Bradford: ‘We Have To Get Out Of Our Own Way’


Is Sam Bradford rusty? Does he feel like he’s pressing at times? Does he feel out of rhythm?

“I might feel a little bit of all three of those after tonight,” Bradford responded following Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys. “Tonight was pretty tough.”

To say the least. The Eagles offense was a downright disaster, managing just 17 yards on the ground and 226 overall (4.1 per play average) while committing three turnovers in a 20-10 division loss to Dallas. Bradford ended 23-of-37 for 224 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, including a gift to Sean Lee in the back of the end zone in the third quarter that proved a serious blow to the Eagles chances.

He was certainly not the only offensive culprit — maybe not even the primary one. The ground game was so bad that Bradford himself proved to be the leading rusher with nine yards on two carries. There were drops, there was miscommunication and there was suspect play calling. Bradford is the starting quarterback, though, the one that Chip Kelly spent a hefty price on in hopes that he would elevate this attack to new heights. It’s early but so far, that hasn’t been close to the case.

“I don’t know,” said Bradford, when asked what is off in his game right now. “I don’t think it’s anything major. It’s probably just sharpening up a couple of the finer details.”

Through two games, Bradford is 59-of-89 for 560 yards with two TDs and four picks. One thing that stands out is the number of attempts. Certainly, the plan coming in wasn’t to have Bradford average 45 throws a game while re-acclimating to the game and attempting to build confidence in his body and in this system, but the lack of a ground game changed those plans in a hurry. The QB says that the speed of the game coming off the long layoff is not an issue; he’s still processing the action at the same rate. In his view, “things are just a little bit off right now.”

“It’s obviously not what it was during the preseason but I don’t think it’s a long ways off,” he said. “I think it’s something we can get fixed.”

“I think [the confidence] is still there. Everything is still ahead of us. We still believe in ourselves. We believe in this offense. We know that when we get things going that we can be a really good offense. I think that we just have to get out of our own way.”