Rams escape costly injuries

Desperately seeking a silver lining in the St. Louis Rams loss to the Atlanta Falcons this week? Well, the injury report has what you're looking for. 

The most serious injury from the game was a shoulder injury to starting LT Rodger Saffold. The rookie from Indiana had an MRI today that was negative, and he should be back on the field against Denver next week. Most impressive is that already the rookie knows playing through pain is just part of life in the NFL.

Spagnuolo said they also expect S James Butler back in action next week. That's good news because they could use his coverage skills. 

Speaking of injuries, the costliest for the Rams came when their top defensive backs, Oshiomogho Atogwe and Ron Bartell, had to leave the game with cramps. They returned to the game, but the damage was done. That was the second week in a row Atogwe had to leave the game because of cramping. What's going on? It's obvious those guys are putting in 110 percent every week and the nature of what they do, i.e. run, lends itself to that, but it's costly to the Rams when they have to leave the game. 

There have been whispers, when hamstring injuries were running rampant, that the Rams practices were pretty intense. Being this far removed from the action, I can't really comment on whether that's true or not.