St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford will be learning a new offensive system from Brian Schottenheimer, his third offensive coordinator in as many seasons.
Bradford earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2010 after completing 60 percent of his passes for 3,512 yards and 18 touchdowns in an offense run by Pat Shurmur, who maximized Bradford's mobility and limited his exposure to hits from opposing pass-rushers by calling for short, quick passes. As a result, Bradford was sacked just 34 times despite playing behind a weak offensive line.
Rams training camp report
Sam Bradford appears ready for a breakthrough season, but finding a primary target for the 2010 top draft pick is a key to Rams training camp, Jeff Darlington writes. **More ...**
Shurmur landed the head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns and was replaced with Josh McDaniels. Denied the opportunity to work together because of the lockout, Bradford's production declined sharply as he took more and more hits (36 sacks in just 10 games) and was eventually shelved with a severe high left ankle sprain.
During an appearance on "NFL AM" on Friday, Bradford was asked about having to learn yet another offensive system.
"The good thing for me is I've had to learn an offense the past two years, so this is a process that I'm familiar with," Bradford said. "It's all about learning to speak the language that Schotty speaks, getting on the same page with our offensive linemen and making sure that we're good in protection and that I understand the protection calls. That they understand what I'm looking for and to make changes, and that way we're all on the same page."
Recent reports have Bradford's ankle injury at less than 100 percent, but the No. 1 overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft says the injury hasn't been a big deal.
"It's good enough to go right now," Bradford said. "It really hasn't caused me to miss any reps in training camp. So we're dealing with it (the) best we can, and it really hasn't been an issue so far."
The Rams open up their preseason schedule against the Indianapolis Colts at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
