ST. LOUIS (AP) - St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford will undergo surgery next Tuesday to repair a torn left knee ligament.
He expects to be ready for the opener next season.
"That's the plan," Bradford said Wednesday. "Like I said, just taking it day by day, trying to get better each day during the rehab process, and I'll be back when I'm back."
The surgery will be done by Dr. James Andrews, who also did Bradford's shoulder surgery when he was at Oklahoma.
Bradford said the rest of the knee is intact and it was a clean tear. On Monday night, he was on the sideline and has attended practices, too.
"Somebody asked me like, "Why are you still here?' It's like, what else am I going to do?" Bradford said. "Football is all I have, so if I weren't up here helping out, watching film, I honestly have no idea what I would do.
"It sure as anything beats sitting at home watching TV, listening to music, so I'll be up here until they kick me out."
Bradford said offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer advised him it might be time well spent to "develop relationships."
"Just because I can't be on the field working with those guys, doesn't mean that I can't spend time with them in the meeting room," Bradford said.
"It doesn't mean that I can't spend time with them away from the facility, just talk football, talk our offense, our language and just get more familiar with each other."
Bradford was injured on a scramble in the second half of a loss at Carolina in Week 7 when he was pushed out of bounds by Mike Mitchell. He didn't blame the player, saying his foot "just kind of got stuck and the rest of my body kept going, and that's what caused the injury."
"It's not like he came over and tried to kill me, either," Bradford said. "So I think it was a clean play."
Bradford didn't notice Mitchell taunting him after the play, but did see guard Harvey Dahl rush to his defense.
"I would like to think that he didn't know that I was injured, but I know what Harvey went up and did," Bradford said. "I really appreciate that, and it means a lot when your guys stick up for you."
Backup Kellen Clemens will make his second straight start this week against Tennessee.
"Kellen's been here for me a lot over the past couple years, and I'm trying to do the same thing for him," Bradford said. "Sit in the meeting room, watch tape, if he asks for my opinion I'm happy to give it to him."