Chris Long suffers hyper-extended knee in Week 5 loss to Green Bay

The St. Louis Rams sufferd a disheartening Week 5 loss to the Green Bay Packers when the legendary Lambeau field overwhelmed them to the tune of 24-10. The Rams struggled to protect quarterback Nick Foles all day forcing him into bad situations and four interceptions, including a pick-six. Dropped passes, poor route running and overthrown balls all contributed to the ugly showing. If all that wasn’t enough though, St. Louis dropped three big name players to injury.

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Defensive end Chris Long, offensive lineman Rodger Saffold and wide receiver Kenny Britt all left the game early due to injury. All three of those players play a large role in the Rams offensive and defensive schemes. The loss of any for a long period of time would certainly be a significant blow to the 2015 season outlook.

It was reported Monday that the team received some good news on Long when they learned he only suffered a hyper-extended knee injury. Long was injured in the late stages of the second quarter when he was involved in a knee-on-knee collision with a Green Bay player. Long stayed down and was eventually helped off the field by the training staff. He would eventually head to the locker room early, under his own power, but his afternoon ended there.

Head coach Jeff Fisher spoke about the injury Monday.

"“We got good news,” Fisher said. “It’s not an ACL or MCL, so that’s good. We feared the worst last night. We don’t know if he’s going to be available this week [or] for a couple of weeks. So we’ll just kind of go week-to-week on him.”(Nick Wagoner, ESPN)"

Saffold would leave the following quarter with a shoulder injury. He did not injure the same shoulder he had surgically repaired in the offseason, which is some good news for St. Louis, but it would appear he will also miss some extended time. For now, Garrett Reynolds will man the right guard spot. Saffold was the lone veteran on the offensive line, which already has a league leading eight false start penalties, so any missed time is too much missed time.

Sep 20, 2015; Landover, MD, USA; St. Louis Rams wide receiver Kenny Britt (18) celebrates with Rams tight end Jared Cook (89) after scoring a touchdown against the Washington Redskins during the second half at FedEx Field. The Washington Redskins won 24 – 10. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Finally, Britt would leave Sunday’s game with a right hand injury shortly after Saffold was injured in the third quarter. Britt had zero catches and went all afternoon without a target. This was Britt’s second consecutive week without a target after posting 102 receiving yards in the Rams’ Week 3 loss to the Steelers. If Britt is forced to miss time he would be replaced in the lineup by Brian Quick. Quick made his first catch of 2015 last week, and almost added another in the end zone, but the play was broken up by Green Bay defender Sam Shields.

The Rams enter their bye week this week and the extra time should help everyone heal up a bit more before they host the Cleveland Browns in Week 7.

If there was any good news to take away from Sunday’s loss it was running back Todd Gurley’s encore performance. How do you follow up a 146-yard performance, by posting a 159-yard performance of course. Gurley looked fresh and strong coming off his biggest workload of the season. His 30 carries against the Packers were a career high and could be a sign of things to come should Foles and the wide receiving corps continue to struggle.

Needless to say, St. Louis is looking forward to this bye week.