Bradford Continues To Make Progress

By Ed Benkin

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The health of Sam Bradford could play a huge part in the success of the Eagles this season.  So far, Bradford's health appears to be of little concern.

Bradford has not practiced with a knee brace since the off-season workouts, and he continues to make strides in his recovery from a knee injury.  Bradford is confident he will be ready to go when they Eagles play their first preseason game on August 16th.  As the Eagles intensified Bradford's workload this week, he did not look like a person coming off the second major knee injury of his career.

"The knee felt great," said Bradford.  "The first two practices (of training camp) went for about an hour and a half, and then we ramped it up to two hours.  My throw count went up considerably.  It felt good."

Chip Kelly also believes Bradford is progressing during the workouts.  He is confident Bradford won't have any lingering doubts about his knee when the games get underway, but Kelly believes a true test will come when Bradford faces pass rushers from other teams this summer.

"You're still wearing a red (practice) jersey," Kelly said.  "Even when the rush comes clean, they are going to pull up and kind of get away from you. But it's not going to be like that when we get into those preseason games, so that will be the test for all those guys."

While most believe a healthy Bradford will be the Eagles starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez is looking to make his case to be the starter.  While Sanchez will try to win the job, he said all of the quarterbacks are going through a respectful competition.

"Sam's played for a long time," said Sanchez.  "I've played for a couple of years now.  They understand the position.  They understand there is a respect across the league for this position and how much work you put in. There's never any negative energy out here."

While Sanchez is confident, it appears it will be difficult for him to win the job if Bradford is healthy and productive. It appears Bradford has already past the first part of the equation.

"I think I feel better than what I was expecting," Bradford said.  "I thought my knee would hold up, but I wasn't sure.  I hadn't put it through four days of practice coming into camp, but the way my knee feels right now, it feels great."

Eagles Linebacker Kiko Alonso sat out practice on Thursday after suffering a concussion on Tuesday.  DeMarco Murray also missed practice on Thursday with an illness.