Hill, Davis Eager to Seize Opportunity --Gordon

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RamBill

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Hill, Davis eager to seize opportunity
• By Jeff Gordon

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_b322b0ed-ff5f-5bdd-ba3f-01096cd526e8.html

Rams quarterback Shaun Hill has seen a lot of Lovie Smith over the years. He had prepared to face Smith's scheme about 15 times during his career as a back-up and occasional starter.

"I have a good feeling about what they were doing on defense," Hill said. "So I was kind of able to help him with that. I didn’t know their personal as well but I knew their scheme well. So, I was kind of able to help him out a little bit there.”

But last week, all Hill could do was counsel teammate Austin Davis as the Rams prepared to face Smith's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He provided another set of eyes in the process.

Hill waited a long, long time to do more than watch, so the quadriceps muscle strain he suffered in the season opener against the Vikings was most aggravating.

"That was something I struggled with big-time, orginally when it first happened," Hill said Wednesday after practice at Rams Park. "It's been hard for me to get on the field, especially the last few years. And finally when you get the chance, for that to happen, it’s harder to come back off.

"What can you do? Pick yourself up and get back as soon as you can."

Meanwhile, Davis has been living at the other end of the emotional spectrum. He was soaring after leading to the Rams to a 19-17 victory at Tampa Bay in his first NFL start.

Davis was in no hurry to let go of the game, as team policy demands. Coach Jeff Fisher gives his team one day to get over it.

"Sometimes you want the '24-hour rule,'" Davis said, "and sometimes you don't."

"But that’s the way it is. You’ve got to keep rolling, you’ve got to keep getting better. And really we have to build off of last week instead of us kind of living on it. We did some good things but we did a lot of things we could improve."

Neither quarterback has traveled an easy road in his league. Hill's adventure has been much longer, starting in Minnesota in 2002 and continuing on to San Francisco and Detroit before his arrival here this season.

He attempted just 16 regular-season passes during his last three seasons with the Lions.

Hill was supposed to back up Sam Bradford, but those plans changed when Bradford suffered another ACL injury. Hill took the helm of the offense . . . for one half, anyway.

Hill completed 8 of 13 passes for 81 yards in the first half against the Vikings, but the Rams struggled to sustain to drives.

They made one mistake after another, culminating with Hill's late second-quarter interception that led to Minnesota's first TD.

“It felt like we had some good rhythm," Hill said. "Just as an offense we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot. Just doing something on every drive to kind of set us back. But, I felt like there were times when we were executing really well, just weren’t able to sustain drives long enough to get points. Of course, the bad decision late in the half, was just that: it was a bad decision.”

His thigh injury hindered him on that play and it has kept him sidelined since then.

"It's getting better and better every day," Hill said. "I was able to do more things (today). No setbacks."

So is he going to play Sunday?

“I think that’ll be determined later in the week," he said. "But, the idea going in is to just keep progressing and see what happens when we get later in the week.”

Davis' recent ups and downs have been more dramatic. He worked his way onto the practice squad as an undrafted free agent. He got cut in his second go-around, then returned to Rams Park on an emergency basis last season.

He fell into a "camp arm" role this summer before rising, improbably, to the starting assignment. Davis completed 22 of 29 passes against the Buccaneers for 225 yards.

That wasn't a Pro Bowl-qualifying performance, but it did wonders for Davis' career. He played with poise, made plays under duress and came away with a victory.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett noted this during a conference call with the St. Louis media. "That quarterback play has been solid, especially last week," Garrett said.

In a few short weeks, Davis went from facing the reaper — and perhaps the end of his NFL career, if he got cut again — to putting himself squarely on the map.

"I told him how great he played," Hill said. "That is the only evaluation I could come up for that game. He played wonderful. We were very, very excited for him."

So what happens now? Davis took most of the practice repetitions again Wednesday, although Hill was more engaged with the offense.

Fisher was predictably vague about Hill's availability. “This is about not setting him back so we don’t want to put him in position out here on the field to where we’re risking setting him back," Fisher said. "He’s day-to-day and we’ll see where it goes.”

Davis could make his second NFL start. Or could be in the bullpen again, ready to step in if Hill aggravates his injury.

He is eager to play. Hill is eager to play. Their roller-coaster careers go up and down, around and around.
 

RamzFanz

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Messages
9,029
What I like about fisher:

He's coy. He makes the other teams' coaches work on things they won't face Sunday thus depleting them of time to work on things they WILL face.

What I don't like about Fisher:

He's not coy enough to bring something they didn't work on. I see them NOT do things they said they would, but I never see them do things I didn't expect. Well, not since the punt fakes against the niners and that one play where someone ran back inside the hash marks to become an eligible receiver for a TD.
 

DaveFan'51

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Hill, Davis eager to seize opportunity
• By Jeff Gordon

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_b322b0ed-ff5f-5bdd-ba3f-01096cd526e8.html

Rams quarterback Shaun Hill has seen a lot of Lovie Smith over the years. He had prepared to face Smith's scheme about 15 times during his career as a back-up and occasional starter.

"I have a good feeling about what they were doing on defense," Hill said. "So I was kind of able to help him with that. I didn’t know their personal as well but I knew their scheme well. So, I was kind of able to help him out a little bit there.”

But last week, all Hill could do was counsel teammate Austin Davis as the Rams prepared to face Smith's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He provided another set of eyes in the process.

Hill waited a long, long time to do more than watch, so the quadriceps muscle strain he suffered in the season opener against the Vikings was most aggravating.

"That was something I struggled with big-time, orginally when it first happened," Hill said Wednesday after practice at Rams Park. "It's been hard for me to get on the field, especially the last few years. And finally when you get the chance, for that to happen, it’s harder to come back off.

"What can you do? Pick yourself up and get back as soon as you can."

Meanwhile, Davis has been living at the other end of the emotional spectrum. He was soaring after leading to the Rams to a 19-17 victory at Tampa Bay in his first NFL start.

Davis was in no hurry to let go of the game, as team policy demands. Coach Jeff Fisher gives his team one day to get over it.

"Sometimes you want the '24-hour rule,'" Davis said, "and sometimes you don't."

"But that’s the way it is. You’ve got to keep rolling, you’ve got to keep getting better. And really we have to build off of last week instead of us kind of living on it. We did some good things but we did a lot of things we could improve."

Neither quarterback has traveled an easy road in his league. Hill's adventure has been much longer, starting in Minnesota in 2002 and continuing on to San Francisco and Detroit before his arrival here this season.

He attempted just 16 regular-season passes during his last three seasons with the Lions.

Hill was supposed to back up Sam Bradford, but those plans changed when Bradford suffered another ACL injury. Hill took the helm of the offense . . . for one half, anyway.

Hill completed 8 of 13 passes for 81 yards in the first half against the Vikings, but the Rams struggled to sustain to drives.

They made one mistake after another, culminating with Hill's late second-quarter interception that led to Minnesota's first TD.

“It felt like we had some good rhythm," Hill said. "Just as an offense we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot. Just doing something on every drive to kind of set us back. But, I felt like there were times when we were executing really well, just weren’t able to sustain drives long enough to get points. Of course, the bad decision late in the half, was just that: it was a bad decision.”

His thigh injury hindered him on that play and it has kept him sidelined since then.

"It's getting better and better every day," Hill said. "I was able to do more things (today). No setbacks."

So is he going to play Sunday?

“I think that’ll be determined later in the week," he said. "But, the idea going in is to just keep progressing and see what happens when we get later in the week.”

Davis' recent ups and downs have been more dramatic. He worked his way onto the practice squad as an undrafted free agent. He got cut in his second go-around, then returned to Rams Park on an emergency basis last season.

He fell into a "camp arm" role this summer before rising, improbably, to the starting assignment. Davis completed 22 of 29 passes against the Buccaneers for 225 yards.

That wasn't a Pro Bowl-qualifying performance, but it did wonders for Davis' career. He played with poise, made plays under duress and came away with a victory.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett noted this during a conference call with the St. Louis media. "That quarterback play has been solid, especially last week," Garrett said.

In a few short weeks, Davis went from facing the reaper — and perhaps the end of his NFL career, if he got cut again — to putting himself squarely on the map.

"I told him how great he played," Hill said. "That is the only evaluation I could come up for that game. He played wonderful. We were very, very excited for him."

So what happens now? Davis took most of the practice repetitions again Wednesday, although Hill was more engaged with the offense.

Fisher was predictably vague about Hill's availability. “This is about not setting him back so we don’t want to put him in position out here on the field to where we’re risking setting him back," Fisher said. "He’s day-to-day and we’ll see where it goes.”

Davis could make his second NFL start. Or could be in the bullpen again, ready to step in if Hill aggravates his injury.

He is eager to play. Hill is eager to play. Their roller-coaster careers go up and down, around and around.
More Gordonisms, Blah, Blah, Blah!
 

moklerman

Warner-phile
Joined
Oct 8, 2011
Messages
2,185
Davis on Hill: "If he's not healthy, I'll be ready to go. If he's healthy, he'll play."

WTF? I'm going to be very disappointed if they start musical chairs at QB.
 

PowayRamFan

Hall of Fame
Joined
Aug 15, 2011
Messages
2,359
Hey Gordo, it's personnel. Nothing PERSONAL, but if you want to be a decent writer and have people take you seriously at your craft, you need to learn how to spell.o_O
 

RamBill

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Jul 31, 2010
Messages
8,874
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7
Hill says he's feeling better every day
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11866/hill-says-hes-feeling-better-every-day

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Per the St. Louis Rams' policy, quarterback Shaun Hill hasn't been available to speak to the media since after the regular-season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

Injured players are off-limits until they start doing more in practice. But Hill, who practiced on a limited basis on Wednesday, was made available for the first time since after that game and injuring his thigh/calf.

That's because he's starting to make genuine progress toward a return. While Hill has yet to do any work in 11-on-11 team drills, and his status for this week remains uncertain, he said Wednesday he's making strides.

“Better and better every day, absolutely," Hill said. "That’s about all I can say about it. It certainly is getting better every day.”

Wednesday's practice offered the most tangible evidence since the injury that Hill is indeed improving. He was also listed as limited in last Friday's practice though that was a bit generous given how little he did. In Wednesday's workout, Hill did more in individual drills and appeared to be moving around better than he did late last week or even in pre-game warmups last week in Tampa Bay.

Since he suffered the injury, coach Jeff Fisher has been clear that Hill is still his starter so long as he's healthy. The question has been when Hill will meet that standard. Fisher has also emphasized the need not to rush Hill back to avoid making the injury worse.

Asked Wednesday what he needs to see from Hill to plug him back into the starting lineup, Fisher reiterated those thoughts.

“More than what we’re seeing right now," Fisher said. "Again, this is about not setting him back so we don’t want to put him in position out here on the field to where we’re risking setting him back. He’s day-to-day, and we’ll see where it goes.”

Austin Davis, who started last week against the Buccaneers, took the vast majority of the reps with the first team Wednesday with backup Case Keenum getting a few more reps. Davis led the Rams to a win in that game and will start again this week in the event that Hill doesn't show Fisher and the coaching staff what they need to see.

“I think that’ll be determined later in the week," Hill said. "But, the idea going in is to just keep progressing and see what happens when we get later in the week.”

Hill opened the first game against Minnesota 5-of-5, but the lingering memory of his interception near the end of the first half has persisted.

Hill and Fisher have said that interception was due in part to the injury, offering that Hill was trying to throw it away but couldn't get it out of bounds because he lacked the leg strength to drive it that far while on the run.

For Hill, whose last start (prior to this season's opener) came in 2010, the injury has been frustrating even if it isn't a severe one.

“That is something I struggled with, big time, originally when it happened," Hill said. "It’s been hard for me to get on the field, especially the last few years. And finally when you get the chance, for that to happen, it’s harder to come back off. What can you do? You pick yourself back up and get yourself back as quick as you can.”