Wednesday is Halloween, but there's no need to wait until then to see something scary, something so disturbing I'm told it could be the centerpiece of a new horror flick franchise: The Quickening.
Sam Bradford threw his seventh interception this week in the St. Louis Rams' 465-7 loss to the New England Patriots (actually, it was only 45-7 because the Patriots only had 60 minutes to be finished with annoyance). This one wasn't totally Bradford's fault. His pass blocking failed him with Joe Barksdale getting beat on a block and Daryl Richardson shooting out past the line of scrimmage and leaving an unblocked rusher crashing into the quarterback.
But the ugliest moment of the whole play came from rookie wide receiver Brian Quick, who has now played a major role in two of Bradford's seven picks.
(GIF via Chad @squick3n)
There's Quick, just kind of lifelessly giving up on the ball. It was not a bright shining moment for the first pick of the second round and a player the Rams relentlessly hyped from April through August ... right until they saw him on the field.
A lot of fans have questioned why the Rams aren't using Quick more in the offense. I think it's pretty clear why they are not: he can't be trusted.
Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Quick is a rookie receiver who very clearly has a long way to go. There aren't many first-year receivers doing what A.J. Green and Julio Jones did last year. There also aren't any rookie receivers this year on par with those two, including Brian Quick.
Does this mean, Quick is a bust? No. You don't get call players a bust eight games into the season. However, I'm still lost as to why the Rams hyped him so much based on one indoor workout.
Back to the play above: it was pretty inexcusable, and I hope that Jeff Fisher gave the rookie, and the entire team for that matter, a very stern talking to on the long flight back across the Atlantic.
Check out some of the reactions to Quick's performance on this interception:
Way to compete Brian Quick.
— Greg A. Bedard (@GregABedard) October 28, 2012
That's a Boston Globe beat writer, not someone from the chat rooms at STLToday.
Ummm... Brian Quick... tackle the guy who intercepted the football. Thanks.
— Big EZ (@BigEZ) October 28, 2012
Nice drive from Brian Quick.A drop, quit on an under thrown ball, didn't make an effort to tackle after the pick.
— John Marecek (@JohnMarecek) October 28, 2012
Brian Quick is terrible, y'all.
— Patrick Daugherty(@RotoPat) October 28, 2012
Quick, and the entire team, have to do better this.