Cautious move was right one for Fisher/Wagoner

Cautious move was right one for Fisher
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11062/fisher-made-right-move-being-cautious

EARTH CITY, Mo. — St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher often talks about his preferred preseason method of bringing his starters along with a gradual build of snaps during the exhibition season.

In the past, Fisher sometimes has even opted to play his starters for a chunk of the fourth and final preseason game, a contest most teams usually hand over to the junior varsity in its entirety.

But Fisher did things a little different Thursday night in Miami when he sat his starters. All of them. For the whole game. Miami coach Joe Philbin took a similar approach.

After what happened to Fisher’s starters in Cleveland last Saturday, who could blame him?

“I think both coach (Philbin) and I were kind of on the same page as far as not playing players,” Fisher said. “They had a lot of players out. We did so, too, not typically something that we do, but again, after what we experienced last weekend, we thought it was what’s best for our team. We gave a lot of younger players an opportunity to play.”

Fisher hasn’t always used the gradual build. In 2013, he sat most of the starters in the fourth preseason game, but he had hinted all this preseason that he was going to play them against the Dolphins. Then he watched helplessly in Cleveland as quarterback Sam Bradford was lost for the season to an ACL tear, cornerback Trumaine Johnson suffered a sprained MCL that will keep him out four to six weeks and three other starters — defensive tackles Michael Brockers and Kendall Langford and offensive lineman Rodger Saffold — left the game with ankle injuries.

When things clearly are going against you, it made sense for Fisher not to tempt fate by forcing the issue in Miami. There were a few Rams who probably could have used the work, including linebacker James Laurinaitis (ankle) and defensive lineman William Hayes (offseason surgeries), after sitting out the other preseason games. Laurinaitis even lobbied to play.

Weighing the benefit of a few snaps against Miami backups against the possibility of further injury or re-injury really made it an easy decision.

By the time the Rams’ 14-13 loss to the Dolphins was complete, Fisher saw the result he wanted, even if the scoreboard might have indicated otherwise.

“There were some good things in there; there were some frustrating things,” Fisher said. “You get frustrated with some of the young mistakes our players make. Overall, our training room is empty right now, so that’s good news.”