An injury to A.J. Feeley and a short week might conspire to give Sam Bradford his first start of his NFL career when the St. Louis Rams take on the New England Patriots on Thursday night.
Feeley was hit by a Cleveland pass rusher on the Rams first drive, one that ended with Feeley making a touchdown pass. Feeley's thumb is swollen and sore, and the team believes it is sprained, according to this report from the PD.
No official decision has been made yet. However, Spagnuolo didn't sound optimistic about Feeley's availability given the team's short week.
Like I said in the recap from this weekend's game, Bradford needs more reps with the starters, specifically one Steven Jackson, who probably won't play much more in the preseason after his series (or two?) against the Pats this week. Playing with Jackson makes the Rams a much more complete offense, as defenses have to respect him. Ideally, that will open up the passing game for Bradford and the first team receivers. Short, long, shotgun, handoffs...whatever, the more Bradford plays, the better position he and the Rams will be in come week 1.
New England beat Atlanta 28-10 in preseason play last week. Tom Brady and the first team offense played most of the first half. They beat the Saints the week before.