ST. LOUIS — Time waits for no one in the NFL, but Sam Bradford stood on a practice field at Rams Park working to recapture what made him one of the league's brightest young stars. He looked downfield and floated a pass to wide receiver Greg Salas, one of many throws that were part of a veteran minicamp on Tuesday, five months before his most important season.
New coach Jeff Fisher stood a few yards behind the line of scrimmage and watched with crossed arms. Like he has many times before, Bradford made pass after pass look fluid with his 6-foot-4, 224-pound frame — a study in the promise the Rams see in him.
But this fall, Bradford's career will enter a new phase. He's only 24, but he's no longer the fresh-faced Heisman Trophy winner who walked across a stage at Radio City Music Hall to greet NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as the top overall pick.
Yes, Bradford has scars. He has lived both success and failure in his two years as a professional while managing expectations that come with being the face of a franchise that hasn't reached the playoffs since the 2004 season.
Bradford's third year in the NFL will reveal a lot about him. He will play under his third offensive coordinator. He will play under a veteran head coach within a scheme that resembles the one former coordinator Pat Shurmur used to allow him to become the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He will play knowing his organization trusts him enough to have traded the second overall pick in next week's NFL Draft and pass on a chance to take Robert Griffin III.
But time waits for no one in the NFL, and Bradford is transitioning from young talent to established star. He must show this fall he can recover from a dismal second year in which his team went 2-14.
"Obviously, last year was very disappointing as far as the (left ankle) injury, my performance," Bradford said. "It just wasn't up to par with what I expected from myself. So there's no doubt that I'm extremely excited to get back out there this year and prove to myself and to everyone else that I can be the type of player I think I can be."
Bradford proved himself as a rookie. He passed for 3,512 yards with 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He led St. Louis to a 7-9 record and within one game of its first NFC West title since 2003.
Bradford's struggle last season, though, wasn't entirely his fault. He threw for 2,164 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions while working behind one of the NFL's worst offensive lines. Meanwhile, former coordinator Josh McDaniels came to St. Louis with high fanfare but proved to be ineffective. (The Rams averaged a league-worst 12.1 points per game.)
"You look at the guys who have been successful in the NFL — a lot of them have been in the same system forever," former quarterback Tim Hasselbeck told FOXSports.com. Hasselbeck spent time with various teams in six NFL seasons after the Buffalo Bills signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2001. "Other guys have only had to make the change one or two times in their entire career. . . . He went from Pat Shurmur's offense, where he was excellent, into a very different offense with Josh McDaniels in terms of his responsibilities. That's a big change. Now, (current Rams offensive coordinator) Brian Schottenheimer will probably be a good combination of the two of those things."
That's good for Bradford. Still, the quarterback knows there's urgency involved with each NFL season. He knows there's a need to evolve and show he's worth the six-year, $78 million contract he signed before taking a snap as a professional.
His work at Rams Park this week shows he's no longer a rookie fascination or a second-year player trying to find his way. Yes, later this month Andrew Luck and Griffin will walk across the same stage he once did and inherit the hopes of their respective franchises. New faces emerge in the NFL, expectations change, and players must adapt or fall behind.
"It's his vision, release, accuracy — it's all those things that we expected to see," Fisher said when asked what has impressed him about Bradford. "He's picking things up very, very quickly. The accuracy, I think, if you have to pick one thing, it would be that. The ball's just in the right place every time."
That praise is another example of the dual reality Bradford faces as the Rams' Next Great Thing. The money is a positive and so is the job security. But with the fame comes a pressure to produce no matter the situation at an age when he's still growing.
No, Bradford hasn't had an ideal path in dealing with three offensive schemes in as many years. But the Rams' progress this season — or lack thereof — in recovering from their slide in 2011 will reflect upon him regardless.
"It's obviously really important," Rams wide receiver Danny Amendola said of Bradford's upcoming season. "Each year of experience is great. He's a competitor. I know coming off last year, he's really hungry and ready to get back out there."
But what will be accomplished when he does? The good news for Bradford is that McDaniels is gone and Fisher is savvier than former coach Steve Spagnuolo. It's unlikely the Rams' new coach will tolerate seeing his greatest offensive asset become as bruised as last season.
There's also greater optimism at Rams Park with Fisher's addition. Bradford said he would have been "disappointed" if the former Tennessee Titans coach weren't named Spagnuolo's replacement, and the quarterback's respect for his new leader shows.
Still, Bradford will be judged in a more critical way this fall, and the outcome is unknown. Time moves on, more is expected with experience and stars must produce.
Bradford has lived both highs and lows throughout his short career in St. Louis. What happens next will continue to shape his legacy.
