OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops doesn't know
whether Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford will be ready for Saturday night's
game at No. 17 Miami, but said it won't be a game-time decision.
"I would think we would know here later in the week what
Sam's able to handle and where we feel we're at with it," Stoops said Monday on
the Big 12 coaches conference call. "I would think it would be earlier than (a
game-time decision)."
Stoops said "everything has been positive" in Bradford's
recovery since he was hurt just before halftime in Oklahoma's season-opening
14-13 loss to BYU. He has missed the No. 8 Sooners' last two games with a
sprained AC joint in his right, throwing shoulder.
Bradford visited Dr. James Andrews in Alabama over the
weekend to get an additional opinion on how his recovery is going. Stoops said
Andrews had also been consulted while the team was deciding what course of
action to take after Bradford's injury.
"When it all first happened, we got multiple opinions and
everybody's were all pretty similar and felt that our guys were definitely on
the right track," Stoops said.
Stoops refused to assess Bradford's chances of playing
this week.
"I'm not much on – maybe some people would disagree – on
being coy or evasive on stuff. I pretty much usually call it as it is and when
we don't know, I say we don't know just yet," Stoops said. "I'm not smart enough
to deal with all of that, so I just kind of call it as it is and that's what I
will (do) here. We'll just see how the week goes."
Redshirt freshman Landry Jones has replaced Bradford as
Oklahoma produced back-to-back shutouts against Idaho State and Tulsa. Jones set
a school record with six touchdown passes in the win against Tulsa.
"The game plan is similar for each," Stoops said.
"They're similar. It's not like one's a scrambling, wildcat type of guy and
you've got a whole different ballgame for him. As far as game plan, that's not
challenging in that we'll have the same one for both of them."
Stoops didn't provide a timetable for when Bradford
would have to go through a full practice or hit other benchmarks to show he's
ready to play.
"We just have to feel comfortable that he's healthy,
that he feels good enough to make the throws we need to make and he's ready to
do it," Stoops said.