http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-report-team-works-outdoors-on-friday-ready-for-broncos/article_bf7743f5-2ef1-5feb-ad4a-fa11a29f40a0.html

INJURY REPORT

Cornerback Marcus Roberson, who suffered an ankle injury in the Rams’ road victory over San Francisco two weeks ago, has been ruled out of Sunday’s game.

Others sitting out Friday’s workout were linebacker Daren Bates (groin), defensive back Lamarcus Joyner (groin), wide receiver Damian Williams (hamstring) and defensive tackle Alex Carrington (quadriceps). Carrington is listed as questionable for Sunday while the rest are doubtful. Linebacker Will Herring (foot) was limited in practice Friday and is probable.

Also listed probable are starting middle linebacker James Laurinaitis (foot) and starting defensive end William Hayes (fibula). Both were full participants in Friday’s workout.

With starting running back Ronnie Hillman out with a foot injury, the Broncos’ Montee Ball could see some action Sunday in front of the hometown fans. Ball, who starred at Timberland High in Wentzville, has missed the last five games with a groin injury but has practiced this week and is listed probable for Sunday.

Hillman leads the Broncos with 378 rushing yards and has scored four touchdowns. Last week, second-year back C.J. Anderson enjoyed a career day when he rushed for 90 yards and added 73 receiving yards. It was his thrilling 51-yard catch and run for a touchdown late in the first half that helped the Broncos erase a 10-6 deficit and go on to a 41-17 rout of the Raiders in Oakland.

Ball, the team’s second-round draft pick in 2013, ran for 559 yards with four touchdowns as a rookie. This season, he started three of the first four games, rushing for 172 yards and a touchdown with nine receptions for 62 yards.

Tight end Virgil Green (knee) did not practice and is doubtful for Sunday. The rest of the players on the Denver injury report _ tackle Ryan Clady (groin), tackle Paul Cornick (shoulder), guard Orlando Franklin (knee), safety Quinton Carter (knee), linebacker Steven Johnson (ankle) and running back Juwan Thompson (knee) _ practiced on Friday and are probable for Sunday.

Brian Schottenheimer points to turnovers leading to QB change

By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/13698/schottenheimer-points-to-turnovers-leading-to-qb-change

EARTH CITY, Mo. — If it wasn’t already clear why the St. Louis Rams decided to go back to veteran Shaun Hill at quarterback this week, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer offered further explanation this week.

Simply put, Austin Davis’ propensity for turnovers, not just the sheer volume but the way in which they seemed to turn into immediate points was the driving force behind the decision.

“Austin has played really well for the most part,” Schottenheimer said. “I think the big thing for us was the turnovers. It’s hard to win in this league when you’re turning the football over. We brought Shaun here to be the backup. Austin kind of kept the job because he was playing so well, but now that Austin’s struggling a little bit we just feel like Shaun’s a guy that’s played. Obviously, has the experience. He’s been in this situation before and will go out there do some things and give us just some energy and things like that.”

More than energy, the Rams hope that Hill can cut down on the type of crushing mistakes that have dotted Davis’ time as the starter. In his eight starts and nine games, Davis threw four interceptions and coughed up two fumbles that were returned for touchdowns. Five of those six returns for touchdown have come in the fourth quarter.

Considering the Rams’ knack for starting fast and finishing slow, they can’t afford those types of costly giveaways with the game on the line. With Hill back in the mix, the Rams won’t ask him to take over games and throw it all over the field. Instead, they’ll hope that Hill can be the steady veteran hand they signed him to be and hoped he would be when he initially replaced Sam Bradford.

After a couple of days of watching Hill get back to work in practice, Schottenheimer said he doesn’t expect there to be much rust to knock off.

“He looked really good out here,” Schottenheimer said. “He’s been preparing. He’s a pro. He’s been in this role before. We were teasing a little bit that he looked a little out of shape. Maybe had too many snacks over the last couple weeks, but he’s looked really pretty good, done a nice job. Ball’s coming out of his hand well. Making good, clean decisions. I don’t see the rust.”

2 from off the net

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laram

The “Big Nickel” or Buffalo as Spags called it sure looks different with TJ or Barron playing the hybrid lb than it did when Dahl was playing it.

I use to hate this alignment with Dahl because he couldn’t hold up and the Rams would get gashed in the run game.

Both Barron and TJ are stout in the box.

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BonifayRam

after last weeks game against the Cards sure makes me feel real good about this trade. Barron is 6-2 213 & McDonald is closer to 6-3 @ about 220 pounds himself, sure will make our opponents pass catchers roaming around our secondary some serious concerns. With our starting CB’s off the injury list finally & Gaines sliding into the Nickel & Barron, McLeod & McDonald on the field at the same time that should be a new look for our Rams & for Manning.

PFF Preview: Broncos @ Rams

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/11/14/pff-preview-broncos-rams-week-11/

Coming off a blowout win against the Oakland Raiders, the 7-2 Denver Broncos will travel to St. Louis to take on Jeff Fisher’s 3-6 Rams.

As displayed many times this season, Peyton Manning’s receiving weapons are incredibly dangerous and difficult to defend. Denver’s wideouts are a very important cog in the team’s offensive machine. Demaryius Thomas ranks third among wide receivers with a +11.6 overall grade, and leads the NFL in yards after the catch (459 yards). Thomas is tops at his position in Yards per Route Run as well, posting a stellar 2.96 average. Fellow receiver Emmanuel Sanders has been equally effective in 2014: his quarterbacks have a 126.4 rating when targeting him in 2014, while his catch rate on Deep Passes (20 yards or more) is a solid 55.6, which is third at his position.

The Rams will have a tough time defending Denver’s receivers, but their secondary may be up to the task. Rookie cornerback E.J. Gaines has a strong +4.4 coverage grade and is tied for third at his position with seven passes defended. Gaines is also allowing only 1.01 Yards per Coverage Snap, which ranks him inside the Top 15 cornerbacks for that stat. Free safety Rodney McLeod has also graded positively in coverage this season (+2.4) and has only allowed 44 total yards after the catch. St. Louis’ secondary will certainly be targeted often seeing how much Manning trusts his receivers, so how they hold up to this test will be a telling indicator of the game’s ultimate outcome.

Here are three more notable numbers for each side:

Denver Broncos

Von Miller – leads all outside linebackers with a +23.9 pass rush grade, 32 quarterback hurries and 50 total pressures.

C.J. Anderson – has forced 14 missed tackles in only 38 touches this season, earning him an elusive rating of 100.7 (third among running backs with at least 30 touches).

Chris Harris Jr. – ranks first among cornerbacks with 0.52 Yards per Coverage Snap, while opposing quarterbacks have earned a 44.0 rating when throwing at him.

St. Louis Rams

Aaron Donald – the rookie leads all defensive tackles with a +13.8 run defense grade and is second with a 12.3 Run Stop Percentage.

Jared Cook – ranks at eighth among tight ends with 1.81 Yards per Route Run.

William Hayes – despite the attention that teammate Robert Quinn receives, Hayes ranks inside the Top 10 4-3 defensive ends in Pass Rush Productivity (10.8) and Run Stops (13).

Chris Long is no longer a ‘ghost’

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/chris-long-is-no-longer-a-ghost/article_9794904c-30a1-5bb5-a668-2969b8d4f5c1.html

When you’re sidelined by injury for a lengthy period of time, it’s almost like you disappear in an NFL locker room.

Rams defensive end Chris Long, who played in 97 consecutive games to start his career, never experienced that feeling until he suffered a foot injury in the season opener against Minnesota. Surgery was necessary to repair two torn tendons in his left foot, and then the long rehab process began.

“I’m telling you, it’s weird when you’re walking around without a helmet and a jersey for seven, eight weeks,” Long said. “You feel like a ghost sometimes.”

It has actually been nine-plus weeks since the injury. But Long’s time as a ghost are over. He returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since the injury. It’s very doubtful he plays this week against Denver, but he could be starting a new consecutive games streak after that.

“There’s a lot you don’t take into account when you’re coming off a surgery and you’ve got to rehab and strengthen,” Long said. “So it was great to get back out there with my teammates. It was just really exciting to have a jersey on. I felt like I was part of the team again.”

Long’s participation in practices this week has been limited to individual periods, when the defensive linemen do drill work on their own. The next step, of course, is “team” — or 11-on-11 work — followed by returning to game action.

Long was hesitant to pinpoint exactly when he might return to game action from the injured reserve/designated for return list. He has a maximum practice window of three weeks before the team must decide whether to put him on the 53-man roster or keep him on IR for the rest of the season.

On Wednesday, coach Jeff Fisher expressed confidence that Long would return prior to the completion of the three weeks. So most likely, his first game back will either be the Nov. 23 game at San Diego or the Nov. 30 home contest against Oakland.

“You never know, but I can’t make predictions on how I’m gonna feel one day to the next,” Long said. “It’s a process, and I’m just heavy into the rehab still, while I’m trying to get out there on the practice field. It just felt good to be out there with my teammates.”

The feeling was mutual.

“It’s great to see our brother back out there on the field,” defensive tackle Kendall Langford said. “He’s looking good. He’s feeling good. So we’re hoping for the best.”

Being sidelined for more than two months wasn’t easy, so much so Long nearly drove himself nuts during his down time.

“You know, I was really worried about that,” he said. “And there’ve been some tough times. But the toughest is knowing you can’t help your teammates, and I just want to help us win.

“Even if I can’t help my team win on the field, I like to be able to help off the field and just be available to my teammates and my coaches, because it’s important to me.”

But as the weeks rolled by, one indication that Long was growing stir crazy came on Twitter. Namely his always interesting tweets on @JOEL9ONE got even more “out there” than usual.

For example, he has power rankings of flightless birds, months of the year, and sharks.

By the way, the bull shark was No. 1, and he teased his rankings on months of the year by tweeting, in part: ”There are some surprises.”

He established playoff seedings for athletes with flattop haircuts, and had random tweets such as:

• “Ever forget what year it is? Me neither.”

• ”Listening to ‘Seminole Wind’ in the bat cave with my bulldogs.”

“I’m an ‘out there’ guy,” Long tried to explain. “You’re bored. I’m not as tired as I usually am from work so I’ve got a lot of energy I’ve gotta get out.”

Did he ever have a moment of self-awareness, where he realized his tweets were getting out of hand?

“Yeah, when I started power-ranking like the months of the year, and stuff,” he said. “You just start losing your mind on there. My Instagram posts got weirder and weirder. I did a lot of photo-shopping and stuff like that.

“I spent a lot of time in the training room, so you just sit there and you tweet, and it can get monotonous so you get a lot of stupid ideas in your head.”

But as Long gets closer and closer to playing, things will return to “normal” soon on Twitter. He should join his teammates on the field on game day some time this month. It might just be enough to push November to the top of the power rankings.

Among qualifying quarterbacks, only Colin Kaepernick had a higher sack rate than Davis’ 9.3 percent this season.

It’s higher than 9.3%. PRF lists it as 9.3%, which is doubtless where he gets the number from, but it’s actually 29 sacks on 284 attempts, which is 10.2%.

Off the top of my head, it looks like 10.2% is the worst sack percentage of any starting Rams qb since they kept the numbers on this. Bradford was at 9.2% in 2011, but that was 2011 and all that implies. Even in the OL Injury Apocalypse of 2007, Bulger was at 8.3%. Kyle Boller in the Third OL Injury Apocalypse of 2009 was at 8.8%.

10.2% is worse than Clemens behind more or less the same OL, and Clemens had issues handling pressure too.

Bernie: Hill move the right way to go

Bernie Miklasz

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/bernie-hill-move-the-right-way-to-go/article_a5eb2a2b-407d-5a6d-bcae-f3d5c78e191f.html

Rams coach Jeff Fisher made the right move in calling veteran righthander Shaun Hill out of the bullpen to relieve the frazzled young starter, Austin Davis.

Fisher had to stop the bleeding. Davis has been overrun and overwhelmed as of late, and the low-scoring Rams can’t afford to have a quarterback who serves as a slot machine for opposing defenses. You know: Pull the arm, hear the cha-ching of a turnover and collect your winnings.

With the Rams defense cranking it up and tormenting quarterbacks in a manner befitting a unit coordinated by the überaggressive Gregg Williams, it’s imperative for the Rams to have an efficient (if not exciting) offense.

Davis provided an early boost, enlivening the inherent dullness with energy and big-play jolts. But defenses adjusted, the pass protection unraveled, and the quarterback’s play deteriorated. The mishaps included six defensive touchdowns on interception and fumble returns.

That’s damaging for any offense, but it’s a downright disaster for an offense that frequently malfunctions on a good day.

The turnover count is usually the tipping point that determines the outcome of NFL games. And this is all you need to know: In their three wins the Rams gave the ball away three times, total. And in their six losses, the offense coughed up 13 turnovers.

The Rams aren’t going to win any point-scoring shootouts, but at minimum must avoid shooting themselves in the football.

In theory, Hill has a better chance to cut back on the number of donations made to the opposing defense. But really now … how do we know?

Hill hasn’t experienced a lot of live action over the last five seasons, starting one regular-season game since the end of the 2010 campaign. That start was made in this season’s opening game against Minnesota, and Hill threw an avoidable and costly interception late in the first half. He had an awful 47.3 passer rating before departing with a strained quad.

Let’s face it: The identity of the starting quarterback has become increasingly irrelevant at Rams Park. Since the new regime of Fisher and GM Les Snead took charge of the program in 2012, the Rams have dragged near the bottom of the NFL in offensive points scored from scrimmage. (That doesn’t include points scored by the St. Louis defense or special teams on returns.)

The Rams ranked 28th in offensive points in 2012, averaging 16.3 a game. That improved slightly in 2013, when the Rams ranked 22nd at 19 points a game from their offense. But they’ve regressed this season, ranking 30th with an average of 16.5 points.

This offense hasn’t moved forward with Brian Schottenheimer as the offensive coordinator. That isn’t an opinion. It’s a fact.

Sam Bradford’s record as a starter under Fisher is 10-12-1. Kellen Clemens was 4-5 as the injury replacement for Bradford last season. And Davis was 3-5 as a starter after taking over for Hill. In terms of bottom-line record and point totals, the difference among the three quarterbacks is marginal.

That’s why I’m reluctant to write Davis off. He demonstrated an ability to play in this league. He may not be what this team needs or wants for a full-time starter. I’m not disputing that.

But the 2014 Rams have a shaky offensive line and a below-average running game, and haven’t established a receiver who can consistently wreck a defense.

I’m not sure why we’d expect Davis, after eight NFL starts, to overcome the disorder that surrounds him.

The issues are more significant than the game-to-game performances of Austin Davis.

The Rams rank 30th in the NFL in pass-protection efficiency by the analysts at Pro Football Focus. Rams quarterbacks have been pressured 113 times in nine games, the league’s fifth-highest total.

Davis has been under pass-rush pressure on nearly 43 percent of his dropbacks this season – tied for the highest percentage of pass-rush heat endured by a regular NFL quarterback.

That represents a big jump – in the wrong direction – for the O-line. According to PFF, Bradford was under pressure 33 percent of the time in 2012, and Bradford and Clemens faced pressure on 36 percent of their dropbacks in 2013.

Because of the faulty pass protection, Davis was at more of a disadvantage than Bradford or Clemens in past seasons. I’m not saying Davis handled the pass rush as well as he should have – obviously he didn’t – but a team can’t realistically expect positive results when the quarterback is setting up under extreme duress.

Hill, 34, isn’t as mobile as Davis. So how will Hill hold up physically when swarmed by the pass rush? Hill should be able to do a better job of getting the ball out on time, and to the right receiver. But even if Hill can stay on the field without getting maimed, and even if he plays reasonably well, he doesn’t project as the starter for 2015.

The problem isn’t that Fisher must decide between Hill and Davis.

The real problem is that the choice came down to Hill or Davis.

The Rams failed to adequately address the QB position after losing Bradford to knee surgery after seven games in 2013. Snead and Fisher disregarded Bradford’s extensive injury history, which dates back to his final season of college ball at Oklahoma. And sure enough, the same knee blew up again during the third preseason game this year.

There was also Bradford’s contract status; going into the 2014 cycle he had two years remaining on his exorbitant six-year rookie deal. One way or another, the Rams soon would face a tough decision regarding Bradford’s future.

Instead of spending an early-round draft choice to select a QB who could be developed to succeed Bradford, the Rams waited until the sixth round to draft SMU’s Garrett Gilbert. A wasted pick. With extra draft choices in hand, the Rams passed on the opportunity to find a future passer.

The Rams have Hill lined up to face Denver on Sunday at The Edward Jones Dome.

Problem is, the Rams don’t know who will line up at quarterback in 2015.

Unless the franchise wants to invest another year and $15 million in the rehabbing Bradford, the Rams will be starting over at the position.

And the seemingly endless rebuilding project will continue.

Some follow-up. Saguaro on watching Davis in that game.

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Saguaro

I got caught up in the game and fell into just watching the ball most of the time on offense. My impression, however, is that the Cardinals’ game plan was to cover the short stuff, not allow Davis any quick, easy throws, knowing that when the pressure started to come, he would pull his eyes down, and/or make a wild throw. They weren’t worried about getting burned deep.

Time after time, watching Davis, I was begging him to just throw the ball already! Even if you have to throw it away, just get rid of it, don’t start flailing around in the pocket! One reason that becomes more evident maybe in the stadium than on tv, is that a pass thrown away is a good play for the defense, but ho-hum. A sack gets that whole place just charged up and buzzing, players and fans.

I haven’t looked at the game on rewind yet. I suspect that at times there were receivers open that Davis just didn’t see.

On the other side of the coin, although overall I was happy with the defensive effort, one thing that bugged me was the passing lanes they left open. On Stanton’s one big drive, it just seemed to me that the pass rush sprawled out wide and left him big openings to see downfield. Would rather that they had kept in tighter and had Brockers with that height in his face.

Gordon: Hill gets second chance with Rams

By Jeff Gordon

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/jeff-gordon/gordon-hill-gets-second-chance-with-rams/article_e31e465a-d932-5b38-9c5b-1dbe046d239c.html

The first Shaun Hill Era lasted one half of one game with the Rams.

The well-traveled veteran quarterback was all set to replace injured starter Sam Bradford this season. His coaches and teammates expressed total confidence in his ability to take charge.

Then Hill suffered a strained thigh muscle against the Minnesota Vikings, threw a bad interception at the end of the first half, spent a couple weeks on the injury list and lost his starting job to the temporarily dynamic Austin Davis.

“Austin did a great job,” Hill said. “He was playing very well. I understand why they did it.”

Was it hard to lose that opportunity so quickly?

“It was a little bit,” Hill said. “At the same time, I still had a job to do.”

Now Hill’s job gets a whole lot bigger. Rather than run the scout team offense this week, he is preparing to face the powerful Denver Broncos defense.

“Every NFL defense is very good,” Hill said. “These guys are exceptional at it, though.”

Oh, and pizza pitchman Peyton Manning is throwing for the other side. Manning is posting stupid numbers again this season, odds are the Rams will be playing catch-up in this game.

“For me, it’s getting the ball dispersed to where it needs to go in a timely manner,” Hill said.

He learned of this latest Rams quarterback switch from coach Jeff Fisher in a phone call. Or rather during a call back, after he missed the first one.

“Obviously, the excitement kicks in,” Hill said. “Now it’s back to business as usual.”

Was he surprised to be back in the hot seat? The low-keyed Hill shrugged off the question.

“There is not a whole lot that surprises me any more, to be honest with you,” Hill said.

After Davis hit some predictable turbulence at Kansas City, San Francisco and Arizona, Fisher opted to “lean on the experienced quarterback” as he put it after Wednesday’s practice.

“It’s never an easy decision when you make a change in the middle of the season,” Fisher said.

This decision was easier than most. Davis threw five interceptions and just three TD passes in those three road games.

He posted passer ratings of 75.4, 44.6 and 62.6 in those games — with more telling “QPR” ratings of 9.5, 13.7 and 3.4.

Against the Cardinals, Davis threw two interceptions — one that Arizona returned for a TD — and lost a fumble that also was returned for a TD.

Worse, he became indecisive under pressure and held on to the ball too long time after time. That was one reason why the Cardinals were able to sack him six times for 42 yards in losses.

After throwing for 702 yards in two games — against Dallas and at Philadelphia — he has averaged just 174.4 yards passing in his last five games.

“The last two weeks have been difficult for him,” Fisher said. “The defenses he faced were especially good.”

Now Hill will try to do better. “We’re going to give Shaun an opportunity to do what we brought him in to do,” Fisher said. “For all intents and purposes, he lost his job due to an injury.”

While Hill lacks the mobility Davis brings to the offense, he has a deeper and more accurate arm.

Perhaps he can stretch defenses enough to open up some room for the run game. Lately the run game hasn’t done much against loaded boxes that dared the Rams to throw over the top.

This is a huge opportunity for Hill. The Rams face an uncertain future at quarterback with Bradford recovering from a second knee operation.

If Hill can excel the rest of the way, he could factor into next year’s plans or earn a good back-up gig elsewhere. Had he stayed on the bench the rest of this season, he might have struggled to find work next season.

Such is the fate of a seldom-seen veteran QB in the NFL.

As for Davis, he advanced his career this season while completing 180 of 286 passes for 2,0001 yards and 12 touchdowns. And he may yet get another shot with the Rams after using this quiet time to regroup.

At worst, Davis has made himself into a solid candidate for QB work down the road. That is a big step for a player who seemed close to getting cut before Bradford went down again.

“He is a much better quarterback now than when he started,” Fisher said.

Fisher reverses field, names Hill starting QB

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/fisher-reverses-field-names-hill-starting-qb/article_20467087-9cf6-59f3-ba8a-a10fd0ab9e56.html

Two days after saying he was not contemplating a quarterback change, Jeff Fisher has reversed field. To wit, Shaun Hill will start at quarterback Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome against Peyton Manning and the Denver Bronco.

When all is said and done, this is a move to get more experience in at the position. Fisher informed the players of his decision during a team meeting earlier this morning.

Signed away from Detroit in free agency during the offseason, Hill was brought in to provide a veteran backup for Sam Bradford. And when Bradford went down for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee in an Aug. 23 preseason game in Cleveland, Hill moved in as the starter.

But Hill’s tenure as the starter ended after only one half of the season opener. He suffered a thigh injury in the first half of the opener against Minnesota. Austin Davis took over in the second half of that game, and proceeded to start the next eight games.

After an impressive beginning, Davis’ production began sliding and his turnovers mounting in recent games, including a murder’s row of top 10 defenses that included San Francisco (twice), Seattle, and Kansas City.

Fisher gave him what came off as a lukewarm endorsement on Monday. He cited several areas that Davis needed to improve on, including getting the ball out more quickly. He said there were several opportunities to connect with open receivers in Sunday’s 31-14 loss at Arizona.

In that contest, Davis threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. He had a lost fumble returned for another TD, turning what was a nip-and-tuck game into a 17-point loss.

Fisher seemingly left the door open a bit Monday in discussing Davis by saying: “He’s working real hard, so we’ll see where it goes.”

In his first three starts _ against Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Philadelphia _ Davis completed 67.5 percent of his passes for 937 yards, six TDs, and two interceptions for a passer rating of 100.6.

In five games since then, Davis has completed 59.2 percent of his passes for 869 yards with six TDs, six INTs, and a passer rating of 73.4.

Hill, meanwhile, has played only one snap since that first half against Minnesota. He handed the ball off in the Rams’ Nov. 9 game at San Francisco after Davis needed to readjust and refit a knee brace after a hard slide on a scramble.

Bernie: Rams’ QB change doesn’t solve bigger problem

Bernie Miklasz

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/bernie-rams-qb-change-doesn-t-solve-bigger-problem/article_d638681a-d465-5702-b94d-7a46a6c4b95c.html

Good afternoon…

As you probably know by now, Rams coach Jeff Fisher has changed his mind and will start Shaun Hill at quarterback against Denver on Sunday.

Austin Davis is benched.

I don’t know how much this move will help the Rams, but it figures to be good for the young quarterback’s health. Davis has absorbed a lot of physical punishment this season, especially in recent weeks. His confidence has taken a beating, too.

That left the Rams with a young, increasingly flustered QB that became a slot machine for opposing defenses.

Pull on his arm, and a turnover would pop into the tray.

Davis has had four interceptions and two sack-fumbles returned for touchdowns this season.

Fisher offered support of Davis during Monday’s media gathering at Rams Park, and it appeared that Davis would remain in place as the starter. But as our Jim Thomas pointed out, Fisher did hedge a little when pressed about Davis on Monday. So we probably shouldn’t be surprised by the coach’s verdict.

Fisher is allowed to do a flip-flop here, and in this case it was the right double move by the coach.

There’s no good reason to stand and do nothing and watch a young QB drown. Rescue Davis now, let him catch his breath, and maybe throw him back in the water for another try later.

The hope/belief is that the ol’ veteran Hill will be more efficient. He’ll get rid of the ball sooner to avoid sacks, he’ll throw it away to avoid sacks, and he won’t haphazardly toss the ball downfield when under pass-rush fire.

It’s worth a try, though I’m still thinking Denver will have the edge at QB this week. Slight advantage, Peyton Manning.

Anyway …

The QB switcheroo makes sense right now but it doesn’t settle the more significant issues:

• Over the last three seasons, the Rams have lagged offensively under the leadership of the current regime, never ranking better than 22nd in the league in offensive points from scrimmage. GM Les Snead, Fisher and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer have been unable to move this offense forward in a meaningful way. The identity of the starting QB hasn’t really mattered. Bradford, Kellen Clemens, Hill, or Davis. The Rams offense doesn’t score enough points. Period.

• The Rams offensive line has done a poor job in pass protection, ranking 30th among the 32 teams in pass-blocking efficiency by Pro Football Focus. Rams quarterbacks have been pressured 113 times in nine games, the league’s fifth-highest total. According to PFF, Davis has been under pass-rush pressure on nearly 43 percent of his dropbacks this season. That’s tied for the highest percentage of pass-rush heat endured by regular NFL quarterbacks this year. And Hill isn’t as mobile as Davis. He started one game this year, the opener, and got hurt. How will Hill hold up physically when swarmed by the pass rush? Big question.

• The Rams failed to adequately address the QB position before the season. Even with Sam Bradford coming off knee surgery that cut short his 2013 season — and with Bradford entering the final two years of his Rams’ contract — the team didn’t use an early-round draft choice to select a developmental QB that could be groomed to take over. The Rams waited until the sixth round to draft SMU’s Garrett Gilbert, a wasted pick. And when Bradford’s knee blew up again during the preseason, putting him out for the year, the Rams’ choice came down to Hill and Davis.

• And that’s the more prominent issue. It isn’t a matter of Hill vs. Davis; it’s more about not having a more attractive, forward-thinking alternative in place. Unless the Rams bring Bradford back in 2015 to attempt another comeback in what would be the final year of his contract, the team doesn’t have a viable quarterback lined up for next season.

• Some would argue — with abundant merit — that the Rams already have lost the Bradford gamble, so they should cut their losses instead of stubbornly staying the course with Bradford as their designated No. 1 QB for a sixth consecutive year. Bradford is due $16.58 million in 2015. By releasing him, the Rams would save more than $12 million against the ’15 cap.

Again, the Hill appointment may help reduce the mistakes and lead to enhanced efficiency. But Hill is 34 and hasn’t played much football in recent years, starting one regular-season game since the end of the 2010 season. It’s difficult to know what to expect from him at this point.

The Rams can line up Hill or Davis the rest of the way this season, but it won’t change the daunting reality here. The St. Louis Rams don’t know who their quarterback will be in 2015, and that uncertainty will likely prolong a rebuilding project that never seems to end.

Thanks for reading …