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The St. Louis Rams have reportedly hired former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke to become the team's new quarterbacks coach.
Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch passed along word of the hire:
After winning college football's top individual honor in 2000 at Florida State, Weinke spent the next seven years in the NFL. The first six were with the Carolina Panthers, which selected him in the fourth round of the 2001 draft, before a one-year stint with the San Francisco 49ers.
His main task in his new role will likely be working with Sam Bradford. Rams general manager Les Snead shot down speculation surrounding the first overall pick in 2010. Myles Simmons of the team's official site provided his comments amid talk about the potential exit.
"Let's get Sam healthy and then when he's healthy and ready to go, let's let him go compete," Snead said. "I think the guys got a chance to be a heck of a starting quarterback, [but] let's insure the position and that's just [to] give us options in case we do have bad luck."
Tony Dejak/Associated Press Injuries have prevented Bradford from being able to fill the role of franchise quarterback. He's appeared in just 49 of 80 potential games over his first five years in the league. Staying healthy is obviously crucial to any future success.
In the times when he's been able to stay on the field, he's flashed talent. He's thrown 59 touchdowns, including 14 in seven games two years ago before getting hurt, with 38 interceptions.
Weinke will be expected to help Bradford finally reach his potential should he avoid the injury bug next fall. Furthermore, he'll need to get Austin Davis and any new quarterbacks the Rams bring into compete ready just in case their starter goes down again.
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