Thomas: knee injury slows Quinn

Knee injury slows Quinn

Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/knee-injury-slows-quinn/article_854c5bd4-b653-5aaf-8b6a-e4bd22f48978.html

Defensive end Robert Quinn hasn’t been himself lately, and despite the depth the Rams possess at that position, it has taken some of the thunder out of the team’s pass rush.

Through five games, Quinn was averaging more than 50 plays per contest, second most to Aaron Donald among Rams defensive linemen. But Quinn, a two-time Pro Bowler, showed up on the injury report with a knee injury following the Game 5 loss at Green Bay, and since then his playing time and productivity have declined.

Since Green Bay, Quinn has missed one game entirely (vs. Minnesota) and averaged only 27 plays per game against Cleveland, San Francisco, and Chicago.

“We have some guys that have filled in very nicely,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “But when you have a Pro Bowler who’s not in there all the time like he usually is, you’re gonna notice it because he’s an impact player. He’s one of the best (in the league).”

One of the game’s elite pass rushers, Quinn had 17 tackles, four sacks, and three forced fumbles in the first five games. Since then, or since the knee injury, he has two tackles and one sack. But he has had four quarterback pressures, three quarterback hits, and four breakups (on batted or tipped passes) since the injury.

“I’ve slowed down a little bit, but need to get it back going,” Quinn said. “But no worries here. As soon as I get to feeling somewhat normal here, we’ll get it going.”

Quinn has declined to specify the exact nature of the injury, speaking only in generalities.

“Each day it’s been feeling better and better,” Quinn said. “Hopefully it just continues that way, and I can get back out there and be my old self again and contributing to this ballclub. Really no timetable on when it’s supposed to be 100 percent. One day at a time.”

Eugene Sims has been getting extra work at the right defensive end position, including the start against Minnesota, with Quinn hobbled.

“You just hope that his health continues to improve, and we can get him back to where he feels that he can do the things that he always does,” Laurinaitis said. “Hopefully we get Chris (Long) back soon and we’ll be able to kind of get a lot of starters back.”

Long has been sidelined since suffering a bone fracture in a knee-to-knee collision with Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari on Oct. 11, but was a full participant in practice Wednesday.

Quinn had played in 70 consecutive games prior to sitting out against the Vikings, so dealing with an injury is something new to him in the NFL.

“It’s a little different,” Quinn said. “There’s nothing you can really do besides study film, put your two cents in with what you see, help the next man.

“Hopefully, I won’t have to feel this way again. But it’s the NFL. It’s football. It’s a sport of collisions. It’s bound to happen eventually. It’ll be all right.”

After missing the Minnesota game, Quinn was on the field for only 14 plays against Chicago, almost exclusively on pass-rushing downs. Coach Jeff Fisher said the plan was to have Quinn on the field for 15 to 20 snaps against the Bears,

“I would expect to see his reps increase this week,” Fisher said.

Interestingly, the Rams’ first official injury report of the week Wednesday listed Quinn as not practicing because of a hip injury. There as no mention of the knee injury.