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Gaines mixes bad with good at homecoming
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_1fb5e68f-b838-5208-b539-e7e26ebc7dfc.html
KANSAS CITY • This certainly isn’t the way Rams cornerback E.J. Gaines envisioned his return home.
Born in nearby Independence, Gaines starred at Fort Osage High and the University of Missouri before being drafted in the sixth round of May’s draft. He made his seventh consecutive NFL start Sunday in front of family, friends and the Sea of Red in a 34-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
“I played here a couple of times in college and once was I was about 10 in Pop Warner,’’ he recalled. “But playing at this level, in your home town, it doesn’t get much better than this.’’
Unless, of course, you win the game.
The Rams took the opening kickoff and drove for a quick 7-0 lead Sunday. From there, the day belonged to the Chiefs.
“We have to go watch on film and fix our mistakes,’’ Gaines said. “We have to play better against San Francisco next week.’’
According to the unofficial press box stats, Gaines finished with a career-best eight tackles, including seven solos and one for loss. But like the Rams overall, the rookie struggled at times Sunday. In fact, during one stretch midway through the first half, the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder failed to come up with a fumble after teammate Robert Quinn ran down Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith to knock the ball loose, was called for illegal contact and then failed to bring down Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on a 17-yard pass play that set up a Jamaal Charles touchdown run that evened the score at 7.
“He had a ball in his hands, tried to get up and run and we lost it,’’ Rams coach Jeff Fisher said of the muffed fumble recovery. “You lay on the ball and maybe things would’ve been different there.’’
Gaines explained: “I just tried to do too much (on the fumble). I missed a couple of tackles. Those are the kind of things I have to work on; I gotta make plays like that to help this defense.’’
Early in the second half, on a Smith scramble, Gaines was called for personal foul, although it appeared he dived over the Kansas City quarterback. Fisher didn’t agree with the call.
“I don’t think they should have called the personal foul ... you can’t take (quarterbacks) feet first or head first, but you have to take a chance to get them down,’’ the coach said.
Gaines, who moved into the starting lineup when third-year pro Trumaine Johnson hurt his knee in the preseason, was joined at cornerback Sunday by fellow rookie Marcus Roberson, an undrafted free agent from the University of Florida who made his first NFL start in place of third-year starter Janoris Jenkins, who suffered a knee injury in last weekend’s win over Seattle.
“It felt good to get out there and contribute,’’ said Roberson, who was on the field for 13 defensive snaps against the Seahawks. “The more you play, the more comfortable you get. I felt like I played OK, played solid, but we didn’t get the ‘W,’ so nobody feels real good about things right now.’’
Roberson was credited with four tackles Sunday.
The young Rams secondary became even more inexperienced during Sunday’s game as safety Rodney McLeod, a third-year pro, left with a knee injury on the first play of the fourth quarter and reserve safety Cody Davis left with a possible concussion a few plays later. At that point, the Rams’ secondary featured rookies Gaines and Roberson at cornerback and rookie Lamarcus Joyner and second-year pro T.J. McDonald at safety.
“I feel like we can be better in a lot of areas, but honestly I don’t feel like the (play of the rookies) was a factor,’’ said McDonald, who finished with seven tackles. “Those guys come to work every day. They may not have the experience, but they know the calls, they know what to do. They played with poise and they kept battling. The more snaps they get, the better they’ll be.’’
McDonald continued: “The Chiefs did what their team does. They ran the ball, they threw the ball quickly and with shorter routs and they managed the game. We needed to do a better job against the run in the second half and we needed to turn it up on third down — not just the rookies, the whole team. We just didn’t get it done.’’
Smith, the Kansas City quarterback, turned in a solid effort, completing 24 of 28 passes for 226 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 100.3. The Chiefs picked up 129 of their 143 rushing yards after halftime, getting 73 and a pair of TD runs from Charles. Knile Davis ran for 49 yards and a score and made the game-changing play when he returned the opening kickoff of the second half 99 yards to make it 17-7.
Joyner, who shifted from nickel back to safety during the game because of the injuries, led the Rams with 10 tackles, including nine solos.
“It’s tough when you’re playing from behind because it allows the offense to set the rhythm and do what it wants to do,’’ said Joyner, a second-round pick from Florida State. “They didn’t have any deep balls against us, nobody got behind us, but we also didn’t make enough plays.’’
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_1fb5e68f-b838-5208-b539-e7e26ebc7dfc.html
KANSAS CITY • This certainly isn’t the way Rams cornerback E.J. Gaines envisioned his return home.
Born in nearby Independence, Gaines starred at Fort Osage High and the University of Missouri before being drafted in the sixth round of May’s draft. He made his seventh consecutive NFL start Sunday in front of family, friends and the Sea of Red in a 34-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
“I played here a couple of times in college and once was I was about 10 in Pop Warner,’’ he recalled. “But playing at this level, in your home town, it doesn’t get much better than this.’’
Unless, of course, you win the game.
The Rams took the opening kickoff and drove for a quick 7-0 lead Sunday. From there, the day belonged to the Chiefs.
“We have to go watch on film and fix our mistakes,’’ Gaines said. “We have to play better against San Francisco next week.’’
According to the unofficial press box stats, Gaines finished with a career-best eight tackles, including seven solos and one for loss. But like the Rams overall, the rookie struggled at times Sunday. In fact, during one stretch midway through the first half, the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder failed to come up with a fumble after teammate Robert Quinn ran down Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith to knock the ball loose, was called for illegal contact and then failed to bring down Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on a 17-yard pass play that set up a Jamaal Charles touchdown run that evened the score at 7.
“He had a ball in his hands, tried to get up and run and we lost it,’’ Rams coach Jeff Fisher said of the muffed fumble recovery. “You lay on the ball and maybe things would’ve been different there.’’
Gaines explained: “I just tried to do too much (on the fumble). I missed a couple of tackles. Those are the kind of things I have to work on; I gotta make plays like that to help this defense.’’
Early in the second half, on a Smith scramble, Gaines was called for personal foul, although it appeared he dived over the Kansas City quarterback. Fisher didn’t agree with the call.
“I don’t think they should have called the personal foul ... you can’t take (quarterbacks) feet first or head first, but you have to take a chance to get them down,’’ the coach said.
Gaines, who moved into the starting lineup when third-year pro Trumaine Johnson hurt his knee in the preseason, was joined at cornerback Sunday by fellow rookie Marcus Roberson, an undrafted free agent from the University of Florida who made his first NFL start in place of third-year starter Janoris Jenkins, who suffered a knee injury in last weekend’s win over Seattle.
“It felt good to get out there and contribute,’’ said Roberson, who was on the field for 13 defensive snaps against the Seahawks. “The more you play, the more comfortable you get. I felt like I played OK, played solid, but we didn’t get the ‘W,’ so nobody feels real good about things right now.’’
Roberson was credited with four tackles Sunday.
The young Rams secondary became even more inexperienced during Sunday’s game as safety Rodney McLeod, a third-year pro, left with a knee injury on the first play of the fourth quarter and reserve safety Cody Davis left with a possible concussion a few plays later. At that point, the Rams’ secondary featured rookies Gaines and Roberson at cornerback and rookie Lamarcus Joyner and second-year pro T.J. McDonald at safety.
“I feel like we can be better in a lot of areas, but honestly I don’t feel like the (play of the rookies) was a factor,’’ said McDonald, who finished with seven tackles. “Those guys come to work every day. They may not have the experience, but they know the calls, they know what to do. They played with poise and they kept battling. The more snaps they get, the better they’ll be.’’
McDonald continued: “The Chiefs did what their team does. They ran the ball, they threw the ball quickly and with shorter routs and they managed the game. We needed to do a better job against the run in the second half and we needed to turn it up on third down — not just the rookies, the whole team. We just didn’t get it done.’’
Smith, the Kansas City quarterback, turned in a solid effort, completing 24 of 28 passes for 226 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 100.3. The Chiefs picked up 129 of their 143 rushing yards after halftime, getting 73 and a pair of TD runs from Charles. Knile Davis ran for 49 yards and a score and made the game-changing play when he returned the opening kickoff of the second half 99 yards to make it 17-7.
Joyner, who shifted from nickel back to safety during the game because of the injuries, led the Rams with 10 tackles, including nine solos.
“It’s tough when you’re playing from behind because it allows the offense to set the rhythm and do what it wants to do,’’ said Joyner, a second-round pick from Florida State. “They didn’t have any deep balls against us, nobody got behind us, but we also didn’t make enough plays.’’