The sight of long-snapper Chris Massey writhing in pain on the Edward Jones Dome turf Sunday "upset me a lot," Rams punter Donnie Jones said.

"Not only is Chris a great snapper, but he's a great guy and a great friend," Jones added. "To see something like that happen to him was just awful."

Still, there's little time to grieve in the NFL. With Massey done for the season because of a torn knee ligament, the Rams quickly moved on. Now, Jones and kicker Josh Brown are hurriedly trying to get in sync with their new snapper, Ryan Neill.

"Any time that you change a key component when it's such a small number of guys — guys that score points — it's always going to be pivotal to bring in somebody who's capable of getting the job done; that way you're not falling off at all," Brown said. "So far we've actually done really well. He's a good, solid snapper."

Neill, 26, was signed Tuesday, a day after he auditioned with three other long-snappers at Rams Park. Jones and Brown were there for the tryouts.

"That was one thing we talked about with (special teams) Coach (Tom) McMahon, how important it is for us to come here and kind of evaluate," Jones said. "We wanted to know exactly who the options are and be able to have our input."

After two seasons as Buffalo's long-snapper, Neill was released Aug. 19, the Bills deciding to go with rookie Garrison Sanborn. That was the cheaper option, Neill explained.

"Not to take anything away from (Sanborn); he's a very good, capable snapper, and he's doing a good job for them," he added. "But I thought I was snapping well."

An undrafted rookie out of Rutgers, the 6-foot-3, 253-pound Neill made the Bills' practice squad as a defensive end in 2006. He moved up to the 53-man roster the next year, snapping and seeing spot duty on defense.

"I had about 80 snaps at defensive end," he said. "Toward the end of the year, my hands started to get banged-up a little bit and it was getting tougher to snap a spiral."

Bills special-teams coach Bobby April, who held the same position with the Rams from 2001-03, "was really the one who talked me into getting into snapping career-wise," Neill said. "He said he thought I could have a long career, and that's what got me serious about snapping."

After tryouts with Tennessee, San Diego and Cincinnati, Neill finally has a new home. Now comes the hard part: getting ready to face Detroit after only a few days with Jones and Brown.

"There's a lot of adjustment," Neill said. "There are different timing issues, different calls, different terminology for all the blocking schemes, different types of sets. ...

"I just have to get the habits of what I had from Buffalo out and get used to what these guys like."

INJURY UPDATE

Guard Richie Incognito (foot) and defensive lineman C.J. Ah You (ankle) sat out practice Wednesday. Offensive lineman John Greco was excused so that he could attend to a family matter.

Defensive end James Hall (groin) and cornerback Justin King (groin) were limited. Wide receiver Keenan Burton was sidelined briefly while shaking off the effects of a blow to the jaw.

Wide receiver Ruvell Martin was a full participant at practice for the first time since injuring a hamstring three weeks ago and then hurting it again last week.

RAM-BLINGS

With Incognito sidelined, Adam Goldberg took over at right guard with the first team. Alex Barron was at left tackle and rookie Jason Smith at right tackle. ... This week's captains are Burton (offense), Hall (defense) and linebacker Paris Lenon (special teams).