St. Louis Rams are sticking with quarterback Shaun Hill for now

St. Louis Coach Jeff Fisher said Sunday that the Rams are ready to move forward with backup quarterback Shaun Hill after losing starter Sam Bradford to a season-ending knee injury.

Bradford suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee -- the identical injury that cut short his 2013 season -- in an exhibition game against Cleveland on Saturday night.

“We’ve got two issues here, I think,” Fisher said Sunday in a news conference. “We lost our starting quarterback, but for Sam personally, it’s devastating. The news was devastating to him as you can appreciate. Anyone that’s gone through that procedure and the rehab understands, and to have it happen again within the calendar year is very, very difficult.”

Hill, in his ninth season and on his fourth team, will be the starter when the Rams open the regular season Sept. 7 against Minnesota.

“Shaun is our guy,” Fisher said. “We brought him here. He’s got experience. We’ve got all the confidence in the world in him. We have, around our quarterback position now, probably as good of talent as we’ve had since we came here. Shaun is excited about that, and I know we’ll benefit from that.”

Hill, who previously played in Minnesota, San Francisco and Detroit, has 26 career starts -- 16 with the 49ers, 10 with the Lions -- with a combined 41 touchdowns and 23 intercepted passes.

“He has a great feel for the offense right now and we’re going to move forward with it,” Fisher said. “We’re not going to change anything. He knows the system. Again, everybody knows we’re going to run the football first.”

Fisher brushed aside for now the suggestion the Rams might look to acquire a quarterback either by way of trade or free agency.

“I’ve heard that there’s speculation that we’ve been on the phone, and that’s not true,” he said. “Doesn’t mean to say that we won’t, but we haven’t done it at this point. We’ll get together as an organization and see, but right now keep in mind these guys understand our system.

“Shaun’s ready to play. [Backup Austin Davis] can come off the bench and play if need be, and [reserve] Garrett [Gilbert] for that matter has had a good camp.”

Added Fisher: “It makes no sense to jump and react right now and try to fill the hole at whatever cost. We’re going to take our time and evaluate this. There’s going to be some quarterbacks that are released and there may or may not be some quarterbacks out there that have trade value. We just don’t know. It’s way too soon.”