St. Louis Rams Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo delivered his Monday afternoon press conference today. As usual, it included a lengthy injury report with several important players. Danario Alexander, James Laurinaitis, Mark Clayton, Lance Kendricks and many more made the list this week. Which ones are in and which ones are out as the Rams get ready for another division game against the Arizona Cardinals?
Danario Alexander is still dealing with a hamstring injury. His status for the Rams' week 12 game against Arizona remains in doubt. Alexander is an undrafted free agent with five knee surgeries under his belt, the Rams are probably fortunate to have gotten the contributions from him that they have given the fact that no other team would touch him in the draft or during the initial flurry of undrafted free agent activity in 2010.
Compare Alexander's status with that of Jason Smith, a second-overall pick in the draft and one of the Rams highest paid players. Smith is still dealing with the effects of his third concussion, suffered four games ago as he tried to tackle a Dallas defender who was returning a Rams turnover. Smith's status for this week's game is highly doubtful, and Spagnuolo acknowledged that the team is "getting close" to making a decision about placing him on the injured reserve list. In three seasons of play, this would be the second time that Smith has been shut down before season's end due to injury, specifically a concussion.
The Rams may need to send Smith to IR because they need to add another tackle to compensate for the loss of Mark LeVoir. A mid-season replacement, LeVoir injured his pectoral muscle in yesterday's game, an injury that will keep him out for 2-4 weeks.
Rookie tight end Lance Kendricks has a mild concussion, but he could be back this week. Mark Clayton and Austin Pettis have sore knees, and could be limited in practice this week.
Cornerback Justin King came into the game dealing with a sore ankle, and he left it dealing with swelling in his knee. Chris Long also had a minor ankle injury; he and King are day-to-day.
Cornerback Marquis Johnson is in the hospital for observation for an abdominal contusion. He will spend the night there, and the Rams should know more tomorrow.
James Laurinaitis is dealing with a foot injury, and Justin Bannan has a shoulder injury. Both defensive starters will have an MRI today to determine the extent of the damage. Linebacker Josh Hull is very likely out for week 12 because of a hamstring injury.
So there you have it, another week, another loss, another mile-long injury report to underscore just how bad the Rams are.