After getting gashed last week, the St. Louis Rams run defense needs to reassure fans and coaches that they can contain the ground game against the Chiefs this week. It looks like they will not have the threat of Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles to content with tonight either. Any other week, that might be considered a nice break; however, for a preseason game, it shortchanges a team needing every test it can get while the game do not count.
Charles is dealing with "some sort of leg injury" that he suffered in practice this week. The team has not confirmed whether or not Charles is indeed sitting it out this week.
Last year, Charles accounted for a third of the 383 total yards the Chiefs picked up against the Rams in week 15. He ran for 126 yards on 11 carries. Repeat that to yourself to drive home the point...and save me the precious energy I would otherwise expend on keystrokes. That kind of threat gives the Rams defense, in particular their new starting outside linebackers Ben Leber and Brady Poppinga, one hell of a practice game before they start the regular season.
UPDATE: No Charles means more Dexter McCluster for the Chiefs...good test for the Rams versus speed.