Jeff Fisher Confirms Isaiah Pead Out for 2014 Season

The last thing anyone - players, coaches, fans - want to see in the preseason is a injury; especially a severe one.  On Sunday afternoon, Rams’ head coach Jeff Fisher confirmed what the team had already suspected:  third year running back Isaiah Pead will miss the entire 2014 season, after having torn his ACL on a kickoff return in Saturday’s matchup against the Packers.

With just under ten minutes left in the first quarter, Pead appeared to have injured the knee making a cut on the team’s opening kickoff return.

The 50th overall selection in the 2012 NFL draft, Pead has been [mainly] relegated to a special teams role with the Rams.  In his 25 games as a starter, Pead amassed 75 yards on only 17 carries in the run game.

Pead’s chances of cracking the lineup as a starting running back continued to slide in 2014, after the team drafted Auburn product Tre Mason in the third round.  Zac Stacy had already solidified his place atop the team’s depth chart.  Fellow sophomore RB Benny Cunningham has been taking second team snaps in preseason thus far.

Fisher was impressed with Pead’s maturity, and special team’s contributions, though.

He worked very, very hard to get in the position to where he was a very productive special teamer for us, and we had high hopes for him doing some things out of the backfield as well.

It’s unfortunate, both for Pead and the Rams.  In a Post-Dispatch article by Joe Lyons, Fisher states that Pead will undergo surgery in the next "ten days to two weeks."  He’ll now take the long road to recovery, and barring a healthy return, will enter the fourth [and final] year of his rookie deal with the Rams.

I’ll speak on behalf of those at the Turf Show Times family by saying we wish Pead a speedy recovery, and a healthy return to the NFL...sooner than later.