Thomas: Bradford Trying To Return

[sosa39rams]

Regardless, calling Spags delusional, questioning if he's "playing with a full deck", or making the case that he would purposely risk injury to Bradford to save his job is a bit extreme IMO. If people want to slam him, there are plenty of legitimate issue like game management or team preparedness to go after him on.

I agree with Mike here. What so far has Spags done to put Bradford at risk? When hes healthy enough to play, then he should play no matter the circumstances.

[r8rh8rmike]

What so far has Spags done to put Bradford at risk? When hes healthy enough to play, then he should play no matter the circumstances.

I agree. Spags is not making unilateral decisions on Bradford playing. The Rams pay team doctors big bucks to make informed assessments on a players health, and if they say Bradford is okay to play and Bradford says he's good to go, Spags takes those factors into account along with how Sam looks in practice, then makes the determination.

To further put things into prospective, it ultimately comes down to Bradford. He knows what he is capable of and isn't going to risk his own career if he doesn't feel right.

If he had his druthers, he'd avoid the injured reserve list, he said.

"That hasn't entered my mind," Bradford said Thursday. "I really hope it doesn't come to that point. That'd be pretty disappointing for me. But if that's what our doctors feel is best for my long-term health, then it's an option that I would have to think about. But it's really something that ... I don't want to think about that."

[Nick]

Regardless, calling Spags delusional, questioning if he's "playing with a full deck", or making the case that he would purposely risk injury to Bradford to save his job is a bit extreme IMO. If people want to slam him, there are plenty of legitimate issue like game management or team preparedness to go after him on.

Maybe it is extreme, but take Spags's name out of it, and if someone told me they thought Bradford "fared pretty well" in the first game against the Cardinals this season, I'd (respectfully) ask them if we were watching the same game.

Coming off of a short week with limited practices, Sam looked rusty and off his game. To ask him to do it again when he's not going to be fully recovered from an injury that's known to linger in a season that's completely lost makes little sense to me.

To further put things into prospective, it ultimately comes down to Bradford. He knows what he is capable of and isn't going to risk his own career if he doesn't feel right.

Yeah, I don't buy this argument at all. The first thing I thought of when reading it was Kurt Warner insisting he was fine and playing in 2002 despite a broken hand. Simply put, players want to play. If you give them the choice, they're going to say they're fine even if they're not because they want to be out there.

It's going to come down to the trainers and Spags, and I really hope that if they decide to put Bradford out there, he doesn't reaggravate it even further. High ankle sprains notoriously take a while to heal, and I fear this is something that could linger into the offseason if the Rams insist on putting an injured Bradford on the field in a season that's already down the drain.

[r8rh8rmike]

Maybe it is extreme, but take Spags's name out of it, and if someone told me they thought Bradford "fared pretty well" in the first game against the Cardinals this season, I'd (respectfully) ask them if we were watching the same game.

I think he was refering to Bradford's ability to move around on the ankle, and Bradford did progress and work his way back after that game to the point where he had one of his best, if not best game of the season the second time around against Arizona.

It's going to come down to the trainers and Spags, and I really hope that if they decide to put Bradford out there, he doesn't reaggravate it even further. High ankle sprains notoriously take a while to heal, and I fear this is something that could linger into the offseason if the Rams insist on putting an injured Bradford on the field in a season that's already down the drain.

Spags said this yesterday:

The test here is come out, do the work, see how it feels tomorrow," coach Steve Spagnuolo said following practice. "Again, we are treading lightly and going safe.