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Compiled by Jeff Gordon
Post-Dispatch Online Sports Columnist
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So what's up with the Rams? The team was busy Wednesday at Rams Park.
After practice, coach Mike Martz reported that defensive end Bryce Fisher and guard Tom Nutten would miss the Arizona game with injuries. "Other than that," he said, "we're pretty healthy. (Safety) Zack Bronson turned an ankle and I think it is a pretty significant ankle (injury.)"
Martz also ran through the team's various personnel moves in the last couple of days. Here are some highlights of the news conference:
On trading running back Lamar Gordon to the Dolphins:
"Lamar is a terrific value. I believe he is a terrific back. This is a situation for him to go down there and be the starter. We do have these backs that played very well. It was just an opportunity, value-wise, that we couldn't pass up.
"He is excited about this opportunity. He feels great. The reason we gave him the ball 22 times in the course of that (Raiders) game in two quarters, we needed to know if he was ready for go for us this year. Obviously, other people were watching, too. I thought he was terrific in that game. We'll miss him. I think he is a terrific talent. It always makes you nervous when you have a talent like that move on."
On his confidence in Steven Jackson as the No. 2 running back and Arlen Harris as the No. 3:
" . . . Arlen (Harris) has such a significant role on our special teams, Steven has done a terrific job. We feel Steven, at this point, is ready to play. We feel very good also about Arlen Harris and the camp that Marshall (Faulk) has had. We feel he is ready to go.
" . . . You don't know, in the crystal ball, what could happen. You could go through all those guys.
On Jackson's progress:
"His work ethic, his commitment, his maturity really kind of surprised me. . . . He conducts himself with a great deal more maturity than you would expect a rookie to have. He seems to thrive on the pressure. He wants to be in the game all the time, he wants the ball all the time. Yet he has a certain dignity, a quiet confidence about him."
On Faulk's status:
"If there was any doubt at all about Marshall's health, or how far along Steven was, or even that Arlen can play, all three of those things are statements about each one of those guys."
On safety Jason Sehorn's failure to pass his physical because of his lingering foot injury:
"After the second surgery, it just hasn't healed as well as we had hoped, where he might consider coming back. It just wasn't a situation where he felt comfortable, nor did the doctors."
On the addition of offensive linemen Darnell Alford from the Chiefs and Blaine Saipaia from the Raiders:
"Obviously, we think this is really going to help us. I think both of these offensive linemen that we picked up, they are both young players that have a potential to have a future here. They are excited about being here."
On making so many personnel moves right before the season opener:
"It can be a distraction . . . It's good to have so many of these things finally completed. Some of these guys we would have liked to have had (earlier), but thank goodness they're ours now. We're trying to create some depth on the offensive line. Maybe there is another move or two left, who knows. We're always trying to get better.
"This is the most (movement), but there are significant reasons. Alford is from Kansas City, which is exactly the same system, so it's going to be a much easier transition for him. Saipaia the same thing, playing for Norv (Turner) in Oakland. These are two things that are very significant in the decisions. They are talented guys, they fill a need for you and they come from the same system."
On the prospects for more moves:
"We're a little thin at the defensive tackle spot. We think Brian Howard is going to end up being a terrific player. To move Tyoka (Jackson) back inside when he has had so much success outside is tough, but we'll see. We'll make do with that."
On preparing for the Cardinals:
"It's always difficult to play a team in the opener that has a new staff and two new coordinators. We're not really quite sure on either side of the ball what we're going to see. In the preseason, so much of what you do is not what you end up seeing in the regular season. So you look at the people. It'll be a little bit of a feeling-out situation as we try to figure out the philosophy offensive and defensively."
Post-Dispatch Online Sports Columnist
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So what's up with the Rams? The team was busy Wednesday at Rams Park.
After practice, coach Mike Martz reported that defensive end Bryce Fisher and guard Tom Nutten would miss the Arizona game with injuries. "Other than that," he said, "we're pretty healthy. (Safety) Zack Bronson turned an ankle and I think it is a pretty significant ankle (injury.)"
Martz also ran through the team's various personnel moves in the last couple of days. Here are some highlights of the news conference:
On trading running back Lamar Gordon to the Dolphins:
"Lamar is a terrific value. I believe he is a terrific back. This is a situation for him to go down there and be the starter. We do have these backs that played very well. It was just an opportunity, value-wise, that we couldn't pass up.
"He is excited about this opportunity. He feels great. The reason we gave him the ball 22 times in the course of that (Raiders) game in two quarters, we needed to know if he was ready for go for us this year. Obviously, other people were watching, too. I thought he was terrific in that game. We'll miss him. I think he is a terrific talent. It always makes you nervous when you have a talent like that move on."
On his confidence in Steven Jackson as the No. 2 running back and Arlen Harris as the No. 3:
" . . . Arlen (Harris) has such a significant role on our special teams, Steven has done a terrific job. We feel Steven, at this point, is ready to play. We feel very good also about Arlen Harris and the camp that Marshall (Faulk) has had. We feel he is ready to go.
" . . . You don't know, in the crystal ball, what could happen. You could go through all those guys.
On Jackson's progress:
"His work ethic, his commitment, his maturity really kind of surprised me. . . . He conducts himself with a great deal more maturity than you would expect a rookie to have. He seems to thrive on the pressure. He wants to be in the game all the time, he wants the ball all the time. Yet he has a certain dignity, a quiet confidence about him."
On Faulk's status:
"If there was any doubt at all about Marshall's health, or how far along Steven was, or even that Arlen can play, all three of those things are statements about each one of those guys."
On safety Jason Sehorn's failure to pass his physical because of his lingering foot injury:
"After the second surgery, it just hasn't healed as well as we had hoped, where he might consider coming back. It just wasn't a situation where he felt comfortable, nor did the doctors."
On the addition of offensive linemen Darnell Alford from the Chiefs and Blaine Saipaia from the Raiders:
"Obviously, we think this is really going to help us. I think both of these offensive linemen that we picked up, they are both young players that have a potential to have a future here. They are excited about being here."
On making so many personnel moves right before the season opener:
"It can be a distraction . . . It's good to have so many of these things finally completed. Some of these guys we would have liked to have had (earlier), but thank goodness they're ours now. We're trying to create some depth on the offensive line. Maybe there is another move or two left, who knows. We're always trying to get better.
"This is the most (movement), but there are significant reasons. Alford is from Kansas City, which is exactly the same system, so it's going to be a much easier transition for him. Saipaia the same thing, playing for Norv (Turner) in Oakland. These are two things that are very significant in the decisions. They are talented guys, they fill a need for you and they come from the same system."
On the prospects for more moves:
"We're a little thin at the defensive tackle spot. We think Brian Howard is going to end up being a terrific player. To move Tyoka (Jackson) back inside when he has had so much success outside is tough, but we'll see. We'll make do with that."
On preparing for the Cardinals:
"It's always difficult to play a team in the opener that has a new staff and two new coordinators. We're not really quite sure on either side of the ball what we're going to see. In the preseason, so much of what you do is not what you end up seeing in the regular season. So you look at the people. It'll be a little bit of a feeling-out situation as we try to figure out the philosophy offensive and defensively."
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