Eagles Beat: Sam Bradford (knee) takes 'small step forward,' participates in 7-on-7 drills

Eagles beat writer Jeff McLane on the status of QB Sam Bradford:

Sam Bradford, as Chip Kelly said was likely, practiced during seven-on-seven drills. The new Eagles quarterback took about five snaps, splitting time with Mark Sanchez, with the first team on Tuesday. He didn’t participate during the second set of seven-on-seven drills and sat out all of team drills, as expected. Bradford threw the ball well. The drops he took weren’t strenuous. While his full return still appears to be a ways off, Bradford took a small step forward. That is a positive.

He warmed up to the side as most of the team went through conditioning at the start of practice. He then partook in individual drills with the other quarterbacks, jogging to the next station whenever the drill moved. I didn’t notice a hitch in his step as he ran. Bradford walked with a noticeable limp after practice last Thursday, but I didn’t get to see him walk off the fields on Tuesday.

Over the last two seasons, Philadelphia quarterbacks have averaged 16.7 passing game-only fantasy points. Bradford isn’t much of a runner, but he adds about 0.7 FP per game as a rusher. That adds up to 17.4 FP, or about what Eli Manning averaged as the #13 QB in 2014. The Eagles’ offense has lost their top receiver – DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin – in each of the last two seasons, but Jordan Matthews and Zach Ertz are emerging and the team added Nelson Agholor in the draft. If Bradford ends up starting for the Eagles, we wouldn’t expect anything more than high-end QB2 numbers, but this is a definite system upgrade due to the overall effectiveness of Chip Kelly’s offense. The health of Bradford's knee is the biggest concern heading into 2015.