Coach Stoops: Sam Bradford Out for 2-4 Weeks

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said it appears Sam Bradford could be out for 2-4 weeks from a sprained shoulder.

Stoops said Monday doctors told the Heisman trophy winner he has a 3rd-degree separated shoulder.

"Everybody heals a little bit differently...but it's a positive sign that everything around [Sam's AC joint in his right shoulder] looks good," Coach Stoops said. "It's a setback but you have to overcome it."

"You know obviously it's frustrating not being able to be out there right now but...it's just a matter of getting it healed and getting back out there," Bradford said of his separated shoulder in jury.

Bradford said Monday the injury was not nearly as painful as it was Saturday, and he hopes it keeps progressing like it is. The Sooners quarterback started range of motion rehab Sunday.

Bradford spoke with Eli Manning, who had a 2nd degree separated shoulder the year the Giants won the Super Bowl. Manning shared some tips with the Sooners quarterback on what he did to get back on the field.

Coach Stoops said one more doctor will evaluate Sam's injury and see if surgery is an option, but it's not in Bradford's mind. However, depending on the doctor's opinion, Bradford said he will sit down again with family and the team to decide if going back on the field is the right decision for him.

Bradford has also received get-well wishes from the quarterbacks who finished second and third in last year's Heisman Trophy balloting.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who became friends with Bradford during the Heisman festivities last December and then while rooming together at the Manning Camp for high school players over the summer, said Monday he sent his Sooners counterpart a text message.

"I told him I'd be praying for him and hope that he gets better soon. ... I wish him the speediest recovery possible," McCoy said. "I hope that he gets back and plays as soon as he can, whether that's for us or next week. I want him to be able to play because he's a great football player."

Florida's Tim Tebow, who won the 2007 Heisman and finished third last year, called it "a tough injury."

"Obviously, no one wants him to get hurt. No one wants that," said Tebow, whose Gators beat Bradford's Sooners 24-14 for the BCS title in January. "We wish that he has a speedy recovery and gets back to playing. He came back for his (junior) year to do some great things, so I wish that he could come back and play it, too."

Bradford was considered a potential No. 1 overall pick in this year's NFL draft before he decided instead to return for his junior year at Oklahoma, with his primary goal to win the national championship he narrowly missed a year earlier.

Only one game into the season, that dream is in jeopardy.

"I don't know if I can really put that into words, how big of a disappointment it is," Bradford said. "But that's in the past now. There's nothing I can do about that. There's nothing we as a team can do about that game."

Bradford also talked about freshman Landry Jones during Monday's press conference. Jones worked under Bradford during the summer and he said Jones is a tremendous player and he will do what he can to support Jones.

"You know that's not an easy situation to come into and I thought he did a great job leading our team," Bradford said.

Bradford was injured in the second quarter of Oklahoma's season-opening 14-13 loss to BYU on Saturday when he was hit by linebacker Coleby Clawson. Redshirt freshman Landry Jones, making his college debut, replaced Bradford.

"The other night, I thought he handled everything well," Stoops said. "(The offense) doesn't change. They're very similar styles of quarterback."

The Sooners play Idaho State of the Football Championship Subdivision on Saturday in their home opener.

Stoops said it's way too early to remind his players that it's possible for teams to rebound from an early loss and still get back to the BCS championship game for a second straight year.

"With all we're fighting through right now, right now it's just take it week by week," Stoops said. "We've got a lot of improvement to do, just in our own accountability of penalties and missed basic assignments that have to improve. To look down the road for that as well as fight through the injuries that we have to, we just have to focus on this week and getting better."

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