Just in time for Thanksgiving, St. Louis Rams long snapper Chris Massey is scheduled for surgery Tuesday. Massey suffered a season-ending knee injury on punt coverage in the Rams’ Oct. 25 home game against Indianapolis. He was taking on blocker Jacob Tamme, a backup tight end for the Colts, when his knee gave out.

“I had the angle and I saw (Tamme) coming,” Massey said. “I went to plant, and as soon as I planted it just gave out on me.”

Massey suffered damage to both the anterior cruciate ligament and the meniscus cartilage in his left knee. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to wait a few weeks after a knee injury before performing surgery, even to the point of doing some pre-surgery rehab work.

“They wait about three or four weeks, let the swelling go down, all the inflammation subside,” Massey said. “I’m doing a lot of leg extensions, lot of quad work. . . .They just want to keep it as strong as they can. They find it works better for the surgery for one, and two it’s easier on rehab.”

Massey, who was playing in his 119th consecutive Rams regular-season game when injured, said he will be healthy in time for organized team activies (OTAs) next spring. He is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season.