St. Louis Rams’ head coach Jeff Fisher: I came here because of Sam Bradford – NFL News
St. Louis Rams’ head coach, Jeff Fisher, has said that he had joined the franchise because of the presence of quarterback, Sam Bradford, who is a ‘franchise quarterback’.
Fisher made these remarks on Thursday, May 24, 2012, while talking to Jim Rome of Rome.
The words of appreciation from the coach perfectly complement the rebuilding phase Rams are in at the moment.
The 2011 National Football League (NFL) season ended on a miserable note for the franchise as Rams could only win two out of 16 games.
As a result of their poor performance, Rams became eligible for the second overall pick for the 2012 draft. The ownership also fired the general manager and head coach and introduced new faces in the front office.
Fisher, who has a plenty of experience in the industry, was eventually chosen for the post of head coach. Before joining the team, he had also met with Bradford.
With the second overall pick in hand, Rams had an option to release Bradford, who was the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, and select another fresh quarterback. However, Rams decided against it.
Considering Bradford’s performance in the rookie season, one can hardly think of releasing him, but his second season was utter failure.
He was bothered by injuries throughout the season and struggled with accuracy and speed.
Nevertheless, Rams kept their faith in the quarterback and decided to trade down the pick to select more players.
Now Fisher’s comments have further clarified that Rams see Bradford as part of their long-term plans and goal.
When asked about Bradford, Fisher was of the view that the quarterback’s rookie season performance was more than enough to retain him. The head coach said:
“You have to kind of delete last year, look back to the way he played his rookie year, under Pat Shurmur, who did a great job with him in this offence.”
He added:
“We’re very excited. Brian Schottenheimer’s an outstanding coach and we’ve got a fabulous quarterbacks coach in Frank Cignetti. They’re off to a real good start. It’s really fun to watch him work and watch him improve.”
Bradford is participating in offseason activities at present.
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