Top WR Avery out 4 to 6 weeks with foot injury

[39thebeast]

Its not to comforting that our depth as in Robinson and Burton aren't nfl ironman either.

[Action_Jackson]

If hes out for 4 weeks he will be back for the opener.

I dont want any player to get injured, but if he site out of pre season, it gives us a chance to see what the likes of Robinson, Curry, Burton, Foster and Stanley can do.

Could turn out to be beneficial in the long run

[r8rh8rmike]

Ugh, speed recievers and foot injuries make me cringe. If they don't play this right, it could become problematic in the long run. Man I hope he can heal COMPLETELY and SOON.

[ManofGod]

Barring Klop, the tight ends are a big part of this offense. Don't worry.

This is a joke right? McMichael is aging and injury prone, Fells is a practice superstar that hasn't done anything in a real game, and the other cat we picked up from S.F. is a blocking TE!

[RamsInfiniti]

This is a joke right? McMichael is aging and injury prone, Fells is a practice superstar that hasn't done anything in a real game, and the other cat we picked up from S.F. is a blocking TE!

No more of a joke than this response ....

McMichael is 30, hardly aging, and has missed 12 games his entire career, ALL LAST SEASON. How is this injury prone? He could easily play 5-6 more years in this league at a high level ...

Fells came off the practice squad last year, and leaped right into an offense that doesn't properly utilize TE's. This is practically his SECOND YEAR in the league ...

Even Klop flashed potential his rookie season ...

Geez, research, research, research. Just a lil please ...

[RebelYell]

Would you like to give some proof that this is an offense that focuses on the TE? McMichael's production has been sliding since 2004.

And just wondering: When did the Al Saunders offense forget how to utilize the tight end properly?

[evil disco man]

And just wondering: When did the Al Saunders offense forget how to utilize the tight end properly?

Probably when Randy McMichael was injured for 12 games.

Stress fractures are not a fun thing. I always hear about players re-aggravating those. I hope Avery isn't rushed back.

This bodes well for Stanley and Carter, who were presumably battling for the last WR spot. Spags and Devaney should have a better feel for who deserves the spot by the time Avery returns. They should also have a very good idea who the #2 WR spot will belong to.

[ManofGod]

No more of a joke than this response ....

McMichael is 30, hardly aging, and has missed 12 games his entire career, ALL LAST SEASON. How is this injury prone? He could easily play 5-6 more years in this league at a high level ...

Fells came off the practice squad last year, and leaped right into an offense that doesn't properly utilize TE's. This is practically his SECOND YEAR in the league ...

Even Klop flashed potential his rookie season ...

Geez, research, research, research. Just a lil please ...

News flash! R.I. 30 is not young in the NFL, and as Rebel just mentioned his production has drop seriously since 2004, now yes he shows glimpses of greatness at times but nothing compared to what he was in Miami. Also in Miami he battled injuries often (ask any Dolphin fan), and he was notorious for dropping balls....now don't get it twisted I love the guy, but we need to find a new TE for the future soon. TE usually dont' get better at age 30 and up fam.

Fells....2nd year player, practice squad or not this is the league, you don't get passes because you were on the practice squad, shoot Kurt was in the darn Arena football league and came into the NFL to light it up. Bottom line is when Fells was in in the games towards the end of last season he looked like a deer trapped in a cars headlights. That had nothing to do with the offense we were running! When did Al forget to use the TE....Al Saunders of all people!

Would you like to give some proof that this is an offense that focuses on the TE? McMichael's production has been sliding since 2004.

And just wondering: When did the Al Saunders offense forget how to utilize the tight end properly?

Exactly! Al did a great job using the TE at every other stop he's had in the NFL.

[tomahawk247]

Would you like to give some proof that this is an offense that focuses on the TE? McMichael's production has been sliding since 2004.

And just wondering: When did the Al Saunders offense forget how to utilize the tight end properly?

How do you know if this offense is or isnt geared towards the TE? This is a new offense that the Rams havent even run for one game yet. There is no way or knowing.

And as for Al Saunders forgetting how to utilize the TE, it probably happened at the same time he forgot how to utilize any offensive player last season, leading to terrible, terrible play calling.

[general counsel]

ITs pretty hard to "utilize" any offense player when you have absolutely NO OFFENSIVE LINE PLAY. The Rams were lousy at run blocking and terrible pass blockers. We were also lousy in the red zone and had numerous bad and untimely penalties. If you put those considerations aside, they were dominant on the line.

Offensive football begins with the play of the O Line. The injury to Steven Jackson at the end of the Dallas game was the end of our season effectively. Note that the line play spirited football in the redskins and dallas games and we won both. After that, we fell right back on our faces and without jackson, we really didnt have any weapons, regardless of how anyone did or didnt use them.

Bottom line. If we are going to improve offensively, its not going to be because of scheme or coaching, its going to be because our offensive line plays MUCH better football and gives jackson a chance to establish a running game. That will create manageable down and distance for bulger and his very inexperienced receivers and give us a shot to make some plays down the field. It will also allow us to shorten the game and take serious pressure off our defense, which lord knows can use all the help it can get.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[RebelYell]

How do you know if this offense is or isnt geared towards the TE?

I don't. The statement was made that it is geared towards TEs and I was asking for proof. I agree with you 100%, we don't have a clue what's coming except that Spags has said it will be a power running type of offense. To me, that means we aren't getting a duplicate copy of the Philly offense (Westbrook isn't a power runner like Jackson) and we really aren't getting a typical WCO most likely.

Multiple times on this board I've read that we don't need talented WRs with this offense. That boggles my mind.

[RamsInfiniti]

News flash! R.I. 30 is not young in the NFL, and as Rebel just mentioned his production has drop seriously since 2004, now yes he shows glimpses of greatness at times but nothing compared to what he was in Miami. Also in Miami he battled injuries often (ask any Dolphin fan), and he was notorious for dropping balls....now don't get it twisted I love the guy, but we need to find a new TE for the future soon. TE usually dont' get better at age 30 and up fam.

Fells....2nd year player, practice squad or not this is the league, you don't get passes because you were on the practice squad, shoot Kurt was in the darn Arena football league and came into the NFL to light it up. Bottom line is when Fells was in in the games towards the end of last season he looked like a deer trapped in a cars headlights. That had nothing to do with the offense we were running! When did Al forget to use the TE....Al Saunders of all people!


Exactly! Al did a great job using the TE at every other stop he's had in the NFL.

Hmmmm, looking at McMichael's production, looked pretty steady until he came to St. Louis and had to play for the genius group of coaches he was stuck with. He had his best season in 2004, yet 2005 and 2006 were pretty similar ...

As for Fells, yes, looks compare Fells success to Kurt Warner, are you kidding? All of Fells production was in the second half of the season. I remember him dropping one ball. I also remember him catching a couple and running over a couple people. I also remember him making some crushing blocks when lined up as an HB. So, unless you were keying in on Fells the entire game, I'm really not understanding how you came up with him being a "deer in headlights" ...

Al Saunders is practically geriatric at this point. His offense is outdated, his schemes are outdated, and he'll likely never have another gig as an OC In the NFL. He did nothing to utilize the TE while he was here. They were also required to stay in and block because we had no O-line. Sure, Saunders did wonders with Tony Gonzalez in KC, but T.G. has done just fine without him. Saying that the TE's should have done a better job in Saunders system implies that you think Saunders did a good job, and the players let him down ....

Many TE's past and present have played and been very effective into their mid 30's ....

TE is WAY WAY WAY down on the list of concerns for this team ...

[Nick]

I don't. The statement was made that it is geared towards TEs and I was asking for proof.

Where exactly was that statement made again? I've not been able to find it despite going back through the thread for posts about tight ends.

[RebelYell]

Where exactly was that statement made again? I've not been able to find it despite going back through the thread for posts about tight ends.

Have you read the thread?

Barring Klop, the tight ends are a big part of this offense. Don't worry.


Edit: for a previous post, McMichael was coached by Scott Linehan in Miami so what exactly does that explain about the sorry coaches in St. Louis compared to his production in Miami?

[TekeRam]

Just wondering, how do you know this? This offense is routinely touted on this board as some magical offense that doesn't require talented players to function. Would you like to share how this magical offense can achieve this?

Keep in mind the best West Coast Offense in the history of the league had Jerry Rice in it.

Because our passing game is being stolen from Philadelphia for the most part, and they've never had really great receivers other than those two years with T.O. That's the whole point though, in that the WCO relies on throwing to the open guy as opposed to forcing throws to a "number one" receiver who is most likely double covered.

Yes, our offense would be helped by having better receiving talent, there's no question about that. But it can be effective enough without top tier talent, which is what we need. We don't need the pass game to carry the team any more folks. That's going to be done by the run offense and the revamped offensive line. As far as I'm concerned, this injury will just give more reps to the 2nd - 4th receivers who need to get on the same page with Bulger even more so than Donnie since he's been tearing it up so far. I just hope that the injury doesn't regress him at all.