Jake Long undergoes knee surgery
• By Jim Thomas
[www.stltoday.com]
MOBILE, ALA. • Quarterback Sam Bradford will soon have some company in the trainer’s room at Rams Park. Offensive tackle Jake Long underwent surgery recently to repair a knee injury he suffered in the Rams’ second-to-last game of the regular season — the team’s 23-13 home victory over Tampa Bay on Dec. 22.
On the Rams’ third offensive play of that game, Long’s right knee buckled while pass-blocking and tests later revealed that Long had a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) as well as a torn medial collateral ligament (MCL).
MCL injuries heal on their own and don’t require surgery, but that meant surgery on Long’s ACL was delayed until the MCL healed. At the time of the injury, coach Jeff Fisher estimated that it could be four to six weeks before surgery because of the MCL injury. It turned out to be on the quicker end of that timetable — about four weeks — which should help Long’s efforts to be ready in time for the start of the regular season.
Bradford has been doing regular rehab work following his Nov. 18 surgery to repair a torn ACL, and has recently begun running on a treadmill.
Another Rams offensive line veteran, guard Harvey Dahl, is scheduled to undergo ankle surgery in the next few days, according to a source close to Dahl. It doesn’t appear to be anything serious — just a cleanup procedure.
NEXT IN LINE
Virginia isn’t what you’d call a football power, but the Cavaliers have sent a steady stream of offensive tackles into the NFL in recent years — from D’Brickashaw Ferguson to Eugene Monroe, Branden Albert, and Oday Aboushi.
Now comes Morgan Moses, one of the best tackle prospects at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. At 6-6, 325, Moses has prototypical tackle size. He was a little rusty Monday, in part because Virginia’s season ended in late November.
“Just getting the feet wet the first day,” he said. “I knew that was gonna happen.”
But he has raised his intensity level and has gotten better every day. Moses played left tackle this past season as a senior and played right tackle his other three seasons at Virginia. He has played both positions this week in Mobile.
While at Virginia, Moses spent a lot of time watching film of those past Cavaliers tackles, and has texted them frequently for advice now that the pre-draft process is under way.
Moses has met with the Rams during Senior Bowl week, and would run into some familiar faces at Rams Park should he end up in St. Louis.
“We’ve got a couple of guys out there in St. Louis from Virginia that are playing, like Chris Long, Rodney McLeod, Matt Conrath. So I’m keeping in touch with those guys as well.”
Long was a Ram by the time Moses arrived in Charlottesville but Moses was a teammate with McLeod and Conrath for part of his time at Virginia.
SENIOR BITS
• Picking up where he left off in the BCS championship game, Auburn DE Dee Ford has been a terror as a pass-rusher this week in practice. “His first step is amazing,” said Moses, the Virginia offensive tackle.
• Wednesday was the final day in pads for the Senior Bowl participants. Once the pads are off, many coaches and scouts from NFL teams take off, heading back to their respective cities.
• Vanderbilt’s Jordan Matthews could be the best of the bunch in what otherwise is a so-so group of wide receivers. Matthews has been working after practice for a few minutes every day, catching passes from his South squad teammate, quarterback Derek Carr of Fresno State.
• There are some huge cornerbacks here this week, including Utah’s Keith McGill (6-3, 214) and Nebraska’s Stanley Jean-Baptiste (6-2, 215).
