Rams hope freshness counts
12 hours ago • BY JIM THOMAS •
jthomas@post-dispatch.com
LONDON • While the Rams have been practicing all week in England, acclimating themselves to colder weather and a big change in time zones, New England arrived Friday morning.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick decided to do all his game-planning and practicing in Foxboro, Mass., before crossing the Atlantic with his team. Jeff Fisher did just the opposite — doing all of that in London.
Does that give the Rams an advantage? Will the Patriots be groggy at kickoff, which comes at 5 p.m. London time (noon, St. Louis time) at Wembley Stadium?
"Bill's got his philosophy," Fisher said Friday. "I think they look at it from the standpoint of they go play West Coast teams, and this trip's probably an hour, hour and a half longer than going to the West Coast.
"We looked at it differently. We wanted to get over and get adjusted and get into a normal practice routine, so we can get rested up. I wanted them to know exactly where they are at 5 p.m. on Sunday."
By Friday, the Rams' fourth day in London, most of the players had gotten over jet lag.
"Our schedule's been pretty much the same," safety Craig Dahl said. "Other than the accents and the weather and the food, I wouldn't have known we're in London."
Speaking of food, Dahl was among several players who dined Thursday night at one of the restaurants of renowned chef Gordon Ramsay.
"We had pigeon, duck — some of the guys had the duck liver," Dahl said.
Pigeon?
"I had a bite of pigeon," Dahl said. "It was delicious. Very odd, but delicious."
AMENDOLA'S STATUS
Wide receiver Danny Amendola isn't expected to play Sunday but was listed as questionable for New England after practicing on a limited basis all week. The questionable designation means a player has a 50-50 chance of playing.
Amendola indicated Thursday that a realistic goal for his return was Nov. 11 at San Francisco, which follows next week's bye. He suffered a separated SC joint — the joint where the collarbone meets the breastbone — Oct. 4 against Arizona.
As for the rest of Friday's injury report, LT Rodger Saffold (knee) and DE Eugene Sims (knee) were ruled out for Sunday.
Besides Amendola, LB Mario Haggan (thigh), DT Matt Conrath (knee), TE Mike McNeill (knee) and OT Wayne Hunter (back) were listed as questionable. Hunter didn't practice all week and hasn't played since Oct. 14 in Miami.
Wide receiver Brandon Gibson (illness) is probable.
HAGGAN CLOSE
After missing the last two games with a thigh injury suffered against Arizona, linebacker Mario Haggan returned to the practice field this week on a limited basis.
"I'm still not quite there yet, but I look forward to it when it comes," said Haggan, one of the team's core special teams players and a respected veteran.
"I'm just fortunate we get a bye and I get to heal up a little more," he said.
He suffered his thigh injury chasing down Arizona's Patrick Peterson on punt coverage. "It happened about 15 yards before I got to Peterson. It just kind of gave out — it popped."
DANCES WITH RAMS
Actor Kevin Costner, who's in town making a movie, watched the Rams practice Friday. Most of the practice was closed to the media — as was the case Wednesday and Thursday — but Fisher said Costner threw the ball around for about an hour.
FINNEGAN FINED
Rams cornerback Cortland Finnegan has a little less cash this week for souvenirs in London. He was fined $7,875 by the league for grabbing the facemask of Green Bay wide receiver Jordy Nelson on a fourth-quarter reception last week.
