Top WR Avery out 4 to 6 weeks with foot injury

[tomahawk247]

What orginally was believed to be a minor injury has turned into a major problem for the St. Louis Rams. Donnie Avery, the team’s No. 1 wide receiver, will be out at least a month with a foot injury he suffered in Friday night’s scrimmage.

Avery experienced discomfort in his left foot when he woke up Saturday morning, but an X-ray showed no fracture. However, an MRI exam taken after Avery sat out Sunday morning’s practice “showed more than we thought,” coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “It’s probably a four-to-six-week injury.” Spagnuolo declined to comment further.

Avery, the Rams’ second-round draft pick in 2008, had 53 receptions for 674 yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season. When Torry Holt was released in the offseason, Avery became the top wideout on the depth chart.

Sunday’s afternoon practice was a special-teams session that lasted just over an hour. It was held at the indoor facility at Rams Park.

From the StL Post-Dispatch

Not what we needed at all. Robinson and Burton are going to have to step up big time.

[Warner4prez]

Ugh. On the bright side 4-6 weeks should only mean like 2 games tops.

[39thebeast]

ouch Behind S-JAx, Bulger, and maybe Brown he's the guy on offense and maybe the whole team we can't afford to loose. Lets just hope he recovers quickly and Robinson and Burton step up and progress in his absence. Is it just me or is our WR core really young and injury prone.

[AtlantaRamFan]

Man that sucks. We hopefully the Rams rely heavily on Jackson and the defense plays well. It's going to hurt not having him there for those first couple games. It sure would be nice if he could come back early.

[itsguud]

Could always be worse... Although he is our "best" WR right now... they are all so close that I don't actually think this is a huge deal. We did just pick up Curry as well so we should be good at WR. As long as Jackson doesn't go down. We still don't have a two-headed monster there to fall back on if he does.

[Varg6]

Great...He'll be back within 3-4 games though, so that's good. What's going on with Brooks Foster? I haven't heard anything about him...

[Ramer]

This stinks but could have been worse. I just hope the rest of the team stays healthy!

[Nick]

Hopefully this has been diagnosed correctly and we don't have a case of him being out 4-6 weeks and then suffering some kind of setback that keeps him out longer.

On the bright side, this will give us a better chance to see what Burton and Robinson can both do as starters since they'll likely both be on the field as first unit receivers during the preseason. By the time Avery does return, both should have some solid game experience in this offense.

[RamsInfiniti]

At this point, with a new offense, I don't think Avery is enough of a gamebreaker that this causes us significant problems ...

It will cost Avery some early experience in the system, but maybe he can still do walkthroughs. He can definitely read the playbook and watch ...

Keenan Burton is the wild card on this team. He's getting thrown into the spotlight. It's a make or break situation, let's see if he grabs the bull by the horns ...

I am a huge Burton supporter, saw him in alot of SEC games. He's a big time talent, and could be huge here ...

[MauiRam]

Too bad for AVery, but this will give another guy a chance to shine. I'd rather it happen now than the last day of camp. At least there will be time for another wr to get more reps and take advantage of this opportunity. Who will it be?? I wonder ..

[general counsel]

I completely disagree that the other wide receivers are "close" to avery or that he isnt that much of a gamebreaker. There is no way to sugar coat this injury. Avery had an excellent rookie year. He is far better than anyone else we have on the roster and the one legit game breaker. He is the only one with any kind of remote chemistry with bulger at all. The only one that defenses have anything to fear until someone else proves that they can play consistently (and i am not talking about guys that did it years ago but not recently).

As i see our offense, we are going to pound jackson over and over. If we are successful with that strategy, the defense will be set up for play action and deep throws to avery where avery will have one on one coverage and no safety over the top. Reminiscent of the rams of the mid 70's pounding bertelsen, mcuctcheon and bryant and then throwing deep to harold jackson.

With avery, our receivers are a big question mark. Without him, we are a riddle wrapped inside and enigma inside a question mark.

Lets hope this turns out to be 4-6 weeks and not something that lingers all year or leads to further injury.

Ramming speed to all

general counsel

[Major30]

Well, we knew that we couldn't get through all of pre-season without some injury to someone. Let's hope it is truly something that should resolve in 4 to 6 weeks. Foot injuries can be tricky though. Agree with General Counsel, Avery is by far our best receiver and he will be needed back soon.

[shower beers]

Hopefully this has been diagnosed correctly and we don't have a case of him being out 4-6 weeks and then suffering some kind of setback that keeps him out longer.

On the bright side, this will give us a better chance to see what Burton and Robinson can both do as starters since they'll likely both be on the field as first unit receivers during the preseason. By the time Avery does return, both should have some solid game experience in this offense.

I was thinking the same thing. Recent Ram history doesn't leave me thinking positively about this injury.

[ManofGod]

Dang I leave work (the hospital) and here I have to find out about something medical that I really didn't want to read/hear.

Well guy's let's look at the best & worse case scenario:

Best case-Avery is a fast hearler due in part to his age and he is only out a month, doesn't skip a beat and is ready for us week 1

Now let's be more realistic.....(Drew Bennett week 1 2008 anyone)

Worst case- more than likely this is a fracture. The thing with fractures is that they only heal with time, but if he continues to play and practice then its not going to heal completely. He will not be w/o pain so he's looking at playing this season with pain and for someone like him who's game is based on quickness & speed this is a killer.

Deep down some of the other recievers are more than pleased with this new development as they were just given a roster spot, I wonder who will step up? I guess will see friday night.

[LA Rammer]

4-6 weeks means back by game 2 of the regular season?