Rams report, 8/20

* Injury worries. There aren't any new major injuries to report, but there are a couple of very high-profile injury situations that really threaten to throw the Rams into a quagmire on both sides of the ball.

Questions are being raised over Orlando Pace's physical condition. He sat out practice for the second straight day Tuesday, which observers believe is a signal that something's going on with Pace. Scott Linehan says not to worry; Pace is actually ahead of schedule. Howard Balzer blog

Pace looked a lot better play-to-play against San Diego than he did against Tennessee, but he gave up a sack, and more importantly, seems to be taking a long time to recover from one half of play. The Rams need him, but they must not rush him, either. Pace deserves all the credit in the world for giving this a go, but he and everyone involved here have to be smart enough to know if shutting Pace down for a while is for the best, and if it is, to do it. Don't end his career rushing him back. Seems like they could I.R. him and bring him back week 6. Assuming he's 100% by then, I'd rather do that and chance it with Adam Goldberg for 6 games than try to force Pace into playing.

On the defensive side, OJ Atogwe STILL isn't practicing due to a hamstring injury from the beginning of training camp. This injury is really flying under the radar around here, but Rams fans ought to be sweating it. Atogwe is a Pro Bowl-level player in the Ram secondary, and they're not going to function well without him.

The Rams are getting along fine so far in the secondary, mainly because they're not, and won't be, tested this preseason. Tennessee has no wide receivers. San Diego played its second string. Kyle Boller is still in the thick of Baltimore's QB competition - need I say more there? And though he's improving, KC's Brodie Croyle is still a major work in progress, and being as the Chiefs game will be week 4, starters on the field may be few and far between anyway. Put differently, the stakes go way, way up September 7th in Philadelphia.

With all the time he's missed - basically as much as Steven Jackson - don't we have to consider we're bordering on a lost season for one of our best defensive players? Atogwe will need time to get back into shape once he ever returns, won't he? (I say "ever" recalling Isaac Bruce's hamstrings in 1998.) Meanwhile, most camp accounts say that Todd Johnson is a major dropoff at free safety.

Atogwe's absence is as big a deal on defense as Pace's would be on offense.

If it weren't for bad injury luck, the Rams would have no injury luck at all these days.


* Steven Jackson holdout, day 27. Today's a landmark day in the Jackson holdout - his total current fine now exceeds $400,000, or the annual salary of the President of the United States. Howard Balzer reports Jackson is shopping around for a new agent because he expected Parker to go to Mequon and negotiate with Jay Zygmunt, and is angry with him because he didn't.

OK, Steven, the Rams' request was for YOU to be in camp for negotiations to re-open, not your agent?

Anybody just lose a lot of confidence in how quickly Jackson will learn the new playbook when and if he ever shows up?

Oh, and in real great personal news, I'm picking 10th, as in last, in my FFL this year. Currently showing up in the 10th pick neighborhood in various FFL projections?
Steven Jackson.

* Rams add a new RB.
- Lavarus Giles, previously in camp with the Jagwires, a 6'1" 220-lb player out of Jackson State. With dumbass, er, Jackson, still holding out, and Brian Leonard hurt, Giles has a shot at getting a number of carries Saturday night. Maybe I'll even spell his first name right in RamView.