Chris Long's time off is coming to an end/PD

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RamBill

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Long's time off is coming to an end
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_8c006034-646d-573d-bf44-4ddec5686970.html

For defensive end Chris Long, the long wait is almost over. The most-tenured member of the Rams’ roster has been sidelined since suffering a tendon injury in his foot in the season opener Sept. 7 against Minnesota.

This afternoon, the team is expected to activate Long to its 53-man roster from the injured reserve/designated for return list. (They must correspondingly release a player by 3 p.m. today to create a roster spot for Long.)

And on Sunday, in a noon kickoff against the Oakland Raiders at the Edward Jones Dome, Long will play in his first NFL game in 12 weeks.

Perhaps because the Rams still must decide on who to release, coach Jeff Fisher and Long have played it coy when asked if Long will be activated. The answers have usually come with a smile, or a smirk, or a wink.

In short, Long’s impending return has been a badly-kept secret at Rams Park.

For example, when asked following Friday’s practice if Long was close to returning, Fisher smiled and said: “He’s close.”

Will he return Sunday against the Raiders?

“Yeah, maybe,” Fisher said, with more smiling. “I think he had his best day of practice today. So we’re going to discuss it this afternoon. If we make a decision, we’ll probably make a decision tomorrow.”

Despite its improved play recently, the defense has missed Long during his 10-game absence both from a playmaking and a leadership aspect.

“When he’s out there, you know, he gives us a little more life,” said William Hayes, who has started in Long’s place. “And I can kind of get back in my regular rotation. But he’s a big asset to our football team.

“He allows the defense to do a lot more. I can move back inside, play outside. And he just brings a different type of energy to the field.”

Since signing with the Rams in 2012, Hayes has done some of his best work when moving inside to defensive tackle in obvious passing situations. With Long down, the Rams didn’t really have the luxury of moving Hayes inside.

“Everybody understands (Long’s) production in the past, and I can’t wait to get a chance to coach him,” defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said.

Under the IR/designated for return rules, players can’t practice for at least six weeks, after which a three-week practice window begins. Once that third practice week is done, the player either gets activated to the 53-man roster, or he goes on injured reserve for the rest of the year.

Long began practicing the week of the Nov. 16 Denver game, taking part only in individual drills. He began an intensive lobbying effort last week both with Fisher and Williams to play in the San Diego game. He bumped up his work load to practice reps in 11-on-11 — or team — drills last week.

“Lobbying or torturing?” Williams said, laughing. “How would you want to put that? No, that’s the fun part of it. He loves to play and wants to play. He brutalized me last week because he didn’t get to play.”

On the practice field these past couple of weeks, Long has been a pain in the rear as well with teammates because of his non-stop energy.

“We’ll be doing walk-throughs and he’s about to break my arms,” Hayes said. “I have to tell him to kind of slow down. He’s got a lot of built-up energy right now.”

Hayes has tried to get Long calmed down a little in practice; he wants him to save that energy for Sunday. As frustrating as it was to sit out the San Diego game, Long respects Fisher’s viewpoint on the matter.

“Fish is the man,” Long said. “He’s the man for a reason. I can respect his perspective on it always. I really wanted to play (last) Sunday. Fish thought it was best to give it some time here, and wait till this week to evaluate it again. ... As bad as you want to play, you’ve got to listen to him, and his perspective’s very valuable to me.”

Long’s surgery is unusual. It doesn’t occur often in the NFL that two tendons in the back of your foot have to be surgically re-attached. So the timetable for recovery, rehab, and return is less certain than for other more common football injuries.

Even so, Long said, “You kind of have an idea when you turn the corner. I’m at the corner.”

Ready to turn the corner after a week in which he got a lot of work with the starters.

The foot itself is structurally sound. The issue was getting the muscles around those repaired tendons built back up to normal. And also, getting back in “football shape” — that is, reacquainting himself and his leg muscles to the distinct movement skills used to play the game.

Because he has been sidelined for nearly three months, it’s uncertain exactly how much Long will be able to play against Oakland. But all signs point to him playing. It’ll be a bigger upset than the Rams toppling Denver two weeks ago if he doesn’t.

That’s partly because Long says he’s beyond the point of just feeling good on the field with his repaired foot.

“I feel amazing,” he said. “I feel spectacular.”
 

Robocop

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oh god PLEASE dont have him come back too soon. tendons scare me i've had some injuries just make sure its 110% . if hes ready great but if not then rest, not like we got much of a playoff chance
 

Mojo Ram

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“When he’s out there, you know, he gives us a little more life,” said William Hayes, who has started in Long’s place. “And I can kind of get back in my regular rotation. But he’s a big asset to our football team.

“He allows the defense to do a lot more. I can move back inside, play outside. And he just brings a different type of energy to the field.”

Since signing with the Rams in 2012, Hayes has done some of his best work when moving inside to defensive tackle in obvious passing situations. With Long down, the Rams didn’t really have the luxury of moving Hayes inside.
Now we can go to Quinn, Hayes, Donald and Long in those passing situations. That's an upgrade.
 

DaveFan'51

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Because he has been sidelined for nearly three months, it’s uncertain exactly how much Long will be able to play against Oakland. But all signs point to him playing. It’ll be a bigger upset than the Rams toppling Denver two weeks ago if he doesn’t.
“I feel amazing,” he said. “I feel spectacular.”
I know I'm by no means the only one, But boy, I can't wait to see him on the field again!!:D:D
 

RamBill

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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6
Chris Long set to return against Oakland
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/14145/chris-long-set-to-return-against-oakland

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long believes he has turned the corner in his recovery from the ankle surgery that landed him on the injured reserve list with the designation to return.

In fact, Long believes he is past the point where he should have to wait any longer to get back on the field, noting that had it been up to him he would have played last week against the San Diego Chargers.

C. Long
"I’m at the corner," Long said. "I wanted to play Sunday. The head man (Jeff Fisher), he knows what he’s doing and he cares about his players. He wants to make sure you are able to help the team and you’re 100 percent. That’s important. We all appreciate his perspective, and I trust him a great deal, so if he thinks I’m ready to roll, I’m ready to roll. If he doesn’t think so, then I’m not."

On Saturday afternoon, the Rams expected to officially activate Long from the injured reserve list, clearing the path for him to play Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. The Rams will have to make a corresponding roster move by 4 p.m. ET to add Long to the active roster.

Long has been out since suffering the injury in the season opener against Minnesota on Sept. 7. The injury was a unique one without much precedent around the league, so Long's return was predicated on his ability to feel better rather than an arbitrary timetable set forth by others who have had the injury.

The first step in getting back on the field was making sure the ankle was sound structurally. That part has been taken care of. Since then, Long said he has had his ups and downs, but recently has felt good moving around. He began his 21-day practice window a couple of weeks ago and has been getting more involved each day.

This week, Long had been more involved in practice than ever, and it was pretty clear that he was going to get his chance to come back based on his practice workload. Fisher hinted at it on Thursday and again Friday.

Long's return should bolster a defense that played well over the past month before some struggles against the Chargers last week.

"We’ve missed him," Fisher said. "We’ve missed his production. We’ve missed the consistent year after year sack production, and his ability to play the run. When he comes back it should help us improve in those areas."

That Long is returning against the Raiders is only a coincidence, but a welcome one for a family that has longstanding ties to the Oakland organization. Long's father Howie, of course, was a Hall of Fame defensive lineman for the Raiders. And Long's brother Howie Jr. now works in the Oakland front office.

"To me, I’m proud of what my dad was able to accomplish there," Long said. "He speaks highly of that experience. They have got great fans. They’ve got a great history. I enjoyed when I went there and played a couple of years back. They showed me love, their fans, so I’m very respectful of their tradition and what they do.

"It’s exciting because my brother Howie is in football operations there actually. That’s actually more exciting to me than playing my brother (Chicago offensive lineman) Kyle, because I actually have to play my brother Kyle and that’s not very fun. But to be able to see my brother (Howie) and catch up with him is nice, too."