By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
With the relentless pounding of the rain all around him making for wet and wild conditions on the grass field at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Saturday night, Rams quarterback 
“You have to look at the situation with the elements and the weather (and enjoy it),” Feeley said. “It was like backyard football. It is what it is. You have to make the most of it and use it to your advantage. There might be a situation this year where we have to play in the same kind of weather and we have been there, done that.”
Although his stay in the Rams’ 19-17 win against the Browns was brief, Feeley clearly was having a good time on his only series of the night.
In the aftermath of struggling with the rest of the first team offense in his limited repetitions against the Vikings – he was three of six for 19 yards in two series - Feeley made it clear that he wasn’t pleased with his performance.
Like any competitor, Feeley spent last week itching to get back on the field and had coach Steve Spagnuolo pushing for he and his teammates to get off to a much quicker start against the Browns.
Before he even stepped on the field, Feeley was buoyed by the presence of running back
“It was great,” Feeley said. “Having that guy in the backfield takes a load off. You can definitely see they respect him when he’s back there. Anytime you motion to give him the ball they are going to respect that. As a quarterback, that makes it a little bit easier.”
With Jackson behind him and a healthy offensive line consisting of the five players the Rams would like to start the season with, Feeley came out firing.
He hit tight end
Feeley came up shaken from the hit and holding his right (throwing) elbow. The injury would put Feeley on the sideline for the rest of the game but not until he finished his initial drive and completed the task of getting off to a fast start.
“(It was) just one of those things,” Feeley said. “I figured if I gave it a little time the pain would go away. We were lucky enough to get it in the end zone a couple of plays later. The guy came through free in the middle. He took his helmet and hit me in the elbow. It was just one of those deals.”
Feeley managed to stay on the field, handing off the Jackson on the next play then finding Bajema again for a gain of 10 and a first down.
Finally, on third-and-goal from Cleveland’s 9, Feeley again stood tall in the pocket and waited for tight end
“We talked about last week that we wanted to improve on our performance from last week and obviously last week didn’t go as well as we wanted but to come out here with the weather and get a touchdown and put points on the board is a positive thing to build on,” Feeley said.
After the touchdown, Feeley went to the locker room where he had X rays on his elbow and thumb which came back negative. He did not return to the game but Spagnuolo said he likely wouldn’t have after putting together that first drive anyway.
After the game, Feeley acknowledged he’d probably be sore but figured he’d be healthy enough to play against New England on Thursday night. On Monday, Spagnuolo said Feeley would not play against the Patriots on Thursday and rookie
Feeley had an MRI on the thumb Sunday night which revealed it was simply a sprain. Feeley will sit the rest of the week and could potentially return to practice on Saturday but the Rams will be cautious with him.
With all of that going on, Feeley still found a way to finish the drive despite the pain.
"When you are in the heat of the battle, as a quarterback and a player you never want to come off the field so I wanted to finish that thing," Feeley said. "I talked about the week before how we wanted to get better from the week prior and in order to stay in the game, that's what I had to do to accomplish it."
Feeley’s value to the Rams offense is somewhat of a liquid situation right now as the Rams have split his repetitions with rookie Sam Bradford for the better part of the past two weeks.
Spagnuolo has made it clear that Feeley and Bradford are still competing for the starting job on opening day but he also has been rewarded for signing and sticking with Feeley on a number of intangible levels.
“(It’s) Pretty well documented,” Spagnuolo said. “We’ve been talking about it a lot. It’s…we’re glad we have A.J. He’s got a command of the system and he’s got a command of the huddle. He’s been in the league a while. He’s played in games, so I think Sam is picking his brain and I think that’s helpful.”
Perhaps more than anything Feeley has done or will do on the field is that value to Bradford as he tries to acclimate to the NFL game.
Feeley is in his 11th year in the league and has spent the bulk of that time in the same offense coordinator Pat Shurmur runs in St. Louis. That extensive knowledge and comfort in the system could easily have Feeley holding back with Bradford in hopes of maintaining the top job.
But Feeley has never thought of it like that and embraced his role – and Bradford – from day one.
“Oh, it’s been awesome,” Bradford said. “He’s been great. I don’t think I could ask for anything more from him. Just the fact that he’s been in this offense for a long time, he has experience in this offense. Any time I have questions I go to him. He’s usually experienced what I’m going through or knows what I’m asking him about. He’s really able to give me a great answer.”
Taking it a step further, the guy who will work closest with both quarterbacks, has had an up close look at the interaction between the two quarterbacks. Center
“Hats off to A.J. for pulling him under his wing,” Brown said. “A lot of people discount veteran leadership, discount having a savvy veteran in the locker room. There’s a strategy behind that and A.J. is the type of guy that he will share everything with you that he knows and of course he knows a lot and A.J. is making sure right now that Sam knows everything that he knows and he is constantly pouring and feeding knowledge into him on a constant basis. With Sam, A.J. is…you can’t put a price on that.”
