Brian Quick closer to moving from yellow hat to green light
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...oser-to-moving-from-yellow-hat-to-green-light
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Before the St. Louis Rams practice Tuesday night, don't be surprised if coach Jeff Fisher establishes a new ritual.
Wide receiver Brian Quick, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, has been cleared to participate fully in practice since training camp began at the end of July. That clearance came with just one caveat in the form of a football fashion faux pas: that darn yellow beanie.
The yellow beanie has been a uniform staple for Quick for the first few weeks of training camp. It's not quite a red "hands-off" jersey like quarterbacks wear but, like a traffic light, it offers a "proceed-with-caution" warning for all who approach him.
Now, it appears Quick is poised to shed the beanie and return to an actual game on Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts. But first, a changing of the beanie.
"I think he’s got a chance to play this week, yeah," Fisher said. "We’re taking his yellow hat off of him. I’m going to take the yellow hat off of Brian and put it on (running back) Todd (Gurley).
"The yellow hat tells the defense, 'Don’t hit me.' I may have a ceremony and let Brian graduate and pass it over to Todd. The yellow hat is like a red jersey."
It's a wardrobe change months in the making for Quick, who suffered the shoulder injury against Kansas City on Oct. 26 of last season.
"Oh man, the yellow hat," Quick said, laughing. "(My teammates) don’t say anything because they know (why I wear it). But being out there, being full speed, it’s kind of hard to have to do things where they can’t hit (me). But they understand and I understand. I have to believe in the process and just do what they tell me to do, wear the yellow hat and keep working hard."
If removing the beanie is the equivalent of a green light, it sounds like Fisher is going to give Quick the go ahead soon enough.
Quick has practiced without restriction throughout camp and looks poised to be ready to go when the season starts. Before the preseason opener against Oakland, Fisher said Quick would play in an exhibition. He sat out the first two, but with the Rams finally returning home this weekend, it sounds like Quick is positioned to make his preseason debut against the Colts.
And if Quick ever has to go back to the beanie? Well, he has just one request.
"The color, I need a darker color," Quick said. "I told coach I want a black one so nobody can see it. If it’s a dark color, it just blends right in."