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The preseason opener is behind us. All eyes are on Saturday’s tune-up against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Injuries
Mo Alexander looks to be back in practice drills for Rams today, but not Higbee, Barron, Green, Battle as of now.
— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) August 19, 2016
EJ Gaines, playing his way back in after hamstring injury, just had to leave drills. Slow getting up after a near INT of Goff.
— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) August 19, 2016
Fisher, on Gaines: "He’s fine. A little nervous, but he’s OK."
— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) August 19, 2016
The Gaines news scared me. If he’s truly good to go, he’s going to be one to watch closely after his last meaningful snaps came just in front of Christmas 2014...
Goff
Jared Goff taking first series with starters.
— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) August 19, 2016
Jeff Fisher said Case Keenum will start Saturday and play a few series and then Jared Goff will play some with ones, then into third quarter
— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) August 19, 2016
Well...we heard the whole “Keenum for 15 snaps, Goff into the third” last weekend, and that didn’t exactly pan out. But fine, I can buy it again. As long as Goff doesn’t take a big hit again and can work the offense (and that’s a sizeable assumption), getting him that many reps can only help.
Offense
The real question though is one of the offense line, given Goff’s absence in the third quarter last Saturday. We Sean Mannion do work with the depth. Keenum and Goff were...I guess given the Rams offense, ok, but few NFL offenses would accept that output.
The real news? The Rams get their best offensive player back:
RB Todd Gurley will play a few series against Chiefs.
— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) August 19, 2016
Defense
Jeff Fisher said Robert Quinn will not play Saturday against the Chiefs.
— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) August 19, 2016
Quinn’s just getting back from Rio to watch his sister compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics, so there’s no reason to rush him in. Plus, this makes more snaps available down the depth chart.
The bigger question remains with the first team. Bear in mind the Rams’ defense gave up 17 points to the Cowboys’ offense last weekend...in the first half. Improving on that will be perhaps the most important storyline on the defensive side.