolo said Bradford was "really sore." Wednesday, Bradford said, "Obviously after the game it was pretty sore. It's still pretty sore today. It feels worse obviously because I played this week, whereas last week where I was coming off seven or eight days rest. Yesterday, it definitely didn't feel good."
The short practice week doesn't help in trying to get him any time on the field.
"I think last week even though I didn't play the previous week, playing on Monday night was a bonus, gave it an extra day, an extra day to heal, more time to recover," he said. "Whereas this week we only have six days, so that's definitely not something that's in our favor right now."
The most troubling revelation by Bradford was that the overall healing he had been experiencing before aggravating the injury against Arizona on Nov. 27 is now going in the opposite direction.
Asked if he has given thought to just shutting down until the ankle is totally recovered, Bradford said, "Like I said last week, I haven't really thought about that. I will say that it is becoming more and more frustrating to go out there and play, and then after the game feel like I've been set back. When I came back the first time I was able to make it through those first three or four games without going backwards. It got better each week. It wasn't sore after the game, whereas now the past two games I've gone out there, I feel like we've gone backwards. That is a bit frustrating, but in my opinion as long as it's good to go, as soon as it feels right, I want to be out there with my team trying to help them win."
However, with his ability to throw compromised by the injury, how much he can help the team win has to be seriously questioned.
When asked how having a bad ankle might affect arm strength, he said, "It just changes your throwing mechanics. It's hard on my front leg. It's not easy to come through and fully torque, and get everything I have into it where it kind of puts more stress on the arm. I'm not sure if it reduces arm strength, it just kind of limits your ability to put your entire body into throws at times."
It seems highly likely at this point that Bradford won't practice at all prior to Sunday's game against the Bengals.
He said, "I think if it feels good enough Friday to get out there and test it out, then I'm sure we will, just to see where we're at. If it doesn't, I don't think we're going to push it and set it back again by trying to go out and practice through it."
And then, Spagnuolo will have to make the decision that Bradford certainly won't like. But it would be the right decision.
That is becoming more and more obvious with each passing day.
Injury update: The other eight players that didn't practice Wednesday were safety Craig Dahl (ankle), quarterback A.J. Feeley (thumb), cornerback Josh Gordy (abdomen/oblique), defensive ends James Hall (pectoral), Chris Long (ankle), Eugene Sims (ankle), left tackle Mark LeVoir (groin), tight end Stephen Spach (head).
Defensive tackle Fred Robbins (back) and running back Quinn Porter (abdomen/oblique), who were both inactive Mon day night, were back at practice on a limited basis.
Fullback Brit Miller, who is expected to have cleanup surgery on his right knee, was placed on injured reserve and the Rams re-signed cornerback Nate Ness.
Miller set the record straight that he didn't injure his knee in warm-ups before practice last Friday. Miller had major knee surgery last season and opened training camp on physically unable to perform.
"I was still rehabbing all year and doing the right thing," he said. "I had 10 really solid games and I felt really strong."
But the knee started bothering him after the game against the 49ers. He was trying to fight through it ("I really wanted to finish the season with my teammates," he said), but prior to that Friday practice he knew something was wrong.
An MRI showed everything solid from the previous surgery, but some "loose bodies" were causing a problem.
He wanted to make sure everyone knows he wasn't injured in warm-ups. "I took some heat and got dogged for that," he joked.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.101espn.com/category/hbalzer-blogs/20111215/Spagnuolo-Has-to-Do-the-Right-Thing-with-Bradford/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.101espn.com/category/hbalzer ... -Bradford/</a>
[wrapimg=left]http://www.101espn.com/images/authors/medium/hbalzer.jpg[/wrapimg]The body language isn't good. What he says isn't spoken with a lot of confidence. Simply put, it seems the losing and ankle injury have made this season a burden, one that Sam Bradford probably deep down wishes would end already so he can look ahead to a fresh start in 2012.
He is unquestionably the team's quarterback of the present and future. Talk of anything else borders on the absurd.
Still, a season of hope has gone up in flames, and the Rams as an organization have to be careful of turning Bradford into Jason Campbell, who was forced to learn a new offensive system virtually every season in his pro career.
That is a discussion for the offseason, which will be here in 18 days. For now, even if it means playing Kellen Clemens at quarterback, it's time for the coaching staff to put Bradford out of his misery.
Wednesday at Rams Park was another day where Bradford didn't practice. Of course, he wasn't alone. Eight other players with a various assortment of ailments also didn't practice, just 34 hours after getting home from Seattle.
Tuesday, coach Steve Spagnuolo said Bradford was "really sore." Wednesday, Bradford said, "Obviously after the game it was pretty sore. It's still pretty sore today. It feels worse obviously because I played this week, whereas last week where I was coming off seven or eight days rest. Yesterday, it definitely didn't feel good."
The short practice week doesn't help in trying to get him any time on the field.
"I think last week even though I didn't play the previous week, playing on Monday night was a bonus, gave it an extra day, an extra day to heal, more time to recover," he said. "Whereas this week we only have six days, so that's definitely not something that's in our favor right now."
The most troubling revelation by Bradford was that the overall healing he had been experiencing before aggravating the injury against Arizona on Nov. 27 is now going in the opposite direction.
Asked if he has given thought to just shutting down until the ankle is totally recovered, Bradford said, "Like I said last week, I haven't really thought about that. I will say that it is becoming more and more frustrating to go out there and play, and then after the game feel like I've been set back. When I came back the first time I was able to make it through those first three or four games without going backwards. It got better each week. It wasn't sore after the game, whereas now the past two games I've gone out there, I feel like we've gone backwards. That is a bit frustrating, but in my opinion as long as it's good to go, as soon as it feels right, I want to be out there with my team trying to help them win."
However, with his ability to throw compromised by the injury, how much he can help the team win has to be seriously questioned.
When asked how having a bad ankle might affect arm strength, he said, "It just changes your throwing mechanics. It's hard on my front leg. It's not easy to come through and fully torque, and get everything I have into it where it kind of puts more stress on the arm. I'm not sure if it reduces arm strength, it just kind of limits your ability to put your entire body into throws at times."
It seems highly likely at this point that Bradford won't practice at all prior to Sunday's game against the Bengals.
He said, "I think if it feels good enough Friday to get out there and test it out, then I'm sure we will, just to see where we're at. If it doesn't, I don't think we're going to push it and set it back again by trying to go out and practice through it."
And then, Spagnuolo will have to make the decision that Bradford certainly won't like. But it would be the right decision.
That is becoming more and more obvious with each passing day.
Injury update: The other eight players that didn't practice Wednesday were safety Craig Dahl (ankle), quarterback A.J. Feeley (thumb), cornerback Josh Gordy (abdomen/oblique), defensive ends James Hall (pectoral), Chris Long (ankle), Eugene Sims (ankle), left tackle Mark LeVoir (groin), tight end Stephen Spach (head).
Defensive tackle Fred Robbins (back) and running back Quinn Porter (abdomen/oblique), who were both inactive Mon day night, were back at practice on a limited basis.
Fullback Brit Miller, who is expected to have cleanup surgery on his right knee, was placed on injured reserve and the Rams re-signed cornerback Nate Ness.
Miller set the record straight that he didn't injure his knee in warm-ups before practice last Friday. Miller had major knee surgery last season and opened training camp on physically unable to perform.
"I was still rehabbing all year and doing the right thing," he said. "I had 10 really solid games and I felt really strong."
But the knee started bothering him after the game against the 49ers. He was trying to fight through it ("I really wanted to finish the season with my teammates," he said), but prior to that Friday practice he knew something was wrong.
An MRI showed everything solid from the previous surgery, but some "loose bodies" were causing a problem.
He wanted to make sure everyone knows he wasn't injured in warm-ups. "I took some heat and got dogged for that," he joked.