INDIANAPOLIS -- Rams general manager Les Snead said Wednesday the team had no plan to "delete"Sam Bradford from the roster. Rams coach Jeff Fisher is similarly delete-averse.
Fisher, like Snead, was asked at the NFL Scouting Combine about the report that Bradford had been given permission by the Rams to seek a trade. The quarterback is coming off back-to-back ACL tears, but remains very much in the team's plans as the presumptive starting quarterback.
"I was surprised to hear that -- not surprised -- but no, that's inaccurate," Fisher said Friday. "We talked about what our plans are for him."
That plan, of course, is tied to Bradford avoiding another crushing setback. Fisher was asked about "Plan B" if Bradford went down again.
"I don't know what that looks like right now. We'll let you know," he said. "It could be a veteran, it could be a draft choice, it could be a combination of that. It could be Austin (Davis), it could be Shaun (Hill)."
Fisher noted that the Rams were 5-2-1 in their division in games started by Bradford in the past three seasons. Both Davis and Hill are free agents, though Davis is restricted.
"We're counting on him, I'm betting on him, and if that doesn't happen, then we'll win games with someone else."
Fisher said in the hallway at Lucas Oil Stadium that Bradford is ahead of schedule and is working at the Rams' complex every day. We asked if the Rams will take a different approach to how Bradford is used in training camp and the preseason this time around. Bradford re-tore his ACL in the Rams' third preseason game last August.
"No. Can't. You can't. You just go play. That's it," he said. "It was an unusually, unfortunate, very disappointing deal that we could not predict. You can't go out there worried about the next injury. When he's cleared, and goes, he goes. They even take the brace off. He (tore his ACL) twice with the brace on, so take the brace off."
Bradford, somewhat improbably, is still The Man in St. Louis. The only question is whether the Rams decide they need to upgrade over Shaun Hill and Austin Davis as the insurance policy. That wouldn't be a bad idea.
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