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September 10, 2014 at 5:29 pm #6855
RamBillParticipantRams’ Chris Long out 8-10 weeks
By Nick Wagoner | ESPN.comEARTH CITY, Mo. — St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long has played in 97 consecutive regular season games since entering the league in 2008.
It’s a streak that will come to an end Sunday when the Rams play at Tampa Bay as Long is set to undergo left ankle surgery either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
The surgery is expected to keep Long out for eight to 10 weeks, according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. Rams coach Jeff Fisher confirmed the Rams will place Long on injured reserve with the designation to return later in the year.
“He will be back,” Fisher said. “When, I can’t predict at this point. We have a good feel that he will be back at some point late this season.”
Long suffered the injury early in the third quarter against Minnesota on Sunday when defensive tackle Kendall Langford was blocked into him and appeared to roll up on Long’s ankle. Long was helped off the field and did not want to speculate on the injury at the time.
After discussing options with Fisher, all parties agreed that surgery was the best choice.
“We felt this was the best course of action for his ability to return this season but also his career,” Fisher said.
Fisher said Long, who was voted a team captain last week, would return to be around the team as much as possible while he recovers. In the meantime, the Rams will turn to veteran end William Hayes to help fill the void left by Long.
For his part, Hayes is still in the process of coming back from three offseason surgeries of his own. He had operations on his ankle, collarbone and hip and spent the preseason working to get back into football shape.
Hayes’ first game since the surgeries came last week.
“I just don’t want to be a drop off this week, that’s one of the big things,” Hayes said. “I feel like he would be disappointed in me if I was to go out there this week and just really bum it. It was a hard fight coming back from all my surgeries this year but I’m ready to go.”
Fisher said Hayes won’t be the only one asked to help out in Long’s stead. Fellow veteran Eugene Sims is capable of playing both sides and undrafted rookie Ethan Westbrooks could be active for the first time in his young career.
Long’s surgery isn’t the only noteworthy one for the Rams this week. Fisher said quarterback Sam Bradford had the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee repaired Monday.
“Sam decided over the weekend and talking to him that he wanted to go ahead and get it done and get on the comeback trail again that he knows so well,” Bradford said.
Shaun Hill, who replaced is Bradford’s replacement, did not practice Wednesday with a quad injury. Fisher called Hill’s injury “day-to-day.” Austin Davis got most of the work with the first team Wednesday but recently signed Case Keenum also got a few reps.
September 10, 2014 at 7:47 pm #6880RamBillParticipantRams without more than Long’s production
By Nick Wagonerhttp://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11532/rams-lose-more-than-just-longs-production
EARTH CITY, Mo. — On a St. Louis Rams roster with plenty of holes to fill, losing a starter at most positions would be nearly impossible to overcome. But if there’s one place the Rams have the talent in place to step in when injuries strike, it’s defensive end.
At least in terms of production on the field.
While the Rams are equipped with talented backups like William Hayes and Eugene Sims, the loss of stalwart Chris Long to ankle surgery for the next two-plus months is a blow that runs much deeper than tackles, sacks and quarterback hurries.
Long is the fiery heartbeat of the Rams’ locker room, a player beloved by all of his teammates regardless of position. Just last week, Rams players voted him a team captain and cornerback E.J. Gaines sought advice from Long as he prepared to make his first start even though he plays a much different position.
Before Sunday’s opener against the Minnesota Vikings, it was Long who delivered the pre-game speech in the end zone, a job he’s done countless times in his six-plus seasons in the NFL.
When Long stayed down on the field after it appeared defensive tackle Kendall Langford rolled up on his foot in the third quarter, it was almost a shock that he didn’t get right up and walk off the field.
“It was kind of a unique injury,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “I’ve been here for a few years now and it’s not good when he doesn’t get up because he’s never on the ground.”
As the most tenured Ram on the roster in his seventh NFL season, Long has never missed an NFL game in 97 tries. For a team that hasn’t won much over that time, for Long to never miss a game was an even more impressive feat. In fact, his consecutive games streak ranks second only to Chicago’s Jared Allen among active defensive ends.
“He’s played through a lot of injuries,” Hayes said. “He’s a very tough guy. At the end of the day, it was mind boggling.”
Langford was just as surprised.
“When it first happened, I thought maybe he might miss a couple of days of practice, tape it up and get out there,” Langford said. “But unfortunately that wasn’t the case.”
To be sure, Long’s absence won’t just be felt in terms of leadership. He’s been among the league’s most productive ends over the past six seasons. His 50.5 sacks since 2008 are tied for 14th in the NFL. His 41.5 sacks over the past four seasons is 10th in the league in that span.
Replacing that production will fall into the capable hands of Hayes, Sims and maybe even undrafted rookie Ethan Westbrooks. That trio should be able to provide a reasonable facsimile of Long’s production from down to down. Hayes has 12 sacks in the past two seasons while Sims is a solid run defender who can spell him when needed.
Picking up the slack for Long in a leadership role is more of a day-to-day proposition. Hayes is an emotional type, quick to offer vocal guidance, and would seem the most likely to handle some of those duties. Players like Langford and end Robert Quinn are more lead-by-example types.
Outside of that group, linebacker James Laurinaitis is also a captain and would seem poised to take on even more of that responsibility moving forward.
“Everybody carries their own weight and leads in their own way,” Langford said. “You have just got different types of guys. We all respond to each other well and we respect each other and would do anything for each other.”
The Rams placed Long on injured reserve with the designation to return Wednesday afternoon, which means he’s out for at least the next eight weeks. In the meantime, they’ll make a roster move to fill his spot. But just because they’ll have another name on the depth chart doesn’t mean they’ll be able to replace him.
September 11, 2014 at 1:22 am #6909RamBillParticipantA Long run ends: Rams DE is out at least 2 months
• By Jim ThomasThrough thick and thin, and it’s been mainly thin lately at Rams Park, defensive end Chris Long has been a pillar.
The longest-tenured Ram hasn’t missed a game since he entered the league in 2008 as the second player drafted, out of Virginia.
“He prides himself on being available,” linebacker James Laurinaitis put it succinctly.
Long has been “available” for 97 consecutive games, the second-longest ironman streak among active NFL defensive ends — behind Chicago’s Jared Allen (111).
But Long’s streak is over. Further testing revealed that he needs ankle surgery for an injury that occurred against Minnesota and will be sidelined for at least two months.
He headed Wednesday to Charlotte, N.C., where Dr. Robert Anderson is scheduled to perform surgery Thursday.
It will the second Rams surgery this week, because coach Jeff Fisher announced Wednesday that quarterback Sam Bradford had surgery Monday.
“Sam will be back in town Friday,” Fisher said. “The doctors gave a good report. Sam decided (on the surgery date) over the weekend and we talked prior to the game that he wanted to go ahead, get it done, and get on that comeback trail again that he knows so well.”
In announcing the Long news following Wednesday’s practice, Fisher said Long will be placed on the injured reserve-designated for return list.
The IR-DR, as it’s called for short, was instituted in 2012. It’s a one-player exception to the normally season-ending injured reserve list designation.
Under IR-DR rules, Long can’t practice for at least six weeks and cannot play in a game for a minimum of eight weeks. That means the earliest he can return is Nov. 9, at Arizona.
William Hayes starts in Long’s place Sunday at Tampa Bay. Eugene Sims also could see more playing time.
And rookie Ethan Westbrooks, who was a pregame inactive against Minnesota, probably dresses this week against the Buccaneers.
“I’m disappointed for Chris,” Fisher said. “I won’t go into specifics on the surgery; it is unique, however. He will be back. When, I can’t predict at this time.”
Long was stepped on from behind five minutes into the third quarter against the Vikings, while trying to shed a blocker. Just the sight of Long on the ground was a jolt to the Rams, Fisher included.
“I’ve been here for a few years now, and it’s not good when he doesn’t get up, because he’s never on the ground,” Fisher said.
“For him to be down on the ground like that …” Laurinaitis said. “You could kind of tell by his facial expression this wasn’t a normal little ding. … It (stunk)to see him like that.”
Long has been such a fixture and so durable for six-plus seasons, it was odd not seeing him on the practice field Wednesday.
“I actually just texted him and said, ‘It’s different not having you out there,’ “ Laurinaitis said in the locker room after practice.
There still was a sliver of hope among some players earlier in the week because of Long’s track record of playing through injuries, of always being out there. But then came the bad news on Long, one of the Rams’ team captains and one of the league’s top 10 pass rushers in terms of sacks over the past four seasons.
“No pity show out there,” defensive end Robert Quinn said. “Of course, we want him to be with us. But it’s just not gonna happen. So we still want to go out there and try to play lights out. Try to play as hard as we can every single snap. And hopefully put a smile on his face with a win this weekend.”
It will be up to the player known as “Father Nature” by his teammates, Hayes, to pick up the slack at Long’s left end position. Hayes got that nickname because at the ripe old age of 29, he’s one of the oldest Rams on the roster.
Hayes has been a super sub for two seasons, backing up Long since signing as a free agent from Tennessee. Over that span, it has been said many times that he could start for many teams in the NFL. Now Hayes gets his chance to show that’s true, by starting for the Rams.
“That’s the upside to the whole issue,” defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. “We’ve got a veteran guy that could start anywhere in the league. He’s here playing behind Chris, and now he’s up. There’s no (dropoff) with this guy in the game.”
“The thing I like about Will is he’s gonna give you everything he’s got, every single snap,” Laurinaitis said. “He plays with a passion and energy that sometimes you’ve gotta try to (reel) him back a little bit.”
Rams radio analyst D’Marco Farr, a Pro Bowl defensive tackle on the club’s Super Bowl championship team, said when Hayes hits the field it’s like an all-out brawl is about to take place.
“And I don’t mean fighting,” Farr said. “I mean the way he plays the game. He raises the intensity of the entire field when he steps out there.”
How intense is Hayes?
He’s the guy who was so upset after last year’s loss to his former team, Tennessee, that he smashed a mirror in the Edward Jones Dome locker room with his forearm, leading to him receiving multiple stitches.
Hayes missed all of the June practice sessions because of three offseason operations, the most serious of which was for a hip injury. And just as he was getting on the field in training camp, he suffered a chest injury that set him back a couple of weeks.
As a result, he missed all four exhibition games and barely practiced at all during camp. Suffice to say he was rusty in the opener against Minnesota.
“Yeah, I hadn’t played football since last year, so I just had to get my feet back up under me,” Hayes said. “I feel great now. The more I play, the more I practice, the better I’m gonna be feeling.”
Hayes has started only 13 games in his six-plus seasons, and only one since 2009. But because of the circumstances, Hayes isn’t excited about getting this chance.
“I would rather be Chris’ backup than him be hurt,” Hayes said. “Because at the end of the day, he’s my friend before all this football stuff.”
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September 11, 2014 at 1:05 pm #6939RamBillParticipantTargeting Chris Long’s possible return
By Nick Wagonerhttp://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11555/targeting-chris-longs-possible-return
EARTH CITY, Mo. — The St. Louis Rams moved swiftly to place defensive end Chris Long on injured reserve with the designation to return Wednesday afternoon.
Long’s left ankle surgery was scheduled for Thursday morning with Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, North Carolina. From there, the Rams and Long will have to follow league procedure before he can return to the mix in what figures to be an 8-to-10 week recovery.
The NFL added the designated to return form of injured reserve in 2012 with the idea of giving every team a chance to stash a player who might miss an extended period but not enough to be out for the season.
With that in mind, here are some basics to remember about how it works and how it will affect Long:
Each team can only use the designation to return once. Now that Long has been designated, the team cannot use the tag again. They did it with safety T.J. McDonald in 2013 and center Scott Wells in 2012.
The earliest Long can return to practice is six weeks from Wednesday, which would be Oct. 22, the week the Rams travel to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. That’s at the absolute earliest and Long would not be eligible to play against the Chiefs.
Once Long begins practicing again, the Rams would have a maximum of 21 days to restore him to the active roster.
The earliest Long can play in a regular-season game is eight weeks from Wednesday, which would be Nov. 5. Obviously, the Rams don’t play a game on a Wednesday night so the soonest he could play in a game would be the Nov. 9 game at the Arizona Cardinals. For that to happen, the Rams would have to restore him to the active roster after eight weeks.
Of course, the extent of Long’s rehab is unknown at this point so pinpointing a specific return date right now is nearly impossible. Knowing Long, though, it wouldn’t surprise if he came back on the front end of when the rules allow.
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