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Jenni Carlson
9/15/2011, 05:30 AM
St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford made all the throws during a short practice, making a fast recovery from a bruised index finger.

More... (http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20110915_223_B6_CUTLIN7 68121&rss_lnk=92)

Aries
9/15/2011, 06:57 AM
Another article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch



Bradford throws, Rams exhale
BY JIM THOMAS • [email protected] > 314-340-8197 | Posted: Thursday, September 15, 2011 12:20 am

The original plan for Sam Bradford was to wait until Thursday or Friday before attempting to throw a football. But Bradford's bruised right index finger felt good enough that he threw — and threw well — Wednesday at Rams Park.

"He's kind of over the hump with some things," coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "Looks like he's going to be OK."

With an extra practice day this week because of the Monday night game against the New York Giants, the Rams went for only 65 minutes Wednesday, about half of a normal practice. Abbreviated session or not, Bradford looked good as new, throwing even deep routes with apparent ease. He had no tape, bandage or wrap on the hand or finger during practice.

"The hand feels 10 times better than it did on Sunday, and even on Monday the morning after the game," an upbeat Bradford said. "That's encouraging. Hopefully it continues to get better, and it'll hopefully be 100 percent by Monday."

With injury problems all over the roster, no one was happier to see Bradford throw than Spagnuolo.

"It'd be the understatement of the year to say that it was a relief," Spagnuolo said. "I think the whole football team, everybody feels that way. We all know how we feel about the quarterback on any team because it's an important position, and we know what Sam means to ours."

Bradford suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 31-13 loss to Philadelphia. Just as he was finishing his throwing motion, the left hand of Eagles pass rusher Juqua Parker slammed into Bradford's hand. There was initial concern that Bradford might have nerve damage.

"I really was worried about it," Bradford said. "I wouldn't have come out of the game if it wasn't serious. I couldn't feel (the finger). I couldn't move it that night, and so I really was concerned. But our training staff's done a great job. It's starting to come around."

In the violent world of the NFL, an index finger injury might not seem like much. But when it's on the throwing hand of a quarterback, well, it's difficult to function.

"You've got to remember, when you're throwing the football the last finger that's on the ball is your index finger," said former Rams quarterback Kurt Warner. "And that really helps you to guide it and spin the ball like you want to as it releases from your hand. ... So if you don't have that full capacity, I think you could definitely struggle."

When he was with Arizona, during the Cardinals' Super Bowl season, Warner suffered a broken index finger on his throwing hand. Following the injury, Warner said he wouldn't have been able to play without wearing a glove on his throwing hand. He actually had begun wearing a glove earlier in Arizona to help grip the football because of a chronic thumb injury from his Arena Football League days.

"I remember specifically saying to myself that had I not been wearing the glove and made that commitment to it a couple years earlier, I don't know if I could've continued on that season and played," Warner said. "Because it was painful and it was weak and I couldn't get what I wanted to on the ball (without the glove)."

Bradford quickly shot down a question Wednesday about the possibility of him wearing a glove to help his grip.

"Uh-uh," Bradford said. "There's no way. I've tried it, and it's not pretty. It's not for me."

Judging by how he threw Wednesday, it looks like a glove won't be necessary anyway.

"He looked fine. You guys saw him," wide receiver Brandon Gibson told reporters.

"I would've never thought he had a hand problem today, if I'd never seen the game Sunday," wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker said. "So that was a good sign to see him go out there and make the throws like he's been doing."

Speaking just minutes after Wednesday's practice, Bradford said the finger was a little sore after throwing. He's still getting treatment for the finger, and even though he won't wear a glove in practice or games, a glove used in his rehab has helped get the swelling out.

"They've got this glove that I wear," Bradford said. "Everyone says I look like Michael Jackson. They send like an electrical current through it; I don't really know what it does, though. They say it works, and obviously my hand feels better, so I trust 'em. So I guess it is working."

Head athletic trainer Reggie Scott says the specially designed glove is dampened in water, wrung out, then plugged into an electrical stimulation unit. (The water, Scott says, helps the conductivity.)

"Electricity runs right through it and it flushes all the fluid out of the hand," Scott said. "So it's a neat little gadget that we found and it's helped out. Sam's been living in it. He takes the (stimulation) unit home with him."

Although he threw "barehanded" Wednesday, Bradford isn't sure if he'll wear any kind of protection on or around the finger Monday. One thing's for sure, the Giants are aware of Bradford's injury. According to The Associated Press, Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka told New York reporters not to be surprised if the Giants somehow hit Bradford's bruised finger during the game.

"It is cutthroat, from top to bottom," Kiwanuka said. "There is a line between playing tough and playing dirty. You just don't cross the line."


Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/article_c8ef541f-b6ea-5676-804d-06d79f9a8b1e.html#ixzz1Y1OAaGAp