- Joined
- Nov 24, 2012
- Messages
- 2,624
- Name
- News Bot
[www.stltoday.com]
As expected, further testing Monday confirmed that Rams left tackle Jake Long suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (or ACL) in his right knee against Tampa Bay.
In addition, Long has suffered damage to his medial collateral ligament (MCL) as well.
Because of the MCL damage, coach Jeff Fisher said surgery could be delayed “maybe four to six weeks.”
Even so, Fisher is optimistic that Long will be ready for the start of the 2014 regular season based on information he has received from team medical officials.
“I think there’s a difference between a skilled player and a lineman, especially an offensive lineman,” Fisher said. “This is the first one that I’ve been associated with from an offensive line standpoint, having an ACL. But the doctors were very optimistic, as (Long) was.”
Long, 28, suffered the injury while pass-blocking on the Rams’ third offensive play in Sunday’s 23-13 victory over Tampa Bay.
“It was non-contact,” Fisher said. “He was a little off-balance and it just was one of those weird things that happened.”
The MCL heals on its own; it’s a non-surgical injury. But the delay in surgery for the ACL is to give the MCL time to heal.
“That’s why you do that,” Fisher said. “You want the MCL to scar back down and then he’ll gain some strength in the quad, and then they’ll go ahead and fix the ACL.”
Long had a couple of tough moments pass-blocking this season against DeMarcus Ware of Dallas and John Abraham of Arizona, but overall he has played up to his reputation. The four-time Pro Bowler was a good pass-blocker and a very good run-blocker in his 15 starts this season.
“Jake played well for us,” Fisher said. “He really shored up that side of the offensive line, and it gave Rodger (Saffold) an opportunity to move over and play well at right tackle. And then Rodger excelled at guard, and then he came back yesterday at left tackle like he’d been playing there all year long.”
After starting four of the last five games at right guard, Saffold will start at left tackle Sunday against Seattle in the season finale. Shelley Smith took over at right guard against the Buccaneers after Long went down, and he has to be considered the front-runner to start there against the Seahawks.
But the Rams have another option in veteran Harvey Dahl, who started the first eight games of the season at right guard before suffering a knee injury in the first game against Seattle on Oct. 28.
“There’s a chance, yeah, that Harvey could play as well this week,” Fisher said. “He’s been practicing, so we’ll see.”
Speaking of the line in general against Tampa Bay, Fisher said, “Those guys played pretty well after we lost Jake. ... You look at the offensive line with Tim (Barnes) inside, and Shelley getting a chance to play, and guys moving around and still being able to do what we did from a protection standpoint. One sack, no penalties, and run the football against a very good run defense and protect the passer. That’s a pretty impressive effort.”
No matter what, the Rams will have yet another line combination starting against the Seahawks. It will be their seventh starting combination of the season up front, and their sixth in their last eight games. In addition, Long’s injury means that four of the opening-day starters have gone down with injuries:
Saffold went down in Game 2 (Atlanta) with a knee injury, then came Dahl in Game 8, center Scott Wells in Game 12 (San Francisco) with a fractured fibula, and now Long.
Nonetheless, the line continues to open holes for Zac Stacy and the running game, and more often than not has provided solid pass protection for quarterback Kellen Clemens.
“It speaks volumes of the depth, and also what Coach ‘Boo’s’ doing in there with them,” Fisher said, referring to offensive line coach Paul Boudreau. “As you watch practice you see everybody gets opportunities, everybody gets reps. Just making sure that everybody has an opportunity during the week in the event that they’re called upon.”
One lifesaver on the line has been Saffold, who has played left tackle, right tackle and right guard.
“Rodger’s a tremendous athlete, and when healthy you could put him up there with some of the best in the league,” Fisher said. “You would like to think his future’s probably at right guard. Or even left guard, for that matter. But he plays the tackle position very well.”
At guard, Fisher said, “I like him as a puller. He does an outstanding job pulling. And a lot of what we’ve done in the run game this year has involved him pulling.”
As an undrestricted free agent after the season, it’s not clear if Saffold will re-sign with the Rams. And Long’s injury, and the uncertainty of whether he’ll be ready for the start of the season, may cause the Rams to think long and hard about drafting an offensive tackle in the first round in May.
“We’ll address that once we’re finished with the season,” Fisher said. “But I would have confidence in Jake coming back. He’s an exceptional athlete, takes care of himself, understands rehab, and he’ll get himself back and ready to play.
“Obviously, he’s shocked right now, but he’s indicated to us that he’ll be back and good to go.”
As expected, further testing Monday confirmed that Rams left tackle Jake Long suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (or ACL) in his right knee against Tampa Bay.
In addition, Long has suffered damage to his medial collateral ligament (MCL) as well.
Because of the MCL damage, coach Jeff Fisher said surgery could be delayed “maybe four to six weeks.”
Even so, Fisher is optimistic that Long will be ready for the start of the 2014 regular season based on information he has received from team medical officials.
“I think there’s a difference between a skilled player and a lineman, especially an offensive lineman,” Fisher said. “This is the first one that I’ve been associated with from an offensive line standpoint, having an ACL. But the doctors were very optimistic, as (Long) was.”
Long, 28, suffered the injury while pass-blocking on the Rams’ third offensive play in Sunday’s 23-13 victory over Tampa Bay.
“It was non-contact,” Fisher said. “He was a little off-balance and it just was one of those weird things that happened.”
The MCL heals on its own; it’s a non-surgical injury. But the delay in surgery for the ACL is to give the MCL time to heal.
“That’s why you do that,” Fisher said. “You want the MCL to scar back down and then he’ll gain some strength in the quad, and then they’ll go ahead and fix the ACL.”
Long had a couple of tough moments pass-blocking this season against DeMarcus Ware of Dallas and John Abraham of Arizona, but overall he has played up to his reputation. The four-time Pro Bowler was a good pass-blocker and a very good run-blocker in his 15 starts this season.
“Jake played well for us,” Fisher said. “He really shored up that side of the offensive line, and it gave Rodger (Saffold) an opportunity to move over and play well at right tackle. And then Rodger excelled at guard, and then he came back yesterday at left tackle like he’d been playing there all year long.”
After starting four of the last five games at right guard, Saffold will start at left tackle Sunday against Seattle in the season finale. Shelley Smith took over at right guard against the Buccaneers after Long went down, and he has to be considered the front-runner to start there against the Seahawks.
But the Rams have another option in veteran Harvey Dahl, who started the first eight games of the season at right guard before suffering a knee injury in the first game against Seattle on Oct. 28.
“There’s a chance, yeah, that Harvey could play as well this week,” Fisher said. “He’s been practicing, so we’ll see.”
Speaking of the line in general against Tampa Bay, Fisher said, “Those guys played pretty well after we lost Jake. ... You look at the offensive line with Tim (Barnes) inside, and Shelley getting a chance to play, and guys moving around and still being able to do what we did from a protection standpoint. One sack, no penalties, and run the football against a very good run defense and protect the passer. That’s a pretty impressive effort.”
No matter what, the Rams will have yet another line combination starting against the Seahawks. It will be their seventh starting combination of the season up front, and their sixth in their last eight games. In addition, Long’s injury means that four of the opening-day starters have gone down with injuries:
Saffold went down in Game 2 (Atlanta) with a knee injury, then came Dahl in Game 8, center Scott Wells in Game 12 (San Francisco) with a fractured fibula, and now Long.
Nonetheless, the line continues to open holes for Zac Stacy and the running game, and more often than not has provided solid pass protection for quarterback Kellen Clemens.
“It speaks volumes of the depth, and also what Coach ‘Boo’s’ doing in there with them,” Fisher said, referring to offensive line coach Paul Boudreau. “As you watch practice you see everybody gets opportunities, everybody gets reps. Just making sure that everybody has an opportunity during the week in the event that they’re called upon.”
One lifesaver on the line has been Saffold, who has played left tackle, right tackle and right guard.
“Rodger’s a tremendous athlete, and when healthy you could put him up there with some of the best in the league,” Fisher said. “You would like to think his future’s probably at right guard. Or even left guard, for that matter. But he plays the tackle position very well.”
At guard, Fisher said, “I like him as a puller. He does an outstanding job pulling. And a lot of what we’ve done in the run game this year has involved him pulling.”
As an undrestricted free agent after the season, it’s not clear if Saffold will re-sign with the Rams. And Long’s injury, and the uncertainty of whether he’ll be ready for the start of the season, may cause the Rams to think long and hard about drafting an offensive tackle in the first round in May.
“We’ll address that once we’re finished with the season,” Fisher said. “But I would have confidence in Jake coming back. He’s an exceptional athlete, takes care of himself, understands rehab, and he’ll get himself back and ready to play.
“Obviously, he’s shocked right now, but he’s indicated to us that he’ll be back and good to go.”
