RADIO
Not only is Sam Bradford not expected to be the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles this week against Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but there’s “no way” he’ll be ready for the Thanksgiving showdown against the Detroit Lions, according to NJ.com.
Bradford left last week’s game against the Miami Dolphins early with a shoulder injury as well as a concussion. The shoulder has been a constant thorn in the side of the QB’s five-year career. He passed for 236 YDS with a TD prior to the injuries. The 28-year-old has thrown for 2,297 YDS with 11 TD and 10 INT in his first year in Philly. He hasn’t quite got into a groove with the Chip Kelly offense just yet.
Now he’s going to have to watch from the sidelines as Mark Sanchez will likely be named the starter for Sunday and could very well be the man under center on Thanksgiving Day. Bradford did pass the concussion protocol, which is good news but he’s going to need more time for his shoulder to heal. If he misses the Week 12 matchup, he will have 17 days to heal for a tough game in New England against the Patriots.
The Eagles are only a game out of first place in the NFC East with seven games to go. If they can pull off the victory against the Bucs, they would be tied with the New York Giants for first place and would own the tie breaker. Sanchez will face a Bucs team that is 10th in the league against the pass at 233.2 YDS/game. Tampa has been up and down all season and owns a 4-5 record itself. This is going to be a big matchup and not as easy as the Eagles might have expected prior to the start of the season.
Sanchez made two AFC championships in his first two seasons in the league when he was with the New York Jets. He then moved on to Philly and replaced Nick Foles for nine games. He passed for 2,418 YDS with 14 TD and 11 INT. He didn’t too all that bad, but the Eagles just missed making the playoffs despite having a 10-6 record.
In last week’s relief appearances, he was 14/23 for 156 YDS and a crucial INT in the endzone. The Eagles scored 16 in the first quarter and only managed to score three more points the rest of the way. Now that he will have a full week’s worth of practice, he’s going to be more ready than he was against the Dolphins.
