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Rams notes: Team releases wide receiver Pettis
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_b9e68256-fd01-5df2-86e1-5981003c18fa.html
Looking to clear space for a yet-to-be-announced move at another position, the Rams released wide receiver Austin Pettis on Monday.
“We appreciate Austin’s contributions,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “He’s made a lot of plays for us. We needed to make some moves with respect to some other positions. I’m not going to go into detail about what we’re doing, but we needed a roster spot.”
The Rams also released receiver Emory Blake from the practice squad Monday.
The fact that Pettis and Blake were late for a team meeting Saturday certainly didn’t help their cause and may have helped prompt their Monday release. But there were other factors in Pettis’ case.
Drafted in the third round of the 2011 draft, Pettis was the only receiver on the roster who wasn’t brought here by Fisher and general manager Les Snead. He’s in the final year of a contract that expires at the end of the season, and there had been no indications that the club was looking to re-sign him.
Pettis, 26, took a $481,000 pay cut in a contract restructuring early this season, although there was an opportunity to earn $400,000 of that back by reaching certain incentives.
But perhaps the biggest factor in Pettis’ release was his position as the fifth or sixth option on a team struggling to find enough work for its receivers. With Pettis as a pregame inactive for Sunday’s 28-26 victory over Seattle, Chris Givens was on the field for five offensive snaps and Stedman Bailey for just two.
Givens, who was inactive for the two previous games, came up with a key 30-yard catch on the Rams’ final scoring drive Sunday while Bailey, a second-year player who excels on special teams, returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown against the Seahawks.
Brian Quick, a second-round draft pick in 2012, has come into his own this season with 24 catches for 365 yards and three touchdowns, teaming with free agent Kenny Britt (14 catches, 197 yards, one TD) to give the Rams a pair of big, physical receivers on the outside.
A first-round pick in 2013, Tavon Austin is back in the slot after an early-season knee injury and has 12 catches for 108 yards while Bailey, a fourth-round pick in 2013, has two catches for 20 yards after being suspended and forced to sit out the season’s first two games. Givens, a third-year pro and one of the fastest players on the roster, led the Rams in receiving yards as a rookie in 2012 and was second in that department a year ago in 2013.
A reliable possession receiver, Pettis has had his moments with the Rams. Earlier this season, after Austin went down with a knee injury, Pettis stepped up with three catches for 46 yards, including an acrobatic 27-yarder to help set up the game-winning field goal in Tampa Bay.
Pettis had 12 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown in five games this season and had 107 catches for 1,034 yards and nine TDs in three-plus seasons with the Rams.
Although Fisher wouldn’t comment on roster needs, the Rams have just five linebackers on the roster.
DEFENSIVE NUMBERS
The coaches’ review of the game film Monday showed that linebackers James Laurinaitis and Alec Ogletree paced the Rams with 10 tackles apiece in the win over Seattle. Laurinaitis had two solos while Ogletree recorded six and added a quarterback pressure.
Cornerback Janoris Jenkins had nine tackles, all solo, and also chipped in with a quarterback hit and a pass defended. Rookie nickel back Lamarcus Joyner also had nine tackles, including six solos. Rookie cornerback E.J. Gaines had seven solo tackles and a pass defended.
Linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar finished with seven tackles while safety Rodney McLeod, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, defensive end Robert Quinn and defensive end William Hayes had six each.
After posting just one sack through the first five games, the Rams got sacks from Donald, Eugene Sims and Quinn during a second-quarter stretch of five defensive snaps in the second quarter Sunday. In addition to the three sacks, the defense had 17 pressures and three hits against the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson.
On special teams, Chase Reynolds again led the way with a pair of tackles. McLeod, Daren Bates and Jake McQuaide also had special teams tackles in the game.
RAM-BLINGS
The Cleveland Browns waived fullback Ray Agnew (De Smet, SIUC), an undrafted rookie free agent who had started the team’s first six games this season. Agnew rushed two times for two yards and had two catches for 15 yards.
He’s the oldest son of Rams’ director of pro personnel Ray Agnew, who finished out a stellar pro career with the Rams. He was a key player and team leader for the Rams’ Super Bowl XXXIV championship squad.
In a related move, the Browns promoted rookie fullback Keiro Small from their practice squad.
• The New Orleans Saints placed defensive end Glenn Foster (Illinois) on injured reserve following a knee injury suffered Sunday in a 24-23 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Jim Thomas of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_b9e68256-fd01-5df2-86e1-5981003c18fa.html
Looking to clear space for a yet-to-be-announced move at another position, the Rams released wide receiver Austin Pettis on Monday.
“We appreciate Austin’s contributions,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “He’s made a lot of plays for us. We needed to make some moves with respect to some other positions. I’m not going to go into detail about what we’re doing, but we needed a roster spot.”
The Rams also released receiver Emory Blake from the practice squad Monday.
The fact that Pettis and Blake were late for a team meeting Saturday certainly didn’t help their cause and may have helped prompt their Monday release. But there were other factors in Pettis’ case.
Drafted in the third round of the 2011 draft, Pettis was the only receiver on the roster who wasn’t brought here by Fisher and general manager Les Snead. He’s in the final year of a contract that expires at the end of the season, and there had been no indications that the club was looking to re-sign him.
Pettis, 26, took a $481,000 pay cut in a contract restructuring early this season, although there was an opportunity to earn $400,000 of that back by reaching certain incentives.
But perhaps the biggest factor in Pettis’ release was his position as the fifth or sixth option on a team struggling to find enough work for its receivers. With Pettis as a pregame inactive for Sunday’s 28-26 victory over Seattle, Chris Givens was on the field for five offensive snaps and Stedman Bailey for just two.
Givens, who was inactive for the two previous games, came up with a key 30-yard catch on the Rams’ final scoring drive Sunday while Bailey, a second-year player who excels on special teams, returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown against the Seahawks.
Brian Quick, a second-round draft pick in 2012, has come into his own this season with 24 catches for 365 yards and three touchdowns, teaming with free agent Kenny Britt (14 catches, 197 yards, one TD) to give the Rams a pair of big, physical receivers on the outside.
A first-round pick in 2013, Tavon Austin is back in the slot after an early-season knee injury and has 12 catches for 108 yards while Bailey, a fourth-round pick in 2013, has two catches for 20 yards after being suspended and forced to sit out the season’s first two games. Givens, a third-year pro and one of the fastest players on the roster, led the Rams in receiving yards as a rookie in 2012 and was second in that department a year ago in 2013.
A reliable possession receiver, Pettis has had his moments with the Rams. Earlier this season, after Austin went down with a knee injury, Pettis stepped up with three catches for 46 yards, including an acrobatic 27-yarder to help set up the game-winning field goal in Tampa Bay.
Pettis had 12 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown in five games this season and had 107 catches for 1,034 yards and nine TDs in three-plus seasons with the Rams.
Although Fisher wouldn’t comment on roster needs, the Rams have just five linebackers on the roster.
DEFENSIVE NUMBERS
The coaches’ review of the game film Monday showed that linebackers James Laurinaitis and Alec Ogletree paced the Rams with 10 tackles apiece in the win over Seattle. Laurinaitis had two solos while Ogletree recorded six and added a quarterback pressure.
Cornerback Janoris Jenkins had nine tackles, all solo, and also chipped in with a quarterback hit and a pass defended. Rookie nickel back Lamarcus Joyner also had nine tackles, including six solos. Rookie cornerback E.J. Gaines had seven solo tackles and a pass defended.
Linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar finished with seven tackles while safety Rodney McLeod, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, defensive end Robert Quinn and defensive end William Hayes had six each.
After posting just one sack through the first five games, the Rams got sacks from Donald, Eugene Sims and Quinn during a second-quarter stretch of five defensive snaps in the second quarter Sunday. In addition to the three sacks, the defense had 17 pressures and three hits against the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson.
On special teams, Chase Reynolds again led the way with a pair of tackles. McLeod, Daren Bates and Jake McQuaide also had special teams tackles in the game.
RAM-BLINGS
The Cleveland Browns waived fullback Ray Agnew (De Smet, SIUC), an undrafted rookie free agent who had started the team’s first six games this season. Agnew rushed two times for two yards and had two catches for 15 yards.
He’s the oldest son of Rams’ director of pro personnel Ray Agnew, who finished out a stellar pro career with the Rams. He was a key player and team leader for the Rams’ Super Bowl XXXIV championship squad.
In a related move, the Browns promoted rookie fullback Keiro Small from their practice squad.
• The New Orleans Saints placed defensive end Glenn Foster (Illinois) on injured reserve following a knee injury suffered Sunday in a 24-23 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Jim Thomas of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.