Rams Notebook: Gibson Takes The Blame

[r8rh8rmike]

Rams Notebook: Gibson takes the blame

14 hours ago • By Jim Thomas

Rams wide receiver Brandon Gibson was as surprised as anybody about the late flag that wiped out an 80-yard reception by Danny Amendola against San Francisco.

“Yeah, usually they call it (right) when it happens,” he said. “But they made the call. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

And Gibson blamed nobody but himself for that costly illegal formation penalty on the first play from scrimmage in overtime. Coach Jeff Fisher tried to give Gibson a little wiggle room Monday when he noted that during the practice week the Rams had employed a tight end between Gibson and left tackle Rodger Saffold on that play.

But Gibson would have none of it. “That was me,” he said. “I’ve got to make sure I’m on the ball.”

Because Gibson was not positioned on the line of scrimmage, but a step or two behind it – it was an illegal formation. Technically, it meant Saffold was an eligible receiver, and because Saffold had not reported eligible, the penalty was called.

Had the play counted, the Rams would’ve had a first down on the San Francisco 2, and probably win the game instead of settling for a 24-24 tie. Even without those 80 yards, the Rams still piled up 458 yards against one of the NFL’s best defenses.

With Amendola and Saffold back in the lineup, the offense could be starting to gel.

“I think we did a decent job – not a decent job – we did a good job of filling in the roles when the guys were hurt,” Gibson said. “And I think it makes us a better team now that we have more depth.”

With 31 catches for 428 yards, Givens is just five catches and three yards away from matching his totals for the entire 2011 season.

HOME SWEET HOME

Sunday’s noon kickoff against the New York Jets marks the Rams’ first game at the Edward Jones Dome in nearly a month.

“We’ve talked about that,” Fisher said. “The last time here at home we didn’t play particularly well, but the three previous games we did. We’re looking forward to getting back and taking advantage of our fans. We’re playing a good opponent. But it’s nice to finally just get back in a normal routine.”

Not counting the Oct. 28 game in London against New England, which technically was a “home” game, the Rams haven’t played a true home game since Oct. 21 against Green Bay, a 30-20 loss.

FRESHNESS COUNTS

After an intense, physical five quarters of football in San Francisco, Fisher has backed off this week in a couple of areas. On Wednesday, about half of the team’s practice took place at a walk-through tempo. On Thursday, Fisher pushed back the start of practice by three hours in order to give the players some extra time to catch up on sleep.

“As far as Coach goes, I don’t think it’s any secret that he’s tried to take care of us,” center Rob Turner said. “Physically, he’s taken care of us because it was a physical game. We played a lot of plays. Since Coach Fisher’s been here, starting in OTAs when we started practicing together through training camp, he’s done a great job of taking care of us physically.

“It’s just a model of consistency. It’s not something where one week he’s trying to beat you up and the next week he’s like, ‘OK, we’re not going to hit.’ He’s been consistent week-in and week-out.”

INJURY UPDATE

After being limited in Wednesday’s practice with a toe injury, wide receiver Austin Pettis was held out of practice entirely on Thursday. The rest of the injury report included three players listed as limited: Defensive end Eugene Sims (knee), safety Darian Stewart (knee), and linebacker Mario Haggan (thigh).

[r8rh8rmike]

Coach Jeff Fisher tried to give Gibson a little wiggle room Monday when he noted that during the practice week the Rams had employed a tight end between Gibson and left tackle Rodger Saffold on that play.

Interesting that Fisher is defending his players, while Ryan is calling his out as cowards. A tale of two teams.

With 31 catches for 428 yards, Givens is just five catches and three yards away from matching his totals for the entire 2011 season.

He obviously means Gibson. Looks like editing is a lost art at the PD.

[Trevor]

Hopefully, fisher made him run extra laps or something.

[RamFan_Til_I_Die]

Hopefully, fisher made him run extra laps or something.

I hope he had to scrub clean all the teams' jock straps with his tooth brush!

[NJ Ramsfan1]

Interesting that Fisher is defending his players, while Ryan is calling his out as cowards. A tale of two teams.



He obviously means Gibson. Looks like editing is a lost art at the PD.

As buffoonish as he is, I WILL say that Ryan usually stresses the positives with his players- to the point of absurdity. His comments indicate certain individuals and the team itself are better than they really are. Very rarely is he outwardly negative. Calling guys "cowards" in light of the Tim Tebow comments was necessary- both to defend Tebow and to rightfully call out guys for an inexcusable breach of conduct. That said, your comment about hese being teams going in different directions is dead on. I just hope that continues today.

As for Gibson, I applaud him for taking responsibility for his mistake, but that doesn't make it any better. It was an inexcusable lapse of awareness, and it cost us the ball game.

[bradwill]

Gibson "takes the blame" because he was the one who didn't know how to line up on that play. How is this a "news" story at all? We all saw it and it doesn't take greatness to admit that, yeah, I lined up wrong. Whatever. Just don't do it again, scrub.

[sjacksonrules]

How about gibson takes the bench. I dont care about his circus catch that he made. He has cost us game more than once.

[laram0]

Gibson stood up like a man, so what. Excuses whether good or bad are still excuses. It's a 16 game schedule and he just cost 1, UGH!!!!