Hamstrings ‘R us: WR Burton returns to practice; Martin doubtful
St. Louis Rams starting wide receiver Keenan Burton, who missed part of Wednesday’s practice and all of Thursday’s with a sore hamstring, was back on the practice field Friday. On the team’s official injury report, he was listed as ”limited participation” and questionable for Sunday’s home game against Minnesota.
By NFL definition, a “questionable” designation means a player has a 50-50 chance of playing in that week’s game. But Burton did get a fair amount of work Friday, and seemed to be moving OK. (The Rams practiced indoors for the second day in a row because of rainy weather.)
But backup WR Ruvell Martin, who made his Rams debut last Sunday against San Francisco getting in for about a dozen plays on offense, did only rehab work on his sore hamstring _ no practice work _ and is listed as doubtful. With Martin almost certainly out against the Vikings, it looks like Nate Jones will play in his first NFL game Sunday joining Burton, Donnie Avery, and Danny Amendola as the Rams’ four wide receivers.
Avery (hamstring) also was listed as limited in practice and questionable for Sunday, but he appeared to get in even more work than Burton on Friday, and is expected to start against the VIkings.
The rest of the Rams’ lengthy injury report:
_ S James Butler (knee), out for the second game in a row.
_ S Anthony Smith (Achilles), doubtful after not practicing for the second day in a row.
_ QB Marc Bulger (shoulder) questionable. For the second straight day, Bulger got plenty of work with the scout team in practice. It’s a distinct possibility he will be the No. 2 quarterback against Minnesota.
_ OT Jason Smith (knee) questionable. Once again, Smith got plenty of practice work, with reps sprinkled in at right and left tackle. After missing the Green Bay and San Francisco games, Smith could dress Sunday, but be in a backup capacity.
_ CB Ron Bartell (thigh) and S Craig Dahl (concussion) both were full participation Friday in practice and listed as probably for the Vikings.
With James Butler out and Anthony Smith probably out as well, David Roach would be the only backup safety in uniform Sunday behind starters Dahl and Oshiomogho Atogwe.
Sounds like p***-poor conditioning to me. These are young guys who shouldn’t be getting hammy issues IN PRACTICE. Christ, wait ’til it actually gets cold out there…
Guess the risk to go light on WR didn’t work out so well.
Y’know Wiley, there is such a thing as random chance, too. And for all the talk about ‘injuries’ we’re going to have, what, ONE missed game at the WR position (Martin)? Given the injury plague the Rams have dealt with in the past, I’d say that we’ve moved forward by leaps and bounds this year.
You pull a hamstring muscle when it’s in shape, not out of it. There’s a reason you see Olympic sprinters grab their hammys flying around the track and not the 300 pound guy making his way out of the donut shop. Being ‘out’ of condition has nothing to do with it.
I love these guys who have something critical to say about the susceptibility of pro athletes to injury. I seriously doubt that you have any clue about the realities of athletic performance and conditioning at that level, Wiley.
Jackson remains the single fantasy-worthy option on a team that is quickly becoming the laughing stock of the NFL. He should continue to get decent yardage every week but his inability to get into the endzone is sure to continue to be a thorn in the side of every one of his owners. With a serious lack of receiving threats and porous O-line, teams are going to continue to stack eight and nine in the box forcing Jackson to work extremely hard for every single yard he gets.
Yep always a joy to see how the rest of the world feels about your team. I’m to the point of wearing the bag in my own house, being a fan isn’t supposed to be this painful.
Jeff in Iowa…. Sir thats 280 and not a pound over.
I GUESS CARTER AND CURRIE WITH N.F.L. EXPERIENCE ARE NOT BETTER THAN THESE GUYZZ COME ON!!! WHAT THE HELL , ARE WE TRYING TO LOSE??? IM BEGINNING TO WONDER?? SPAGS, DEVANEY, I TOLD YOU AT THE LINDENWOOD GAME I WILL HELP YOU FOR FREE SO HOLLAAAA!!! IM WAITING, AND SO ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS!!!
Hey blackbart…just make sure that’s not a plastic bag!
Zephro, what do you mean? This team has had 5 WR’s on the roster for some time now.