Injury Bug Continues to Haunt Los Angeles Rams CB E.J. Gaines

The Los Angeles Rams cornerback could miss the team’s first preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys with a mild hamstring strain.

E.J. Gaines knows a starting job with the Los Angeles Rams this season is anything but a guarantee–even with the departure of Janoris Jenkins to the New York Giants.

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After a Lisfranc injury forced him to miss the entire 2015 season, Gaines was hoping to earn the No. 2 spot at cornerback alongside Trumaine Johnson this year, but it will be tougher than expected thanks to some tough competition at the position. Coty Sensabaugh–who joined the Rams this offseason after starting 15 games last year for the Tennessee Titans–seems to have just as good of a shot of earning that starting spot over Gains.

Plus, it looks like the injury bug is haunting Gaines once again–putting his status for the team’s first preseason game in jeopardy.

There was already a ton of pressure on Gaines to perform well enough in training camp to prove he was fully healthy and this hamstring injury is the last thing he needs to be dealing with at the moment. Not to mention the last thing Gaines wants to do is risk making the injury worse by trying to play next week against the Dallas Cowboys.

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The future seemed bright for Gaines with the Rams after starting 15 games as a rookie in 2014 and depending on the seriousness of this latest injury, it will be interesting to see if someone like Sensabaugh emerges as the team’s No. 2 cornerback over the next few weeks.