Starters Could Play Into Second Half At Cinncinnati

[r8rh8rmike]

08.23.2009 6:55 pm
Starters could play into second half at Cincinnati
By Bill Coats
St. Louis Post-Dispatch


The third preseason game often is regarded as the most important of the four, because the starters generally don’t see much action in the last exhibition with the regular-season opener looming. So, their last real dry run is coming up this week.

The Rams meet the Bengals on Thursday night in Cincinnati, and coach Steve Spagnuolo said Sunday that he plans to keep his No. 1 units on the field at least through the first half.

“It’ll be similar to this past game” Friday vs. Atlanta,” he said. “The question will be, do we bring out our first group in the second half? We haven’t really decided that. A lot depends what the total of plays are in a certain point in the game. So we’ll see what happens.”

Notes & quotes:

*The offense was a bit sloppy Sunday, with a couple of dropped passes and a botched exhance between QB Kyle Boller and C Jason Brown, in the first practice since the 20-13 loss to the Falcons.

*With Jason Bell (concussion) still out, Mark Setterstrom and John Greco again shared first-team snaps at left guard.

*Alex Barron (knee) was back at left tackle, which meant that Adam Goldberg returned to the right side. Rookie Jason Smith got a couple of reps with the “ones” at both tackle spots.

*WR Sean Walker took some turns at kick-returning.

*DT Adam Carriker (ankle) and WR Donnie Avery (foot) appear to be fairly close to getting back into action.

*RB Kenneth Darby sat out with what is believed to be a slight knee sprain. “It’ll be a day-to-day thing. They don’t think it’s real serious, but they want to be careful,” Spagnuolo reported.

*The latest national writer to take in a Rams practice is Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports.

All for now . . .

[Nick]

*DT Adam Carriker (ankle) and WR Donnie Avery (foot) appear to be fairly close to getting back into action.

Outstanding! Again though, just hope Avery isn't rushing himself back. But it'd be nice to have him available for the regular season opener.

[Rambos]

SJ needs to play more then a few reps IMO.

[Varg6]

Outstanding! Again though, just hope Avery isn't rushing himself back. But it'd be nice to have him available for the regular season opener.

Agreed, we need Carriker healthy for the rest of the season...

I'm curious to see how John Greco looks with the first team unit.

[TekeRam]

Couldn't say it better than that Nick, I hope that they still keep them out of Thursday's game, but it's great to hear that it looks like both will be back and ready for the regular season. I'd like to think that both sides of the ball will step it up when they get their respective players back in line.

I don't like hearing about Bell still being out, but certainly better to let his head stop ringing than making him go out there before he's ready. Besides, it gives Greco some needed reps out there... I think he can be a good guard in the future.

I wonder what Bulger's status is exactly... though seeing the replay of the game, it showed that he didn't seem to have any discomfort while leaning on his throwing hand as it gripped one of the benches, so it would appear to be pretty minor. Here's to hoping everyone gets back in time for week 1.