Rams Could Face Quarterback Quandary

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By Nick Wagoner/Senior Writer
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As the Rams prepare to face Seattle a week from today, they will again be facing a quarterback quandary in practice this week.

That’s because coach Steve Spagnuolo announced Monday afternoon that quarterback A.J. Feeley suffered a small fracture in his right thumb during the loss to San Francisco.

Feeley’s status for this week is up in the air, putting him in a similar boat as starter Sam Bradford, who sat out Sunday’s game because of an ankle injury and who is also no guarantee to return this week.

“It is his right thumb,” Spagnuolo said. “We don’t know what we’re sitting on right now. (head athletic trainer) Reggie (Scott) and the medical staff is researching what exactly it is, what does it mean, can he grab a ball, all those other things. We are not really sure until we get through today and probably into tomorrow where A.J. is. That’s obviously very concerning based on the situation Sam is in right now so it’s something we have got to work through.”

Feeley said after Sunday’s game that he banged his right thumb on a helmet but didn’t say when he suffered the injury. After the game, Spagnuolo said he thought it had been a left thumb injury.

On Monday, Spagnuolo said while Feeley did hurt his left hand, the fracture was indeed on his throwing hand.

“I think Reggie said this to me that the right thumbs was earlier than that,” Spagnuolo said. “He must have just kind of fought through it.”

While the Rams work to figure out how Feeley will be affected by the thumb injury, they also will look to take advantage of the extra day off in hopes of getting Bradford back up to speed.

Bradford did not practice much at all last week but the pain in his ankle didn’t subside and, according to Spagnuolo, never improved. That left Bradford inactive on Sunday.

This week, the Rams will take a similar approach.

“We will probably proceed the same way we did last week,” Spagnuolo said. “When we get to Wednesday we’ll decide just how much exertion we want to put on the ankle because the less you put on it, the better off he is when we get down to a game type decision. That’s just how these high ankle sprains operate. We’ll probably tread lightly Wednesday. We’ll see how Sam feels and go off of how he feels.”

Spagnuolo revealed after Sunday’s game that the Rams were concerned that another setback to the ankle could lead to surgery for Bradford. That was a big part of the decision making process as Bradford wanted to play against San Francisco but the Rams staff made the decision to protect him.

“He’s not in the danger phase, at least that’s how the doctors and Reggie feel,” Spagnuolo said. “Last time it took three weeks; here it’s only been a week since he re-aggravated the injury. We have got to be careful. If it’s sore and it doesn’t feel good we want to be careful. Hopefully we can get past the soreness and get into more of where we were when we went into that Arizona game a month ago.”

Failing a Bradford recovery or some good news on Feeley’s thumb, the Rams would then have to turn to third string signal caller Tom Brandstater.

Brandstater was re-signed to the practice squad last week after spending the better part of a month with the Rams when Bradford initially injured the ankle.

The Rams let Brandstater go when Bradford returned but brought him back last week and promoted him to the active roster on Saturday. He does have some experience in the system but hasn’t played in a game for the Rams.

“He would have to be the guy,” Spagnuolo said. “The good thing is we had him for a good month period there so the system is not new to him. Last week he was in there with the practice squad reps and kind of got the juices flowing again. But he would be the guy we have to go with.”

BELL OUT: As if the job the injury bug did on the secondary wasn’t enough, it now has turned its attention to the offensive line.

After losing tackles Rodger Saffold and Jason Smith to season ending injuries, it appears that guard Jacob Bell is next.

“He’s got a MCL, grade 2 (sprain),” Spagnuolo said. “We might be looking at like a four week injury so we’ll have to make a decision there. That’s a tough one right now.”

By making a decision, Spagnuolo means the Rams might have to shut Bell down for the rest of the season. With four games to play and a presumed four-week injury, placing Bell on injured reserve would free a roster spot for the Rams to add some more depth on the line.

Bell had been a mainstay on a line full of juggling this year.

“I think he had the one injury early in the year when he battled a hamstring,” Spagnuolo said. “Other than that, he had been one of the cornerstones in the sense that he had been in the same spot and we had the same left guard so that was helpful. But that’s the only spot we’d been able to do that and now we don’t have that.”
MORE LINE DANCING: With Bell out, the Rams will yet again have to reshuffle their offensive line.

Bell suffered the injury in the third quarter and the Rams had to reconfigure again, this time moving Harvey Dahl back inside to guard and plugging in Thomas Welch at tackle.

That means this week could once again leave the Rams looking to find the best combination of five offensive linemen for Monday night’s game at Seattle.

“I’m not sure yet,” Spagnuolo said. “We have got another reshuffle. One of the toughest positions I think in this game to continually reshuffle is that and in my opinion the secondary because you need complete continuity in those two positions for both of those phases of the game of football to function on offense and defense.”

Welch made his first appearance as a Ram early in the game when Adam Goldberg suffered a rib injury. He returned after Bell left the game.

“It was all new to him,” Spagnuolo said. “He hadn’t been in there. It had been awhile but he hung tough.”

INJURY REPORT: In addition to Feeley, Bradford and Bell, the Rams had some other notable bumps and bruises.

Safety Craig Dahl (knee), Goldberg (ribs), punter Donnie Jones (ankle) and end Eugene Sims (ankle) would be classified as limited for practice if the Rams had to practice tomorrow according to Spagnuolo.

Defensive tackle Gary Gibson has been battling an illness and played through the game with it. He’ll be tested to see if there’s anything serious.

Fellow defensive tackle Fred Robbins has a sore back and will be day to day.

On the bright side, end Chris Long made it through the game OK on a sore ankle and should be OK this week again even if limited in practice again.

Spagnuolo added that the Rams are hopeful that safety Darian Stewart can return from a concussion this week.