Injury Update: Who Should We Expect To See This Week

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.