EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Sam Bradford has had six head coaches and six offensive coordinators in his seven seasons in the NFL, so he's accustomed to having his nose buried in a playbook.
But never before has Bradford, acquired Saturday through a trade, had to learn an offense this quickly.
For his part, Bradford said all he's focused on is doing his best to get up to speed.
"It just takes time, it takes reps. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of either of those," Bradford said. "I've had to learn new offenses in the past. I don't know if I've ever had to learn one quite this fast or in this much of a hurry.
"Kind of got thrown into the fire, everything at once," he added. "I think that's how we're going to have to do it."
Bradford said he usually learns an offense by focusing on the basic points of it before getting into the finer details. But with the regular season on the horizon, Bradford said he's essentially getting a crash course.
Vikings tight ends coach Pat Shurmur was Bradford's offensive coordinator with the Rams in 2010 and last season in Philadelphia, giving the 28-year-old a familiar face to rely on.
Bradford noted that while the terminology and system are different with the Vikings and Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner, he can still pick up things here and there from Shurmur and other systems he's played in.
"I think conceptually there is some carry over," Bradford said. "There's some plays that we run that are the same, if not the exact same but very similar to things I've done in the past.
"Obviously the big part is the communication. The line calls, the way we call plays in the huddle, the language. It's all different," he added. "Trying to convert it from what it was in the past to what it's called here. That's kind of the tough part of the process right now."
Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer said the fact that Bradford has played in a variety of offenses could help speed up his learning curve.
"I think concepts are the same, but it's different terminology and things like that," Zimmer said. "It's really the same for everybody when they come in. So, I'm sure him being experienced has helped and been in a couple different offenses."
Zimmer met with the media Monday and didn't name a starter for Sunday's game in Tennessee. He said Bradford and quarterback Shaun Hill will split first-team reps at practice. Hill has added extra work with receiving targets since Bridgewater's injury.
Vikings players are off Tuesday, but don't expect Bradford to go apartment shopping or try and find his way around Minnesota.
He'll be hard at work with his best friend these days — his playbook.
"I only know what we've done the last two days, or what they've taught me in the past two days," Bradford said. "As far as what percentage that is of the playbook, I don't know. I'm sure it's a very small percentage.
"I can tell you, with what we've done in the past few days, I feel pretty good with those," he added.
