On Tuesday afternoon, Sam Bradford said he wasn’t naïve.
While he claims to be focused on the task at hand, leading the 2016 Eagles, he knows the Eagles of the future probably won't belong to him. They'll belong to No. 2 overall pick Carson Wentz (see story).
If Bradford helps Wentz, he’s basically helping to train his eventual replacement take a job he covets.
Is that going to be hard to do?
“Not at all,” Bradford said. “If I wasn’t willing to do that, I think that’s just not having a great respect for the game. I think that’s how this is. I think it’s the job of older players in this league to try to help younger players out. I was very fortunate when I was younger to have someone that did that for me and I think it’s only right that I fill that role now.”
While Bradford returned to the team after his brief two weeks away from the team — holdout? — Wentz wasn’t yet in Philadelphia. And when Wentz arrived for rookie camp, Bradford was out of town. So Bradford and Wentz didn’t meet until this week as the team reported for OTAs (see Day 1 notes).
Bradford has something in common with Wentz. Wentz was the No. 2 pick this draft and Bradford was the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft to the Rams.
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The veteran presence Bradford spoke of was actually former Eagle A.J. Feeley, who joined the Rams in 2010 under offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. Bradford said Feeley was great and taught him a lot, especially about the West Coast offense.
Now, Wentz will primarily be taught by coaches. After all, the Eagles have three former quarterbacks on the coaching staff in head coach Doug Pederson, offensive coordinator Frank Reich and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. And if Wentz has a question about Pederson’s offense, he should probably go to backup quarterback Chase Daniel, who has three years experience with it from his time in Kansas City.
That’s already a lot of instruction — a lot of cooks in the kitchen, so to speak.
But if there’s anything else the young rookie wants to know, Bradford said he’s willing to help.
“I’m not going to try to hide anything,” Bradford said. “I’m going to try to help Carson. If he asks questions, I’m going to try to give him the best answers that I can. I love seeing quarterbacks succeed in this league. If I can do something to help him become the better player, I’m going to do it.”
