Eagles will sit Bradford in preseason opener

That Bradford’s plea was muffled seemed odd, given that it came just a couple of hours after Kelly’s proclamation that he had remained unbothered by the pending decision. He added, “These team settings which are a little bit uncontrolled, he gets out there and makes plays”. It’s just my call. A quarterback leads by playing, not by being babied.

“I think he can go”, said Kelly. “This has nothing to do with any of that”.

“I think you always want to make a good impression, not only on our fans but obviously my teammates”, Bradford said.

When asked late in May, Bradford was cautious in giving an answer, but was optimistic with his chances. In 2014, Bennie Logan and Riley Cooper missed the preseason opener before starting all 16 games. Hopefully, they will take advantage of any opportunity that comes their way over the next four weeks. From what I’ve seen, unlike the other quarterbacks, Bradford does not attempt sudden movements to get away from defensive linemen, who, of course, do not touch the quarterbacks in camp. That offense was so good, it continued to thrive last season despite Kelly’s departure.

This means that we’ll be waiting on beat reporters to announce who will and won’t play in the first game. Bradford feels normal, like his usual self, and is ready to get back to doing what he does best – playing football. His athleticism fits Kelly’s up-tempo offense.

The Eagles have never won a Super Bowl, so we get the urgency of fans wanting to see their beloved team bringing home a Lombardi trophy in the near future. Kelly said before the surgery was revealed that he had hoped to have him back by the season opener in Atlanta on September 14. Is Bradford among SN’s top 25 quarterbacks in 2015? This morning, he sat down and explained it to me. “I was told about it. If I got to meet the pope, I think that would be pretty cool”. He won’t play long, Kelly said. Bradford is coming off of his second ACL tear, but his accuracy has been stellar throughout training camp. “It’ll be fun to take off the red [QB practice] jersey as well”.

Kelly decided to release Trent Cole, Todd Herremans and Evan Mathis while watching Jeremy Maclin and Cary Williams leave in free agency.

Kelly said Mark Sanchez will start and play a few series, and Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow will see the majority of the action.

Starters don’t usually play more than one or two series during the first preseason game, so Bradford won’t be missing much except for the potential to suffer an injury.