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Sam Bradford is practicing again

The Rams head coach dropped a steaming pile of optimism all over everything during a Wednesday morning appearance on the NFL Network.

By Ryan Van Bibber
Grant Halverson

OTAs are underway and everything is totally awesome for the St. Louis Rams (and the 31 other NFL teams that have yet to put on pads). Jeff Fisher made a Wednesday appearance on the NFL Network to share the latest and greatest out of St. Louis, including an update on Sam Bradford's status for the regular season.

Fisher said that Bradford will definitely be ready for Week 1 of the season. He's apparently recovering well enough from his ACL tear and repair last fall that he's already back on the practice field for OTAs.

That's certainly good news for the team, since Fisher and Snead went all in on the highest-paid quarterback in the league who has yet to make a playoff appearance. He also talked up Bradford's stats from his play prior to injury, telling the NFL Network folks:

"Everybody does projections. We projected his numbers out had he stayed healthy last year. They would have been quite impressive, and who knows what would have happened down the stretch."

Chris Wesseling at NFL.com added some context to that statement:

What Fisher didn't say is that Bradford regressed at times prior to the injury and padded those numbers in garbage time.

The recent history of quarterbacks returning from ACL injuries doesn't bode well for Bradford's chances of finally establishing himself as the face of the franchise after an underwhelming 18-30-1 record across four seasons.

Unless Bradford makes an unlikely fifth-year leap while hindered by a bulky knee brace, the Rams are doomed to mediocrity in the NFL's most competitive division.

I realize that's not the kind of thing a lot of partisans will want to hear in June, but it's at least fair to say that this really is a make or break year for Bradford's career.

And here's some more good news from the coach ...

I can only assume they're not talking about Britt's Instagram feed.

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