Danario Alexander and Sam Bradford were roommates in February at the NFL scouting combine. Alexander was coming off knee surgery and was on crutches at the time. Bradford was still rehabbing his surgically repaired throwing shoulder.

So they commiserated about their injuries and the road back to football. And Bradford, uh, reminded Alexander about all of Oklahoma's football victories over the University of Missouri.

"I guess if you can't beat 'em, you've got to join 'em," a happy Alexander said Sunday night.

Alexander signed a contract with the Rams on Sunday, making him and Bradford teammates.

Shortly after the Rams announced Alexander's signing, his Twitter account and Facebook page exploded with congratulations. Many of the messages came from Mizzou fans who had watched Alexander burst onto the scene last season at wide receiver.

"It's a lot of crazy stuff going on," Alexander said, laughing. "One of them said, 'Welcome home again.' That's one of the main reasons I'm excited about playing here because of the support from everyone."

Alexander was already studying his playbook, at a hotel in St. Louis, when reached by the Post-Dispatch. He will be on the practice field this afternoon when the Rams return to work following Saturday's 19-17 preseason victory over Cleveland.

Jeff Nalley, Alexander's Houston-based agent, got a call Saturday night from Rams executive vice president of football operations Kevin Demoff. "He said, 'We'd like to try to make this happen,'" Nalley said.

Alexander flew Sunday morning to St. Louis from Houston and worked out for Rams coaches and front office executives Sunday afternoon.

"I felt like I killed the workout," Alexander said. "They wanted to see me come in and out of my breaks. I felt I did pretty good. I did a great job of catching the ball and stuff like that."

Alexander visited Rams Park for a physical the first week of August and subsequently made a trip to Seattle. Those were his only two visits, but Nalley said seven teams had expressed various degrees of interest in Alexander.

He ended up signing a two-year deal. "It's a great day," Alexander said. "I've been going through a lot leading up to this point, and the work has just begun."

Rams general manager Billy Devaney said the team is realistic about what to expect right away. Today marks Alexander's first practice since January, when he suffered his most recent knee injury in a Senior Bowl practice. So he'll be playing catch-up.

"We don't expect him to run out there Thursday (against New England) and play half the game, by any stretch," Devaney said. "We'll bring him along slowly. We're looking at this as long term. If he can contribute sometime this year — great.

"He's got size, hands, athletic ability. He's a tough guy. He's got all the traits you're looking for. He's an easy guy to root for. He's been blessed by tremendous skill, but he's been cursed by a bad knee."

To make room, the Rams released wide receiver Brooks Foster, a fifth-round pick in 2009.