Barring any major setbacks, Sam Bradford confident he'll start

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Sam Bradford on Sunday played something resembling football for the first time in about a year, and he did it without the cumbersome brace he wore during minicamps.

When his first training camp practice was over, Bradford pronounced himself healthy, confident and on target to be the Eagles’ opening-day quarterback in Atlanta on Sept. 14.

“Barring any major setbacks or anything, I feel great about that,” he said.

Bradford’s 2013 season ended with a torn ACL. His 2014 season ended with a torn ACL.

He didn’t do any team drills during minicamps but was unrestricted Sunday as the Eagles opened training camp at the NovaCare Complex (see 10 observations).

So it was the first time he participated in 11-on-11 football since last Aug. 23, when he tore his ACL during the Rams’ preseason game against the Browns in Cleveland.

“It was good to get back out there,” Bradford said. “Obviously, it’s been a long time since I’ve been out there in team drills. Almost a year now. Felt good. Just to get out there and be a part of it, it felt good.

“Obviously, getting adjusted to the speed of it again [takes time]. But I was just happy to get out there and start playing football again. Everything felt good out there.

“It’s huge for me just to get out there and get to run the offense. There’s only so much you can do in 7-on-7, there’s only so much you can learn in meetings. I think everyone, myself, I learn best on the field, getting reps. So just to be out on the field getting to see how [the receivers] feel the game, how they feel space, creating that chemistry with our wide receivers and our running backs, I think that’s what I’m most excited about during this camp.”

Bradford hasn’t played in a regular-season game since Oct. 20, 2013, when he suffered his first torn ACL during a game against the Panthers in Carolina.

The Eagles acquired Bradford from the Rams this offseason in exchange for Nick Foles and a second-round pick.

Head coach Chip Kelly said Bradford has been completely cleared by team doctors and will practice with no limitations (see story). The expectation is that Bradford will start the preseason opener Aug. 16 against the Colts.

Bradford took all the first-team reps Sunday, while Mark Sanchez — who quarterbacked the Eagles the second half of last year after Foles’ season ended — ran the second team.

“He looked great,” tight end Zach Ertz said. “He looked exactly like you’d expect him to look. …

“I know the amount of work he’s put in throughout the summer. All the guys go home and he’s out here each and every day busting his butt, working on all his deficiencies that he needed to, and it’s fun to see him out here on Day 1 doing all the things he needs to do.”

The Eagles will be back at practice Monday at the NovaCare Complex, and Eagles fans will get their first look at Bradford on Tuesday in the first of two open practices at the Linc.

So far, so good.

“It’s a big step,” Bradford said. “It’s been almost a year since I’ve been on the field full speed playing football. So to just get out there and play ball and know that my knee can do it, I think it was a really good first step.

“I think each day that I’m out here I’ll get more comfortable. In the last six weeks, since we broke OTAs, I put in a lot of work, and I think the process and the work during that time, I trust it now.

“The things that I did during that period are the things that are required on the football field. I’m sure once we get into preseason games and it’s real, I’m sure that will be another step, but right now I feel good with everything.”

Bradford said the decision not to wear a brace was made by himself in conjunction with the doctors and trainers.

“It was kind of a collective idea,” he said. “But I just felt like I got to the point where I didn’t need it.

“I was doing a lot of things without the brace and I felt fine. I felt like sometimes during OTAs the brace restricted me a little bit. I talked to the doctors [Saturday] and they were cool with it, and we’re going to go without one.”

Bradford said he felt significantly better at practice Sunday than when OTAs ended in mid-June.

This is very good news for the Eagles.

“It’s been a really good six weeks,” he said. “I think we got a lot accomplished. Probably from the last time you guys saw me on the field until now I feel a lot better. Hopefully I look a lot better to you guys. There really haven’t been any setbacks.”

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