St. Louis Rams – Blog

Rams Ready for Raiders

- The Rams just completed Friday’s practice and their preparation for Sunday’s game at Oakland. Coach Steve Spagnuolo was pleased with the work his team did this week and said he’s looking forward to the challenge of playing in Oakland. In his time in the league. Spagnuolo said it’s the one place he has yet to coach but he thinks he has a good idea of the atmosphere considering his past….

“I have gotten a pretty good indication of what it’s supposed to be like,” Spagnuolo said. “But you’ve got to remember I coached in Philadelphia for eight years. The one thing I will say and I am sure it’s the same way in Oakland, it’s passion for NFL football. So I respect that.”

- On the injury front, the Rams got pretty good news on a  pair of defensive tackles. Clifton Ryan returned to the facility on Friday after severe migraine headaches left him spending most of the past two days in the hospital. Ryan did not practice Friday and is listed as questionable for Sunday but Spagnuolo said if Ryan seems OK in the next day, he’d probably be good to go against Oakland.

- Fellow DT Darell Scott suffered a knee injury in Thursday’s practice but it was not serious. In fact, Scott didn’t even need an MRI and should be good to go against the Raiders.

- Cornerback Justin King did a little more work on Friday and the Rams are hopeful he’ll be ready to go Sunday. He is questionable and could be a gametime decision.

- Cornerback Kevin Dockery did not practice again because of his hamstring and isn’t likely to play.

- Considering the injuries, the Rams have already put into place some contingency plans.

- It looks almost certain that CB Jerome Murphy will make his debut as the team’s nickel corner. He worked there all week and Spagnuolo said

“(He’s done) pretty good,” Spagnuolo said. “We are still working with a rookie getting ready for his first NFL regular season game. But Jerome is a competitor so long as he competes he’ll be fine.”

- Linebacker Bryan Kehl has only been with the Rams a few days but because they are short on numbers at the position and on special teams, he’s likely to be active.

“He may have to,” Spagnuolo said. “I think we are looking at that. I’m sure Tom McMahon has got him up to speed.”

- It looks like rookie WR Dominique Curry will be active for the first time this week. After losing special teams studs Chris Chamberlain and Josh Hull, the Rams could turn to Curry to help out.

“I think that’s a good possibility,” Spagnuolo said. “He’s worked in there quite a bit. Now once we get all these injured people down, we will get to the 45.”

- The Rams have a method for rewarding practice squad players by giving one the chance to travel with the team every week based on how they help the team in practice. This week, it’s WR Danario Alexander who will get the experience of traveling.

- As always thanks for following along. Stay tuned for updates from Oakland this weekend and complete coverage on Sunday evening.

Jackson Practices, More Injuries

- The Rams appear to be snakebit right now when it comes to the injury bug. While they entered the season relatively healthy with only safety James Butler on the initial injury report, they took some hits over the weekend against Arizona. Injuries in games are very common in the NFL. But the Rams have taken a couple more blows in practice this week, limiting their depth.

- After losing LB Josh Hull for the season to a torn ACL on Wednesday, the Rams had another knee injury during Thursday’s workout. DT Darell Scott was the recipient this time and it remains to be seen how severe it is. He wrapped it up and was able to walk off under his own power. Will update when any new information comes along.

- Defensive tackle Clifton Ryan also did not practice after falling ill last night. Ryan went to the hospital and stayed overnight after feeling quesy earlier in the night. He was undergoing a battery of tests on Thursday. Like Scott, I’ll post another update when more information becomes available.

- As for the rest of the injury list, things remained about the same. Cornerback Kevin Dockery (hamstring) did not practice. Fellow corner Justin King was limited to individual work and did not participate in team drills.

- On the bright side, the Rams got a couple of players back in the workout. Running back Steven Jackson returned to practice as did receiver Laurent Robinson. Robinson was a bit limited but coach Steve Spagnuolo said he appeared to be pretty close to full strength.

- As far as the roster, the Rams made a couple of tweaks official. Linebacker Bryan Kehl was officially added to the roster after the team claimed him off waivers from the Giants. He’s wearing No. 50.

- Defensive tackle Jermelle Cudjo was brought back to the practice squad after he was released earlier in the week to make room for TE Darcy Johnson. The Rams released LB Mortty Ivy to make room for Cudjo. Of course, depending on the severity of Scott’s knee injury and Ryan’s illness, Cudjo could well be back up with the varsity before the weekend.

- With the injury situation as it is, here’s how the Rams break down at positions where those ailments have hit the hardest…
LB: James Laurinaitis, Na’il Diggs, Larry Grant, David Vobora, Bryan Kehl. All five are healthy with Hull on injured reserve and Chris Chamberlain out six to eight weeks.
CB: Ron Bartell, Bradley Fletcher, Jerome Murphy. Those three are fine with King and Dockery nursing hamstring injuries. The Rams are hopeful King will be ready for Sunday.
TE: Daniel Fells, Billy Bajema, Fendi Onobun, Darcy Johnson. Those four are good to go with Michael Hoomanawanui out six to eight weeks with a high ankle sprain. Onobun isn’t likely to be active this week as Spagnuolo says he still has a ways to go to be ready.

- Clearly, some more roster tweaks could be in the offing depending on how guys come along for injury. I’ll try to update Ryan and Scott’s status this evening. Thanks for checking in.