May 23, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar (58) and guard Harvey Dahl (62) scuffle as teammates attempt to break it up during an OTA at ContinuityX Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

As far as the St. Louis Rams’ luck goes, we are fairing pretty well on the injury front. While teams like the Cleveland Browns and San Franscisco 49ers continue to be decimated by injuries, the Rams have remained relatively unscathed going into the third bout of the preseason. Prior to the Week 2 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, there were only a couple of notable injuries pestering the defensive side of the ball. Darian Stewart (hamstring) and Bradley Fletcher (rib) were inactive, both of whom have yet to take the field in a preseason game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Rams held out Scott Wells, Danario Alexander, and Brandon Gibson. Well it is now Monday; another day, another week of football. How are the Rams doing on the injury front…

Jim Thomas tweeted out Saturday night that Brian Quick had been taken to the locker room for x-rays on his back. It was later revealed what Quick had suffered from “back spasms.” Nick Wagner reported that, according to Coach Fisher, the injury should not keep Quick out for any substantial amount of time. That should be a sigh of relief for those expecting, or at least hoping, that Quick will be the lost awaited replacement to the Torry Holt throne.

Fisher on Thursday noted that he did not see Wells’ injury plaguing him any further than “this weekend,” a sediment which he echoed on Sunday. According to that same report by Wagner, Fisher expects Brandon Gibson, Darian Stewart, and Scott Wells back this week.

One of the big names you see absent from that list is the oft-injured Danario Alexander, whose chances at grasping a spot on the final roster are dwendling with every passing day. Alexander, who is still nursing a nagging hamstring injury, it continuing to fall down the depth chart in an extremely crowded wide receiver field. For now, I wouldn’t expect him back this week… which means we might not be seeing him come the Aug. 31 roster cuts.

In addition to Darian Stewart, the Rams should be expecting back Bradley Fletcher, who has been held out with a rib injury sustained prior to Week 1 against the Colts. Both players have yet to see the field, while, in limited time, Josh Gordon, Jerome Murphy, Trumaine Johnson have impressed as replacements. Craig Dahl, aside from his Week 1 gaffe that led to Andrew Luck’s “real” first touchdown pass in the NFL, has held his own alongside Quintin Mikell. With Fletcher back, it is now a crowded field fighting for the nickelback, or third cornerback, spot on the defense. The one problem a team loves to have at the start of the regular season is having too many quality cornerbacks on the roster. After last season’s injury epidemic, I am sure it is a welcome competition in the Rams’ secondary.

Ryan Van Bibber, editor at TurfShowTimes, breaks down what each of the returns might mean this week during practice; a must read! Bibber talks about not only the implications in the secondary, but how the return of Scott Wells may cause a drastic shake-up of the interior lineman. With all of the “back-ups” playing recognizably well, it should be interesting to see who will get the majority of reps with the first team, and where each player may be getting those reps. STLToday.com writer Jeff Gordon also touches on the  impressive showing from the “replacement” lineman, giving a lot of credit to Robert Turner and Barry Richardson, who has, so far, beat out Jason Smith for the starting job.

As far as injuries go, no news is good news! So, lets hope we continue to not hear much from Rams Camp this season.

May 23, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams tackle Rodger Saffold (76) walks off the field during an OTA at ContinuityX Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

The offensive line here in St. Louis has been a major concern for what seems like forever, and there is some concern after the last few days of practice that it might not be on the fast track to improving. Barry Richardson has replaced Jason Smith at right tackle for the last two sessions, and Quinn Ojinnaka played left tackle on Thursday with Rodger Saffold missing more time with soreness in his legs.

There’s reason to be concerned with both of these situations, but for very different reasons. As far as Richardson/Smith goes, it looks like Smith has been relegated to the second-team unit since Richardson has lined up with the first team for two consecutive days. Sometimes early in the preseason the coach can just want to get a look at guys in certain spots, but with Smith’s struggles in the past I think this development is certainly one to watch over the next few weeks.

Saffold is going to be the starting LT if he’s healthy, but I think that’s a pretty big IF at this point. Thursday’s “leg soreness” probably isn’t a huge deal, but it seems like every time we look up he is on the sideline for something. I’m not ready to say we should be concerned, but let’s hope Saffold keeps himself healthy over the next few weeks so he’s ready to go for Week 1.

There was a pretty good-sized list of guys who sat out practice on Thursday, as WR Brandon Gibson, S Darian Stewart, CB Bradley Fletcher, WR Danario Alexander and DE Eugene Sims were all held out.

Miller is pretty much an Amendola clone, although I think it’s safe to say he’s probably not nearly as good, at least right now. He is 5-9 and 180 pounds, and coach Spags said today that if he would have put number 16 on Miller in practice, the media would have thought it was Danny back on the field running plays. Miller could factor into the return game on both kicks and punts, but although he may look like Amendola, I wouldn’t expect too much impact on the offense, at least early on.

Jackson is also kind of an interesting story. He is from Oklahoma where he was teammates with Sam Bradford, and Spags and Billy Devaney actually met him during a lunch when they were on campus working out Bradford a few years ago. Jackson played in 12 games with the Giants last season and recorded nine tackles, and he should be able to at least help out the depth at corner.