St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford can’t seem to catch a break, except if it’s in his bones. Midway through the 2013 NFL season, the young signal-caller suffered a season-ending ACL injury, just as he was slowly but surely settling in as the first-overall pick of the 2010 draft. With the 2014 NFL season just weeks away, Bradford suffered another ACL tear in his left knee, and it looks like he will be out for the entire year, with veteran Shaun Hill taking over as the starter.
It was Rams coach Jeff Fisher who had delivered the bad news to Bradford yesterday, not long after it was thought that the injury wasn’t that serious. “The news was devastating to him,” said Fisher, who added that it’s still too early to talk about the possibility of trading for another quarterback. ”It makes no sense to jump and react right now and try to fill the hole at whatever cost,” he continued. ”We’re going to take our time and evaluate this. There’s going to be some quarterbacks that are released and there may or may not be some quarterbacks out there that have trade value.”
With the Rams set to make the first round of cuts to its 75-man preseason lineup tomorrow, the 34-year-old Hill appears to be the starter, at least for the meantime. “We have to move on, and Shaun’s the guy,” said Fisher. Hill last started in 2010, when he was, ironically, starting in place of another former first-round pick, the Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford. Even more ironically, it was Hill who led the Lions to their first win that season after a 0-4 start, a game where they defeated the Rams.
Apart from Bradford, the Rams lost four other starters in Saturday’s preseason game against the Cleveland Browns. Cornerback Trumaine Johnson will miss four to six weeks following an MCL tear, while offensive guard Rodger Saffold and defensive tackles Kendall Langford and Michael Brockers may be available as soon as Thursday, where the Rams will finish their preseason schedule against the Miami Dolphins.