Philadelphia Eagles fans will have to wait a little bit longer to see Sam Bradford in uniform. While the Eagles have remained very complimentary and confident in Bradford's start to the season, that does not mean he is ready for action just yet. Still recovering from back-to-back ACL injuries, Bradford is just now making his way to being fully active in training camp which means the quarterback will not be starting come Sunday's preseason matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.
According to head coach Chip Kelly via NFL.com, Bradford will not be playing in the season opener and instead Mark Sanchez will get the starting nod against the Colts. Sanchez is expected to be the regular season starter, but not playing in the preseason could potentially hurt that effort. Kelly noted that the quarterback was not happy when told the decision.
"He's not real happy with my decision," Kelly said, via ESPN.com. "Just felt he's been out here for two weeks, done a real nice job. He'll get his first work against the Ravens when we get a chance to train with them for a couple days before we play and he'll play in the Ravens game. So Mark will start the game. I think he can go. I know he's disappointed but it's just my call. I think there's a fine line. Part of it, you like at what happened to Niles Paul last night for the Redskins, who's a tremendous football player who's done for the year right now. There's a fine line in preseason games where you are."
Kelly likely saw the two season-ending injuries the Washington Redskins suffered on Thursday night and opted not to take a chance. Instead, Sanchez, Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow will take care of quarterback duties come Sunday. With several players on the roster in need of proving themselves to Kelly and Company, those three are certainly some of them. Sanchez might have a slim shot at being the starter if he can really impress this preseason.
Riley Cooper and Josh Huff are two other players looking to make as much positive noise as possible on the field. The two wide receivers are aiming for a third spot in the starting rotation as Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor are the likely top two. They will have some more balls thrown their way with Zach Ertz out with injury. The tight end suffered a core muscle injury that will make him miss all of the preseason according to CSNPhilly.com. Ertz is currently battling to start over Brent Celek and this injury is a setback in that effort.
