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Long did the best he could following ankle surgery
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_a28811be-b270-5c1e-9499-7238f274baf5.html
In retrospect, the best move might have been sitting out the rest of 2014 following an ankle injury in the season opener that required surgery. But that’s not Chris Long.
“It was just important to me,” he said. “I’m a captain. You know, I think people look at what you’re gonna do. I felt like if I’m healthy enough where I can’t make it a lot worse, and the surgery is secure and it’s healed, then I’m gonna come back.
“It’s really simple to me. I need this. I don’t like sitting around and watching. My teammates were having so much fun without me, I had to hurry up and get back and get in on the action.”
Long made those last remarks with a smile, but this wasn’t a season to smile about for the longest-tenured Ram. After playing every game in his first six seasons as a Ram, Long answered the bell only six times in 2014.
In the season opener against Minnesota, two tendons supporting his left ankle were torn loose when he got stepped on from behind by a teammate pursuing the play. That ended his ironman streak at 97 games.
Following surgery to reattach the tendons, Long missed the next 10 games. Throw in the bye week, and the veteran defensive end went from Sept. 7 (Minnesota) until Nov. 30 (Oakland) without playing in a game.
Like a fine-tuned race car, you just don’t go from 0-to-60 mph. Not after missing all that time.
“It’s hard,” Long said last week. “But it’s been awesome to just be back. I feel like if I can help, if the coaches feel like I can help, then whatever they need me to do.”
He figures his teammates would do the same in a similar situation.
“And I wouldn’t want to let them down,” Long said.
So after returning from the injured reserve/designated for return list, Long did all he could in the final five games of the season. Including his numbers from the opener prior to the injury, Long finished with 20 tackles and a fumble recovery.
As a pass rusher, his totals were one sack, nine quarterback pressures, and two quarterback hits.
This from someone who had 41 ½ sacks over the previous four seasons, the 10th-highest total in the NFL over that span. Despite a deep and talented defensive line, the Rams missed Long probably more than expected. And it wasn’t vintage Long over the final third of the season.
“I’m not what I want to be,” Long said, entering the finale at Seattle. “I’m not where I was when I started the year. But I’m just happy to be back. My health has improved every week the more rest I get on it. But you’re trying to play games and then rest and rehab. So it’s been an interesting experience.”
Once he started playing again, soreness in the foot was common. Sometimes it came during the week in practice. It was definitely sore after games. At most, he practiced about half the time over the final five weeks.
“Coach (did) a great job of kinda pacing me along, and giving me the rest I needed during the week to get to game day,” Long said. “We just put all our eggs in that basket, and just moved from there.”
It was all designed to get him to game day in decent enough shape to play and contribute. And Long didn’t exactly tip-toe into action once he returned against Oakland.
He was out there for 35 plays against the Raiders, or 49 percent of the total number of defensive plays. The pace picked up in subsequent games. By season’s end, he had averaged 42 plays a game, or just over 60 percent of the defensive plays in those five games after his return.
“Yeah, I got a little over-aggressive with it,” Long said. “We have a plan, but coaches have so much stuff going on during the game, that I can kind of slip it by ’em.”
In other words, Long didn’t always stick to the planned rotation — he’d stay in for some extra plays, unbeknownst to the coaches.
“Yeah, two, three plays here and there. It adds up,” Long said with a slight chuckle.
When the season ended, Long said he was feeling as good as he had since the surgery. But he certainly wasn’t the same player he was in training camp before the injury — when the seventh-year pro looked as quick as ever.
“Yeah, I worked hard to be,” Long said. “I was excited about having the best year of my career. I thought I was gonna have that.”
But things don’t always go as planned.
“It’s been disappointing,” Long said. “It’s a test. Everything happens for a reason.”
It was easier to get up to speed on run defense. But pass-rush wise, it just took a little longer to get back to where he was athletically.
Truth be told, Long says the rehab process on the ankle will continue into February. He doesn’t think he’ll truly be 100 percent until February or March.
For now, it’s time for the Long family to celebrate Christmas ... today.
“My family does Christmas on New Year’s,” Long said.
It’s a concession to the demands of playing in the NFL, where the regular season doesn’t end until after Dec. 25.
This year, neither Chris nor his brother Kyle, a guard with the Chicago Bears, is in the playoffs. “The goal is that we’ll be apart on New Year’s every year,” Chris said.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_a28811be-b270-5c1e-9499-7238f274baf5.html
In retrospect, the best move might have been sitting out the rest of 2014 following an ankle injury in the season opener that required surgery. But that’s not Chris Long.
“It was just important to me,” he said. “I’m a captain. You know, I think people look at what you’re gonna do. I felt like if I’m healthy enough where I can’t make it a lot worse, and the surgery is secure and it’s healed, then I’m gonna come back.
“It’s really simple to me. I need this. I don’t like sitting around and watching. My teammates were having so much fun without me, I had to hurry up and get back and get in on the action.”
Long made those last remarks with a smile, but this wasn’t a season to smile about for the longest-tenured Ram. After playing every game in his first six seasons as a Ram, Long answered the bell only six times in 2014.
In the season opener against Minnesota, two tendons supporting his left ankle were torn loose when he got stepped on from behind by a teammate pursuing the play. That ended his ironman streak at 97 games.
Following surgery to reattach the tendons, Long missed the next 10 games. Throw in the bye week, and the veteran defensive end went from Sept. 7 (Minnesota) until Nov. 30 (Oakland) without playing in a game.
Like a fine-tuned race car, you just don’t go from 0-to-60 mph. Not after missing all that time.
“It’s hard,” Long said last week. “But it’s been awesome to just be back. I feel like if I can help, if the coaches feel like I can help, then whatever they need me to do.”
He figures his teammates would do the same in a similar situation.
“And I wouldn’t want to let them down,” Long said.
So after returning from the injured reserve/designated for return list, Long did all he could in the final five games of the season. Including his numbers from the opener prior to the injury, Long finished with 20 tackles and a fumble recovery.
As a pass rusher, his totals were one sack, nine quarterback pressures, and two quarterback hits.
This from someone who had 41 ½ sacks over the previous four seasons, the 10th-highest total in the NFL over that span. Despite a deep and talented defensive line, the Rams missed Long probably more than expected. And it wasn’t vintage Long over the final third of the season.
“I’m not what I want to be,” Long said, entering the finale at Seattle. “I’m not where I was when I started the year. But I’m just happy to be back. My health has improved every week the more rest I get on it. But you’re trying to play games and then rest and rehab. So it’s been an interesting experience.”
Once he started playing again, soreness in the foot was common. Sometimes it came during the week in practice. It was definitely sore after games. At most, he practiced about half the time over the final five weeks.
“Coach (did) a great job of kinda pacing me along, and giving me the rest I needed during the week to get to game day,” Long said. “We just put all our eggs in that basket, and just moved from there.”
It was all designed to get him to game day in decent enough shape to play and contribute. And Long didn’t exactly tip-toe into action once he returned against Oakland.
He was out there for 35 plays against the Raiders, or 49 percent of the total number of defensive plays. The pace picked up in subsequent games. By season’s end, he had averaged 42 plays a game, or just over 60 percent of the defensive plays in those five games after his return.
“Yeah, I got a little over-aggressive with it,” Long said. “We have a plan, but coaches have so much stuff going on during the game, that I can kind of slip it by ’em.”
In other words, Long didn’t always stick to the planned rotation — he’d stay in for some extra plays, unbeknownst to the coaches.
“Yeah, two, three plays here and there. It adds up,” Long said with a slight chuckle.
When the season ended, Long said he was feeling as good as he had since the surgery. But he certainly wasn’t the same player he was in training camp before the injury — when the seventh-year pro looked as quick as ever.
“Yeah, I worked hard to be,” Long said. “I was excited about having the best year of my career. I thought I was gonna have that.”
But things don’t always go as planned.
“It’s been disappointing,” Long said. “It’s a test. Everything happens for a reason.”
It was easier to get up to speed on run defense. But pass-rush wise, it just took a little longer to get back to where he was athletically.
Truth be told, Long says the rehab process on the ankle will continue into February. He doesn’t think he’ll truly be 100 percent until February or March.
For now, it’s time for the Long family to celebrate Christmas ... today.
“My family does Christmas on New Year’s,” Long said.
It’s a concession to the demands of playing in the NFL, where the regular season doesn’t end until after Dec. 25.
This year, neither Chris nor his brother Kyle, a guard with the Chicago Bears, is in the playoffs. “The goal is that we’ll be apart on New Year’s every year,” Chris said.
