Butler Working to Get Back
Friday, June 9, 2006
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
After missing all of last year with a right knee injury, cornerback Jerametrius Butler is happy to report that the knee is back to full strength. Unfortunately, Butler isn’t back at top speed for this weekend’s final minicamp because of a slight hamstring tear that began to hamper him about two weeks ago.
“I kind of tweaked my hamstring during OTAs before we got a break for Memorial Day weekend,” Butler said. “The knee is doing fine, but this is the hamstring.”
That hamstring injury has Butler at day to day status after he grew so close to being ready to compete in team drills for the first time since early in last year’s training camp.
Butler had limited participation in the team’s first minicamp as he continued to rehabilitate his knee, but he was closer to a return and said he expected to be ready to be ready to participate in team drills at this weekend’s minicamp.
As organized team activities began, Butler was deemed ready to go and worked in most of the drills. In a normal coverage drill, Butler was covering Kevin Curtis when he tweaked his left hamstring.
It was just another in a series of disappointing setbacks for the guy who had emerged as recently as 2004 as the team’s best coverage cornerback.
“I was good to go,” Butler said. “I had been practicing. After the second minicamp, that’s when I was cleared to go in May. I did everything in May.”
During Friday morning’s practice, Butler stayed on the sidelines, doing some individual work and trying his best to keep his conditioning where it needs to be. Butler blamed the hamstring injury on the possibility that his body attempted to overcompensate for his weakened knee.
As he watched in disappointment Friday, Butler could only lament the fact that he has met another setback on the road back to the field.
“It’s frustrating because I want to get out there,” Butler said. “I want to be out there to make plays. And I have to sit out there watching Torry and Isaac making plays and talking noise and doing the thing they want to do. I want to be out there competing against them getting better. I want to be out there to shut them down.”
And though Butler is clearly frustrated by his injury issues, he remains confident that he will bounce back and be a key contributor for the Rams defense by the time the season begins.
“I was like, ‘Man, can anything else go wrong?’” Butler said. “Everything happens for a reason though. I will bounce back.”
FAULK ABSENT: As expected, running back Marshall Faulk is not in attendance at this weekend’s final minicamp before July’s training camp. Faulk underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees in February.
Since that time, Faulk has been rehabilitating in California and has not attended any of the Rams’ offseason training activities or minicamps. It remains unclear whether Faulk will return for another season.
“I’m just like anybody else,” Coach
Scott Linehan said. “Coming into it, I have been a fan of his. It’s almost like I don’t want to come to that conclusion myself either. I know it’s going to be a sad day for all of us if he is contemplating not playing anymore. That’s life, that’s reality. We’ll wait and see. I’m sure we’ll talk here sometime soon and come to some determination of what we have to get done. Things don’t happen the way you want them to sometimes. You can say you will play 15 years then hang up the boots, but sometimes your body starts telling you things you really don’t want to hear.”
RAM-MARKS: Linebacker Trev Faulk was in street clothes Friday because of continued problems caused by a back injury suffered before the previous minicamp. Faulk had surgery on the back and is expected to return in time for training camp.
Rookie linebacker Jon Alston is absent from the minicamp because of academic duties at Stanford. By NFL rule, Alston is unable to participate in camp until his academic year is complete.
Recently signed kicker Remy Hamilton was also missing from the first day of minicamp.
Brandon Chillar worked with the first team at strong side linebacker with Raonall Smith working with the second unit.
Linebacker Dexter Coakley appears fully healed from his leg injury as he returned to the practice field running around with seemingly no discomfort.
Backup quarterback Gus Frerotte didn’t throw in the afternoon practice because of back spasms caused by moving into his new home Thursday afternoon.
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