St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said Saturday night following his quarterback, Sam Bradford, suffering a left knee injury that he was "very optimistic" about Bradford's condition.
Sunday, that optimism appears to be fading. ESPN's Adam Schefter, who reported Saturday night that the Rams felt they had "dodged a bullet" with Bradford, who suffered a torn ACL last October and reinjured the same knee Saturday against the Cleveland Browns, now says the Rams are concerned.
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This obviously would be a game-changer for the Rams, who quietly were gaining confidence that they could stand toe to toe with NFC West heavyweights with a healthy and efficent Bradford at the helm, backed by a solid run game, a new weapon in Kenny Britt and one of the best front sevens on defense in the NFL.
That confidence dramatically would take a hit if the Rams' fears on Bradford prove to be true. That would vault Shaun Hill to the starting position, and while Hill is considered one of the NFL's better backup quarterbacks, he has only a 13-13 record as a starter, hasn't started a game since 2010 and might have peaked already at age 34.
On the flip side, Hill has completed a respectable 62 percent of his career passes and has a 41-23 TD-INT ratio that actually is better than that of Bradford (59-38).
Behind Hill, there are few tempting options. The Rams have journeyman Austin Davis and sixth-round pick Garrett Gilbert, who has struggled largely to date. When Bradford was hurt a year ago, the Rams tried to sign Saints practice-squad QB Ryan Griffin, but the Saints thwarted their efforts by creating a roster spot and convincing him to stay. Perhaps those teams could strike up some trade talk, or maybe a team such as the Minnesota Vikings might be willing to part with former first-rounder Christian Ponder for cheap. Incidentally, the Rams and Vikings meet in Week 1 in St. Louis.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
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