Sam Bradford feels he has been wronged this offseason, starting with the Eagles' decision to trade up for Carson Wentz without first notifying Bradford. It was enough for the veteran quarterback to skip voluntary workouts and request a trade, though the organization has maintained throughout that Bradford heads into the 2016 season as the starter.
On Tuesday, Bradford spoke with the media to explain why he needed a break.
"I just felt like I needed some time," he said, via CBS Philly. "I could have stayed here, could have continued to work here, but I'm not sure my head really would have been here those two weeks."
Points for honesty -- and for knowing full well that he's nothing more than a short-term solution while Wentz gets up to speed.
"My goal was to play well for the next two years and create that stability that I've talked about pretty much my whole career," Bradford continued. "Philadelphia is the place I wanted to be. I wanted to play well for the next two years, create that stability, and then sign a longer-term deal and stay here for the rest of my career."
In March, Bradford signed a two-year deal that could be worth $36 million. But despite his long-term goals in Philly, the Eagles obviously aren't interested in anything beyond that.
"My approach that I have now is week to week and it's always been like that," Bradford conceded. "The competition is what it is. I think if I continue to play at a high level each week on the field -- if we continue to win games -- if we are winning games, I think that I will be the starting quarterback and I will be out there. With that being said, I'm not completely naive. I mean I think you realize, if the organization made a move to get up to two, at some point it's probably not gonna be my team.
"But until it's not, I'm going to continue to lead these guys the way I did last year and I'm gonna do my job to the best of my ability."
So not only has Bradford come to grips with his professional fate, he also understands why fans might be put out by his behavior in recent weeks.
"I get it," he said. "[Fans] have every right to be frustrated. I think the only thing I can do going forward is to continue to get better. To go out there on Sunday's starting in September, play good football, win football games, and hopefully win them back. I don't think there is anything I can say. I think it's all about my actions and what I do going forward.
"I haven't read [social-media] firsthand, but I think other people have made it pretty clear that it's not pretty out there right now."
No word if "other people" includes Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett.
