Rams remaining cautious with Alec Ogletree's return
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...remaining-cautious-with-alec-ogletrees-return
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Last week, St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher said linebacker Alec Ogletree would begin practicing this week in his effort to return from the leg and ankle injury that has kept him out for most of the season.
While Ogletree was nowhere to be found on the practice field Tuesday afternoon, Fisher said the Rams are slowly beginning to work him back into the mix before throwing him back into practice.
“He did not," Fisher said when asked if he practiced. "We’re just throwing that out there at him right now. He’s working inside. He’ll be out over the next couple of days. We’ll see how he moves and then we’ll kind of push him as best we can, but not going to put him in a position where if he’s not ready, we’re not going to play him."
In reality, there's not much reason to force Ogletree to get back on the field right away, but if he proves healthy enough, the Rams will consider getting him some work in the season finale against San Francisco on Jan. 3.
"I want him to have the opportunity to potentially get a few snaps against San Francisco," Fisher said. "We’ll know early in the week next week. We’ve got a busy week and busy weekend, especially with the holiday and then the travel. Then we’re traveling, as you guys know, from Seattle down to San Jose and then we’ll be training in Napa next week, so we’ve got a lot of things to do.”
Ogletree suffered the injury against Arizona on Oct. 4, and the Rams later placed him on the injured reserve list with the designation to return. Under the rules of that designation, Ogletree can come back and have a three-week window to begin practicing before the team must make a decision on whether he'll play again this season.
At this point, the window isn't even that large as Ogletree has two weeks to show he's back in shape and able to contribute in the finale. So while the Rams are hopeful, they also won't push Ogletree back if he's not ready.
“I’m hoping," Fisher said. "We were hopeful when the injury took place at Arizona that he would be back. Realistically, from a medical standpoint, the doctor’s said, ‘probably not’, but we want to give him that chance. I want to let him try to ... you set a goal out there for him and so we’ll see. We’ll know probably in the middle of next (week) whether he can go or not.”
