Rams lose cornerback Gaines for season

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Rams lose cornerback Gaines for season
1 hour ago • By Jim Thomas

LOS ANGELES • The Rams got good news on the injury front coming out of the Oakland game. Linebacker Daren Bates will miss only a few weeks with a knee injury in Friday’s preseason opener against the Raiders.

But cornerback E.J. Gaines is out for the season after having surgery to repair a Lisfranc foot injury suffered the first weekend in camp. The talented cornerback, who made the Pro Football Writers of America all-rookie team last season, was in competition with Trumaine Johnson for a starting corner job and with Lamarcus Joyner for the first-team nickel back position.

“It’s a tough break,” said a team source, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “But the team will roll on. He’ll be 100 percent when he comes back. We’ll keep him busy and keep him occupied during his rehab.”

Gaines was a sixth-round steal a year ago out of the University of Missouri. He stepped into the lineup after Johnson suffered a knee injury in the team’s third preseason game (against Cleveland) and missed the first seven games of the regular season.

Gaines played so well that he continued to start even after Johnson returned to health, even expanding his role to nickel back duties when Joyner suffered a groin injury Nov. 9 against Arizona and sat out five games.

Gaines missed the season finale in Seattle with a concussion but was the only rookie cornerback in the NFL to start the first 15 games of the 2014 season. A sure tackler who held up well in coverage, Gaines finished fourth on the team in tackles with 105 stops, had a team-high 14 pass breakups, and came up with four takeaways on two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

The Gaines vs. Johnson competition figured to be the top defensive battle of training camp. But early in practice two weeks ago (Aug. 2) at Rams Park, Gaines got stepped on. He walked off under his own power, but with a limp, in what originally was thought to be a knee problem.

But it wasn’t the knee. After extensive testing, including a visit to nationally known foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson, the Lisfranc injury was revealed. The Lisfranc injury refers to the bones or torn ligaments where a cluster of small bones forms an arch on the top of the foot.

At the start of camp, the Rams figured to have good depth at the cornerback position, but obviously that depth gets tested without Gaines. The starting cornerback job opposite Janoris Jenkins now belongs to Johnson, a fourth-year pro who has had a good camp to date.

Johnson came back in excellent shape, staying in St. Louis to train during most of the break between the end of team workouts in June and the start of training camp at the end of July.

“Trumaine is in as good a condition as we’ve seen since he’s been here,” coach Jeff Fisher said at the start of camp.

Like Jenkins, Johnson is scheduled for unrestricted free agency at the end of this season. Johnson shined in Friday’s 18-3 loss to Oakland, saving a touchdown with an end zone interception of a Derek Carr pass. He cut in front of Raiders rookie wide receiver Amari Cooper on the play.

He also broke up a deep pass and was in on a couple of tackles in two series of work.

Without Gaines in the picture, Joyner must now step up as the nickel back. After a so-so rookie season Joyner also had a strong offseason and has had some moments in camp. But against Oakland, he was beaten easily by wideout Andre Holmes for a 3-yard TD reception in the second quarter.

After the three J’s — Jenkins, Johnson and Joyner — Marcus Roberson and Brandon McGee are next up on the depth chart at cornerback, minus Gaines. Roberson, signed as an undrafted rookie in 2014, has flashed good ball skills and coverage abilities during camp, and at the moment would rate as the team’s fourth cornerback.

McGee, a fifth-round pick in 2013 out of Miami, was injured most of last season, appearing in only two games. A foot injury has kept him out of most of training camp this season, and he did not play against Oakland.

As for Bates, he was on crutches in the locker room in Oakland after suffering a knee injury, but tests showed he has “only” a sprained medial collateral ligament.

That’s an injury that usually takes two to four weeks to heal. So Bates, one of the team’s top special teams performers on what has been one of the NFL’s top special teams units the past two seasons, could miss the rest of the preseason.

But he could be ready for the regular season opener Sept. 13 against Seattle. And in the big picture, he did not suffer anterior cruciate ligament damage, which would have meant season-ending surgery.

Also, left guard Rodger Saffold was doing better Saturday after suffering what appears to be a relatively minor shoulder injury on the opening drive against the Raiders. The injury was to his “other” shoulder, not the one that was repaired surgically after the 2014 season.

Saffold will have additional testing and probably needs to strengthen the shoulder before he gets back on the practice field.