With a brace on his right thumb and hand, quarterback A.J. Feeley won't be doing any arm-wrestling soon. Or throwing a football.

"He won't play on Thursday," coach Steve Spagnuolo said.

Which means quarterback Sam Bradford will make his first start in a Rams uniform Thursday night against, gulp, the New England Patriots.

"We're going to go against a really good football team on Thursday," Spagnuolo said. "Sam will be in with the starters because of the situation with A.J. And Steven (Jackson) will be in there with him. I'll be anxious to see how he reacts to that."

Because of the short work week, Bradford and the rest of the Rams have only two practices to prepare for the Patriots before traveling to New England. One of those practices took place Monday afternoon, with Bradford getting the lion's share of the reps.

"It's a mindset now," Spagnuolo said. "Certainly Dick (Curl) and Pat (Shurmur) will work with him."

Curl is the Rams' quarterbacks coach; Shurmur is the team's offensive coordinator. For starters, the coaches will script the first 15 plays of the game for Bradford and the offense.

"He's got to know those plays," Spagnuolo said. "There's a little bit of an adjustment when you're coming in as a starter, and when you're coming in second or third series. But I don't think Sam will see it any differently."

With Bradford in the lineup Thursday, it's easy to make the assumption that the starting job is his for, oh, the next decade or so. But to borrow one of Spagnuolo's pet phrases, the Rams' head coach isn't ready to go there.

Not yet, anyway.

Spagnuolo pointed out that Bradford wouldn't be starting Thursday if Feeley were healthy.

"A.J.'s the starter right now (if healthy); Sam's the backup," Spagnuolo said. "A.J. has a little better command of the offense. If you based it on two games, A.J.'s been able to move the football team when he's been in there. That's really what we want.

"Sam has a little bit of a ways to go in that. But at some point, if we feel the guy that is behind the starter can do a better job, to me, that's when you make the move. I don't know if that'll be next week. If it'll be three weeks. If it'll be four weeks. Sam still has a lot of things (to learn)."

In short, Spagnuolo is sticking with the original plan on Bradford: he won't start ahead of a healthy Feeley until the coaching staff feels he gives the team its best chance to win.

"I think A.J.'s doing really a pretty good job," Spagnuolo said. "I mean he certainly did the other night (against Cleveland)."

The Rams did not make Bradford available to the media Monday. But his teammates were happy for him.

"He's a great kid," safety Oshiomogho Atogwe said. "It is preseason, but any time you can play in this league, it's a blessing, and now he's getting his first start. I'm excited to see what he's going to do.

"I talked with him earlier, and he has a good head on his shoulders, and he's working to meet the challenge, and that's good to see."

Bradford has struggled so far this preseason, completing only 44.4 percent of his passes (12 of 27) for 81 yards in two games. He has no touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 51.8.

In the preseason opener against Minnesota, Bradford had next to no time to throw because of pass protection issues. He had much better protection Saturday in Cleveland but just didn't look sharp while operating most of the time in pouring rain.

"He's coming along," Feeley said. "He's had some tough breaks when he's played in the preseason games. You guys (reporters) have been around here and seen him practice - you know, he's doing a good job.

"Some things didn't go his way in the game, and certain things he can control and certain things he can't. But for the most part his development's been great. He'll be fine. He just needs to relax and play his game. He's got enough talent. He can do it."

For lack of a better term, Bradford looks like he's fighting it at the moment. And he's the type of player who's hard on himself.

"He is," Spagnuolo said. "He had a little bit of that (Monday). And that's going to be the growing pains for him. ... But he learns from everything he does. And he very rarely makes the same mistake twice. So that's a positive thing. We'll see what happens."

Meanwhile, Feeley won't even think about trying to throw until next week.

"There's a little bit of swelling in the hand," Feeley said.

Feeley said he has what's known as "game-keepers" thumb, an injury to the ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb. The best cure is rest and keeping the thumb immobilized.

Feeley also wore a compression sleeve up to his elbow Monday; he suffered an elbow injury on the same play that messed up his thumb.

"I think (trainer) Reggie (Scott) said he popped a bursa (sac) on the elbow," Spagnuolo said. "That is not as much of the issue as the thumb."

Feeley doesn't think the injury will jeopardize his ability to be ready for the regular-season opener Sept. 12 against Arizona.

"Right now, I'm looking at four days - that's kind of the break I'm taking," he said. "From there we'll play it day to day. Hopefully it doesn't set me back at all. Other than not playing this week, as far as going forward, I think I'll be fine."