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Rams notebook: Team gets a few days off following tough Thursday loss
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_41bf8c46-715a-5916-b65b-1180cb677f21.html
Coming off a frustrating 12-6 Thursday night loss to the visiting Arizona Cardinals, the Rams now get a bit of a “mini-bye’’ before hosting the New York Giants on Sunday, Dec. 21.
“The players are going to take a deep breath this weekend,’’ Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Friday while meeting with reporters at Rams Park. “Take a few days off, come back ready to work and we’ll get ready for the Giants. That’s our focus. I’m not going to make any significant roster moves or play anybody here or there. We’re play this group throughout. We’ve got lessons to learn and we still have some improvement to do. So that’s going to be our focus. Pretty boring, actually.’’
The Rams (6-8) will close out the season on Dec. 28 against the Seahawks in Seattle. Under Fisher, the Rams finished 7-8-1 in 2012 and were 7-9 last year.
DEFENSIVE NUMBERS
The Rams’ defense continued its outstanding recent play; the team hasn’t allowed a touchdown since the 8:09 mark in the fourth quarter of the 27-24 loss in San Diego on Nov. 23.
According to the coaches’ game-tape review, rookie E.J. Gaines, the sixth-round draft pick from Mizzou, paced the Rams with 13 tackles, including a team-leading 10 solos. Other leaders were linebackers James Laurinaitis (12) and Alec Ogletree (11, with one for loss) and safety T.J. McDonald (10, eight solos, one for loss).
Michael Brockers led the defensive linemen with eight stops.
The pass rush, which combined for 13 sacks in back-to-back shutouts of Oakland (52-0) and Washington (24-0), managed just 15 quarterback pressures, one quarterback hit and one sack. Robert Quinn and Aaron Donald had four pressures apiece, Chris Long had the quarterback hit, and Donald posted the sack. Donald, a first-round draft pick from Pitt, has had a sack in each of his last five games and leads NFL rookies with eight this season.
On special teams, the press box stats had Daren Bates and Will Herring with two tackles apiece. Mark Barron also had a stop on special teams.
PUNTER BATTLE
Thursday’s defensive struggle featured a pair of solid efforts from the teams’ punters.
Arizona’s Drew Butler punted eight times for 308 yards but managed to put six of those kicks inside the Rams’ 20-yard line in a game where field position was crucial.
Tavon Austin, the current NFC special teams player of the week after returning four punts for 143 yards with a 78-yard touchdown, lost 2 yards on his two returns Thursday night.
The Rams’ Johnny Hekker, who earned a Pro Bowl berth a year ago, also punted well. On his eight punts, he averaged 50.5 yards overall and had a net average of 43.8 with three kicks inside the 20.
The Big Red’s Ted Ginn Jr. had a 42-yard return and averaged 13.5 yards on four punt returns.
“I thought (special) teams played well,’’ Fisher said. “Johnny punted too many times, but punted very well. I thought Tavon handled the ball well and made good decisions. Special teams wasn’t the issue.’’
QUINN NOMINATED FOR NEW AWARD
Quinn, the Rams’ standout defensive end, is the club’s nominee for the new NFL Sportsmanship Award.
The award will determined by a vote of players. A panel of former players from the NFL Legends Community _ Warrick Dunn, Curtis Martin, Karl Mecklenburg and Leonard Wheeler _ will trim the list of 32 nominees to eight finalists including four each from the NFC and the AFC. The eight finalists will be listed on the Pro Bowl ballot. When the players vote later this month, each team’s players will come up with a consensus vote for the Sportsmanship Award. As in Pro Bowl voting, a team cannot vote for its own player.
The winner will be announced during the nationally televised NFL Honors show on the eve of the Super Bowl on Jan. 31. He will receive a $25,000 donation from the NFL Foundation to a charity of his choice and be presented a trophy.
“This award will recognize those who never hesitate to show that excellence in football is not achieved without respect for the game, for their opponents, for the officials and for the fans,’’ NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent said.
RAM-BLINGS
Thursday proved a tough night for the St. Louis ground game. As a team, the Rams were limited to 69 yards on 20 carries — an average of 3.5 per touch. Rookie Tre Mason, who leads the Rams with 155 carries and 661 yards, managed just 33 yards on 13 carries (2.5 average) and lost the first fumble of his professional career.
The late first-quarter fumble, caused by Frostee Rucker and recovered by Larry Foote at the St. Louis 27, set up the first of four field goals for the Cardinals’ Chandler Catanzaro.
“If he was hanging onto it, it wouldn’t have come out,’’ Fisher said of the Mason fumble. “If he held the ball tightly, it wouldn’t have come out. Yeah, he didn’t see the defender. He was caught off guard.’’
• From the recent 24-0 win in Washington, the Redskins’ Ryan Clark was fined $22,050 for his first-quarter hit on Rams tight end Jared Cook. Clark was flagged for hitting a defenseless player. Cook left the game but returned to catch a pair of TD passes in the road win.
Also from that contest, Washington defensive lineman Frank Kearse was fined $8,268 for pulling down Rams QB Shaun Hill by the facemask in the fourth quarter.
• By Joe Lyons
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_41bf8c46-715a-5916-b65b-1180cb677f21.html
Coming off a frustrating 12-6 Thursday night loss to the visiting Arizona Cardinals, the Rams now get a bit of a “mini-bye’’ before hosting the New York Giants on Sunday, Dec. 21.
“The players are going to take a deep breath this weekend,’’ Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Friday while meeting with reporters at Rams Park. “Take a few days off, come back ready to work and we’ll get ready for the Giants. That’s our focus. I’m not going to make any significant roster moves or play anybody here or there. We’re play this group throughout. We’ve got lessons to learn and we still have some improvement to do. So that’s going to be our focus. Pretty boring, actually.’’
The Rams (6-8) will close out the season on Dec. 28 against the Seahawks in Seattle. Under Fisher, the Rams finished 7-8-1 in 2012 and were 7-9 last year.
DEFENSIVE NUMBERS
The Rams’ defense continued its outstanding recent play; the team hasn’t allowed a touchdown since the 8:09 mark in the fourth quarter of the 27-24 loss in San Diego on Nov. 23.
According to the coaches’ game-tape review, rookie E.J. Gaines, the sixth-round draft pick from Mizzou, paced the Rams with 13 tackles, including a team-leading 10 solos. Other leaders were linebackers James Laurinaitis (12) and Alec Ogletree (11, with one for loss) and safety T.J. McDonald (10, eight solos, one for loss).
Michael Brockers led the defensive linemen with eight stops.
The pass rush, which combined for 13 sacks in back-to-back shutouts of Oakland (52-0) and Washington (24-0), managed just 15 quarterback pressures, one quarterback hit and one sack. Robert Quinn and Aaron Donald had four pressures apiece, Chris Long had the quarterback hit, and Donald posted the sack. Donald, a first-round draft pick from Pitt, has had a sack in each of his last five games and leads NFL rookies with eight this season.
On special teams, the press box stats had Daren Bates and Will Herring with two tackles apiece. Mark Barron also had a stop on special teams.
PUNTER BATTLE
Thursday’s defensive struggle featured a pair of solid efforts from the teams’ punters.
Arizona’s Drew Butler punted eight times for 308 yards but managed to put six of those kicks inside the Rams’ 20-yard line in a game where field position was crucial.
Tavon Austin, the current NFC special teams player of the week after returning four punts for 143 yards with a 78-yard touchdown, lost 2 yards on his two returns Thursday night.
The Rams’ Johnny Hekker, who earned a Pro Bowl berth a year ago, also punted well. On his eight punts, he averaged 50.5 yards overall and had a net average of 43.8 with three kicks inside the 20.
The Big Red’s Ted Ginn Jr. had a 42-yard return and averaged 13.5 yards on four punt returns.
“I thought (special) teams played well,’’ Fisher said. “Johnny punted too many times, but punted very well. I thought Tavon handled the ball well and made good decisions. Special teams wasn’t the issue.’’
QUINN NOMINATED FOR NEW AWARD
Quinn, the Rams’ standout defensive end, is the club’s nominee for the new NFL Sportsmanship Award.
The award will determined by a vote of players. A panel of former players from the NFL Legends Community _ Warrick Dunn, Curtis Martin, Karl Mecklenburg and Leonard Wheeler _ will trim the list of 32 nominees to eight finalists including four each from the NFC and the AFC. The eight finalists will be listed on the Pro Bowl ballot. When the players vote later this month, each team’s players will come up with a consensus vote for the Sportsmanship Award. As in Pro Bowl voting, a team cannot vote for its own player.
The winner will be announced during the nationally televised NFL Honors show on the eve of the Super Bowl on Jan. 31. He will receive a $25,000 donation from the NFL Foundation to a charity of his choice and be presented a trophy.
“This award will recognize those who never hesitate to show that excellence in football is not achieved without respect for the game, for their opponents, for the officials and for the fans,’’ NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent said.
RAM-BLINGS
Thursday proved a tough night for the St. Louis ground game. As a team, the Rams were limited to 69 yards on 20 carries — an average of 3.5 per touch. Rookie Tre Mason, who leads the Rams with 155 carries and 661 yards, managed just 33 yards on 13 carries (2.5 average) and lost the first fumble of his professional career.
The late first-quarter fumble, caused by Frostee Rucker and recovered by Larry Foote at the St. Louis 27, set up the first of four field goals for the Cardinals’ Chandler Catanzaro.
“If he was hanging onto it, it wouldn’t have come out,’’ Fisher said of the Mason fumble. “If he held the ball tightly, it wouldn’t have come out. Yeah, he didn’t see the defender. He was caught off guard.’’
• From the recent 24-0 win in Washington, the Redskins’ Ryan Clark was fined $22,050 for his first-quarter hit on Rams tight end Jared Cook. Clark was flagged for hitting a defenseless player. Cook left the game but returned to catch a pair of TD passes in the road win.
Also from that contest, Washington defensive lineman Frank Kearse was fined $8,268 for pulling down Rams QB Shaun Hill by the facemask in the fourth quarter.
