Rams lose J. Long, Quick for rest of season
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-lose-j-long-quick-for-rest-of-season/article_e544564d-b860-54f2-b5fe-d18e7de5ff2c.html
Rams left tackle Jake Long engaged Kansas City defensive end Allen Bailey, then crumpled to the ground late in the third quarter Sunday.
Unimpeded, Bailey brought down the Rams’ Austin Davis for the third of KC’s seven sacks in a 34-7 thrashing of the Rams.
Just like that, Long was done for the year. He suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee— as he had done Dec. 22 against Tampa Bay. The Rams also lost wide receiver Brian Quick for the season because of a shoulder injury that occurred early in the second quarter.
“You know, everything that we said about Sam (Bradford) when Sam went down, needs to be repeated for Jake,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Monday. “Jake worked really, really hard to get back. And it was kind of an isolated incident. Isolated contact.”
Replays show that another Chiefs defensive lineman, Vance Walker, was rushing the quarterback to the inside of Long and made contact with Long’s right knee.
“He got hit low on the outside of the leg by the defensive tackle (Walker),” Fisher said. “It was just kind of a freak thing.”
Long’s re-tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament came 10 months after the original injury. Similarly, quarterback Bradford’s re-tearing of his ACL, on Aug. 23 in an exhibition game, was 10 months after his original knee injury.
Fisher said the similarity in the timing of the re-injuries for both players was happenstance.
“It’s just unique,” he said. “It’s a coincidental thing. Our (medical) guys are top shelf. They know what they’re doing. Both had knee braces on ’em as well. It’s just kind of unusual.”
Were Long and Bradford simply brought back too soon from their injuries?
“No,” Fisher said. “There’s no second-guessing there whatsoever. They were both ready to play.”
As for Quick, his injury occurred on an innocent-looking play as well. He was running a comeback route on a first-and-10 play from the Rams’ 20 with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half. He was aggressively wrestled to the ground by Kansas City cornerback Jamell Fleming after a 10-yard gain.
Quick landed on his left shoulder, attempting to brace the fall by landing on his elbow.
The result was a dislocated left shoulder and a torn rotator cuff.
That was Quick’s 25th, and final, catch of the season. In what was shaping up as a breakout year, the third-year player from Appalachian State finished with 375 reception yards and three touchdowns. He ranks first on the team in reception yards and is second in receptions (to tight end Jared Cook’s 27 catches).
“He was very productive,” Fisher said. “He took advantage of all the opportunities and made tough plays, tough catches. We’re gonna miss him. But as is the case when you have injured players, people step up. So we’ve got to have people step up.”
Coupled with the release last week of Austin Pettis, Quick’s injury leaves the Rams with only four wide receivers on the active roster: Kenny Britt, Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey and Chris Givens.
Quick will need surgery, but the date has yet to be scheduled.
“It’s a significant injury to his shoulder,” Fisher said. “We expect a full return, too. It’ll be a 100 percent recovery.”
At left tackle, Fisher said rookie Greg Robinson will take over Long’s spot — as he did Sunday following the injury.
“I thought he was fine” at left tackle, Fisher said. “He had some issues; they had outstanding rushers. But he was strong and stout. That’s what he does.
“We’ll have a week to work on the footwork and things like that. … But he went out there and knew what to do.”
Because of injuries Sunday to right guard Rodger Saffold (shoulder) and center Scott Wells (elbow), there is uncertainty as to what the line will look like other than having Robinson at left tackle and Joe Barksdale at right tackle next weekend in San Francisco.
Wells suffered his elbow injury with 7½ minutes to go in the third quarter while pass-blocking. Replays showed running back Benny Cunningham appeared to slam into the elbow while trying to assist Wells blocking a defensive lineman.
The Rams punted after that. On the first play of their next offensive possession, Long went down.
If Saffold can’t go against the 49ers, Davin Joseph starts at right guard. If Wells can’t go, Barrett Jones is the probable starter, although Tim Barnes could be an option there if he’s able to return after missing two games because of a shoulder injury.
Mike Person filled in at left guard Sunday when Robinson switched to left tackle after Long’s injury. So Person could start at left guard, but if Saffold’s back he’ll probably find himself there.
Early indications were that Saffold’s injury wasn’t serious, although his condition still was being evaluated, and it was unsure if he would miss playing time.
“We’re gonna have a number of players that will not be available for practice middle of the week. So we’ll just go kind of day-to-day with them,” Fisher said.
That category apparently also includes safety Rodney McLeod (knee) and backup safety Cody Davis (concussion symptoms), who left the Kansas City game two minutes apart in the fourth quarter and did not return.
And last but not least, defensive end William Hayes left the locker room on crutches Sunday after suffering a foot injury.
Davis began the concussion protocol, a series of tests and examinations mandated by the NFL to determine whether a player had a concussion or can return to practice.
“We had good results this morning,” Fisher said. “So he felt better.”
Cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who suffered a knee injury in the preseason, could be available to play against the 49ers.
Janoris Jenkins, who missed the Chiefs game because of a knee injury, could practice this week.
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Agamemnon
