St. Louis Rams Nick Leckey does good job off holding off Jets' Kris Jenkins

[RamWraith]

t. Louis Rams Nick Leckey does good job off holding off Jets' Kris Jenkins
By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Nov. 11 2008
A week before the Rams came to the Meadowlands, massive Kris Jenkins terrorized
Buffalo. The 6-foot-4, 349-pound nose tackle had five tackles, including two
sacks, as the New York Jets shoved aside the Bills 26-17 and moved into a
first-place tie with New England in the AFC East.

Acquired from Carolina in the offseason for two draft picks, Jenkins is a
three-time Pro Bowler who is threatening to earn another trip to Hawaii for the
NFL's all-star game.

Yet on Sunday vs. the Rams, the big man was shut out. According to the
unofficial press-box statistics, Jenkins didn't record a tackle in the Jets'
47-3 beat-down of the Rams.

The credit, coach Jim Haslett emphasized Monday, goes to center Nick Leckey.
Listed generously at 6-3 and 302 pounds, Leckey was at an obvious size
disadvantage but provided a rare bright spot on a dismal afternoon in East
Rutherford, N.J.

"The guy that I thought would have the most problems played his butt off,"
Haslett said. "He did a great job on Kris Jenkins, probably the best game that
anybody's played on the kid. (Leckey) was outstanding."

Still, Leckey — a scrapper who was a long shot to make the team coming into
training camp — was accepting no kudos after the third-worst defeat in
franchise history.

"It's one of those things where you don't know what to say," he said. "They put
it on us. We couldn't really get anything going on offense. We let the defense
down, and we let the team down."

The Rams were guilty of five turnovers, including four in the first half when
the Jets bolted to a staggering 40-0 lead.

INJURY UPDATE

Wide receiver-returner Derek Stanley suffered the Rams' most significant injury
Sunday, a high ankle sprain. It's not believed to be as serious as some similar
injuries, though, and Haslett said Stanley is day-to-day.

Running back Steven Jackson (thigh) remains day-to-day after sitting out
against the Jets. The status of defensive end Eric Moore (neck) for Sunday's
game at San Francisco is questionable, Haslett said, and linebacker Chris Draft
(foot) probably will miss two more games.

Cornerback Tye Hill, whose early season knee injury has been slow to heal, was
in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday to be examined by noted orthopedist Dr. James
Andrew.

HOLD ON TO THE BALL

Stanley and running back Kenneth Darby got the hook by coughing up the ball in
the ugly first half.

Darby, playing in just his fourth NFL game, fumbled twice — although one was
negated by a defensive-holding penalty — and was benched. Stanley fumbled after
a 12-yard reception, and his only appearance thereafter was on a fourth-quarter
kickoff return.

The Jets picked up 10 points off those miscues, inflaming Haslett.

"Just hold on to" the ball, he said. The Jets "were punching at it the whole
day. You've got to cover it up ... hold on to the football. That's why they
make that point on them."

GREEN DRAWS BLANK

Quarterback Trent Green has seen plenty during his 15 NFL seasons. Still, the
former Vianney High standout couldn't explain the Rams' belly-flop vs. the Jets.

"It doesn't make sense," Green said. "When you look at how we played in
Washington and you look at how we played at home against Dallas ... the
talent's there. For whatever reason, it just didn't show up this week."

RAM-BLINGS

Lineman Victor Adeyanju, playing with large wraps on both hands to protect
injuries, recorded three of the Rams' five tackles-for-loss, according to the
coaches' film review. ... The team's top tacklers were safeties Corey Chavous
and Oshiomogho Atogwe, each with 11. ... The Rams did not sack and did not
pressure Brett Favre.

[shower beers]

Hey, that's great news. I know everyone was talking about how much time he was going to be spending on his back last Sunday. Hopefully he'll get some momentum from this and keep playing at a high level.

[Bar-bq]

This is rediculous.

We lost 47-3.

Well done, nobody.

[shower beers]

This is rediculous.

We lost 47-3.

Well done, nobody.

haha. I was just trying to find a bright spot to look forward to, especially since everyone's been down on him the last couple of weeks.

[moloch41]

I think they forgot to mention that Leckey got help most of the day, which allowed other Jets defenders to run rampart on our offense.

[Ventesette]

Isn't Leckey a scrappy, overachiever? That's the kind of guy that coaches will praise after a beat down. A guy that keeps trying even when everybody else lets up. They need to say something good about somebody. It all can't be negative.

[DistantRam]

A guy that keeps trying even when everybody else lets up.

If only some of our more talented players (and that's pretty much all of them!) displayed the same attitude.