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Sam Bradford remains confident and players remain confident in him

Before the season the biggest concern about Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford was his health. Now after a poor performance in Sunday's 20-10 loss to Dallas, the biggest question is about his psyche.

Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford.
Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford.Read more(Clem Murray/Staff Photographer)

Before the season the biggest concern about Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford was his health. Now after a poor performance in Sunday's 20-10 loss to Dallas, the biggest question is about his psyche.

As is expected of a quarterback, Bradford has taken his share of hits from the media and fans as the Eagles have stumbled to a 0-2 start. And now they have to visit a 2-0 New York Jets team that has caused 10 turnovers and is coming off Monday night's 20-7 win over the host Indianapolis Colts.

Bradford insists he still believes in his teammates and himself despite the bad start.

"I don't think it has done anything to our confidence," Bradford said Wednesday, "Obviously there are ups and downs in this league."

Bradford says that the key is sticking together.

"We can't back down and can't lose confidence in what we are doing or what our system is," he said. "I think we all still believe in it."

Then he added more of a positive spin.

"We had two good practices this week and we are looking forward to the opportunity Sunday to go out and play the Jets."

Against Dallas, Bradford completed 23 of 37 passes for 224 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

That lowered Bradford's passer rating to 72.3, which is 33d out of 37 listed quarterbacks. He has thrown four interceptions and two touchdowns.

To his credit, Bradford won't use rust as an excuse. Before the opening game against the Falcons this season, he hadn't played a regular-season game since almost the middle of the 2013 regular season.

He did say that one of the problems against Dallas was his foot work.

"A couple of those passes I missed, they were going to the right places, they just weren't good balls," he said. "If I look at the tape, I think my feet were a little bit off last week."

He said when his feet are good, so is his accuracy.

Eagles coach Chip Kelly came to Bradford's defense when asked if his quarterback is making the right reads and progressions.

"Sam is making the reads and the progressions going through what he has to in terms of getting from one to two to three," Kelly said.

What appears obvious is that the Eagles players have their quarterback's back.

"It is not his fault," tight end Zach Ertz said. "The line isn't doing a good job blocking and we're not doing a good job getting open. When he puts the ball where the ball has to be caught, we are not making the plays."

Receiver Jordan Matthews, who has three drops in the two games, echoes those comments.

"Sam is a humble guy and a great leader and will put a lot of the blame on himself, but at the end of the day, the rest of the offense, we have to make plays and do our best to make sure he is more comfortable," Matthews said.

Of course, Bradford hasn't always put the ball where it should be caught – at least by the Eagles. A case in point was the end zone interception by Dallas linebacker Sean Lee.

"I made the throw a little low," Bradford said.

Still, he remains encouraged.

"I know it is there," Bradford said. "I played really well in training camp, felt I had some good practices this week and will just try to build on that."

@sjnard