Another knee operation for Rams center Scott Wells/PD

[RamBill]

• By Jim Thomas jthomas@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8197

Another knee operation for Rams center Scott Wells : Stltoday


Rams center Scott Wells had knee surgery earlier this month, an arthroscopic procedure to repair torn cartilage.

Wells suffered the injury in his first practice back with the Rams after returning in November from foot surgery. Wells, a Pro Bowler a year ago as a Green Bay Packer, played through the pain in starting the Rams’ final six games of the regular season.

The Rams gave up only 1½ sacks in those six games, compared to 2.6 sacks allowed per game in their first 10 contests. The surgery was to the same knee (the right knee) that required surgery last spring during the Rams’ practice sessions. After recovering from that initial knee operation, Wells suffered a fractured foot in the season opener against Detroit, sidelining him for nine games.

“It’s been a frustrating year for me,” Wells said at the end of the season. “This is the first time I’ve had to deal with an injury that has limited my availability. I don’t think I’ve missed more than two games up to this point in my career due to injuries.

“So, a frustrating year for me with the knee, then the foot, then the knee. But I was able to push through the knee at the end and the foot’s fine. I look forward to an offseason to get healthy. It’s the same knee and it’s just years of abuse playing and it’s just kind of fouled up.”

Neither Wells nor his agent, Brian Parker, could be reached to comment Friday regarding the latest knee surgery.

The Rams’ offseason conditioning program doesn’t begin until mid-April and the spring practice period doesn’t begin until May, so Wells should have plenty of time to rehab the knee.

Offensive line coach Paul Boudreau is optimistic that Wells’ second season with the Rams will go much easier than the first.

“He’s established here now,” Boudreau said at the end of the regular season. “He’s got a house here. He’s not commuting back and forth. I think it’ll be an easier second year. Because in eight or nine years, he’s really never been hurt. He’s played with broken bones and stuff, but he’s never missed as much time as he’s missed this year.”

NO ANNOUNCEMENT

The hirings of Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator and Frank Bush as linebackers coach are all but official, but the Rams appear to be in no hurry to finalize things with both new coaches. There was no announcement of their hiring Friday as had been anticipated, and that announcement may not come until next week.

[Nick]

Resigning Rob Turner as an insurance policy should be a priority for the Rams, IMO.

[Azul e Oro]

Saffold's return & nixing The Mightless Quinn had a bit to do with the improved sack rate,imo, but Wells did look noticeably better than Turner; quicker even, which is remarkable with a knee injury after a long rehab & with a new team/scheme. Hopefully it was a freak year, & we get the benefit of the quality player/man Wells obviously is, but I wouldn't mind seeing some fresh blood there.Maybe a bigger guy, maybe even Rok. I think The Rams will have to get bigger on the interior OL if they don't draft a power back to ultimately replace SJ. You're not going to get those bruiser yards from D-Rich or Pead,imo.

[berg8309]

Saffold's return & nixing The Mightless Quinn had a bit to do with the improved sack rate,imo, but Wells did look noticeably better than Turner; quicker even, which is remarkable with a knee injury after a long rehab & with a new team/scheme. Hopefully it was a freak year, & we get the benefit of the quality player/man Wells obviously is, but I wouldn't mind seeing some fresh blood there.Maybe a bigger guy, maybe even Rok. I think The Rams will have to get bigger on the interior OL if they don't draft a power back to ultimately replace SJ. You're not going to get those bruiser yards from D-Rich or Pead,imo.

Part of Wells appeal is his ability to call protections, something Rok probably has never done. Not sure we'd want to entrust what is essentially a rookie who has never played center to making those kind of calls. The center has to be one of the smartest players on the field, and although I can't remember all of Rok's scouting reports, I don't recall seeing anything about high football intelligence. I wouldn't be comfortable moving Rok to center over Wells.

It's not all about bulk on the line, and in all honestly, Wells is kind of fresh blood considering how little he played. Still, the Rams need some insurance, for sure.

[Azul e Oro]

Part of Wells appeal is his ability to call protections, something Rok probably has never done. Not sure we'd want to entrust what is essentially a rookie who has never played center to making those kind of calls. The center has to be one of the smartest players on the field, and although I can't remember all of Rok's scouting reports, I don't recall seeing anything about high football intelligence. I wouldn't be comfortable moving Rok to center over Wells.

It's not all about bulk on the line, and in all honestly, Wells is kind of fresh blood considering how little he played. Still, the Rams need some insurance, for sure.

Don't be silly.I wasn't suggesting Rok as the starter for next year but down the road a bit, if at all.We're not even sure he'll become starting material at all; didn't look too good in pre-season,iirc.

The idea is to get bigger and younger AND more talented- a tough trio of things that is hard to find in one guy but essential,imo, on the OL & I think everything should be on the table. And asking a guard to be able to swing over to center isn't unreasonable. I doubt he'll ever have the feet to be an OT back-up so he'd better learn how to call protections..lol...

I also don't think you can call Wells fresh anything with multiple lower body injuries at his age & the number of games he's played in his career.If we get 2-3 years out of the guy, I'll be surprised.

The blather we always hear about QB play makes me laugh; the biggest difference between SF anfd STL right now is that SF double-dipped in the draft's 1st round a few years back & took OLers. If Fisher/Snead want to use all their extra picks on shiny new toys/skill players, they'd better start growing some interior linemen PDQ. There's this myth that Boudreau turned a sow's ear into a brick wall last year. It's BS. That O-line sucked without the quality of Saffold & Wells & still had issues, although fewer, with them. To take the next step like SF has, The Rams need a new set of Doughnut Bros.

[Vinnie25]

How about Barrett Jones, could play pretty much any position on the offensive line and excels at Center. Play him at LG/RG/RT until he gets his feet wet and then he can eventually replace Wells at Center. Probably not a 1st round option, but he might be available when we draft in the 2nd round