* Injuries:
- Josh Hull is on IR and is out for the season due to a torn ACL.
- Chris Chamberlain, out 6-8 weeks due to a broken toe, is still on the active roster at this point.
- So is Michael Hoomanawanui, out 6-8 due to a high ankle sprain.
- Dorell Scott injured his knee yesterday. He was able to walk off the field but the severity of the injury is unknown.
- Cliff Ryan was hospitalized Wednesday night due to illness and did not return to the field Thursday. Talk about a guy having an unlucky week.
- On the DB side, Kevin Dockery continues to sit out due to a hamstring injury, and Justin King is limited with a similar issue. Dockery's at least a week away.
Oh well, the team was at least healthy for one week.
* Transactions: The Rams added Jermelle Cudjo to the practice squad and hit the delete key on Mortty Ivy. They may well wish they had just left Cudjo on the main roster in the first place, with DTs dropping like flies this week.
* VJ day? Can we all just cool our jets on the Vincent Jackson thing? Yes, the Rams need a talented wide receiver. Do we need this talented wide receiver? He can't play, or I believe even practice for anybody, until week 5 at the earliest. Unless he's got Mark Clayton's photographic memory, he's going to have to be worked gradually into the offense, isn't he? You're talking more like getting a half-season out of the guy.
Thinking longer-term, VJ's going to want a monster contract from somebody. There would be absolutely zero point in signing him here just so he can audition for the Vikings or Jets or somebody. If the Rams are to sign him here at all, it has to be to a long-term deal right away. Reports are that he's after $50 million in 5 years with $30 mil guaranteed. That's a pretty big gamble on a guy who's a well-timed police stop from being suspended for half a season (if I'm right). The Chargers also reportedly want 2nd- and 3rd-round draft picks for him. That's a high price for a rebuilding team to pay for anybody.
This is a hard one, especially with my arguments against Michael Vick making me look fairly stupid now that he's playing like his pre-jail self again. And multiple DUIs did not stop Leonard Little from being an excellent player and a good teammate. You could even argue that Little was never a major distraction to the Rams, MADD's best efforts notwithstanding.
But the situations are different. Little's incidents came as a member of a mostly-veteran team. He was always the quiet-leader type who didn't draw a lot of attention to himself. So despite the tragic accident he created, he wasn't a negative to his team. Vick's situation has been managed perfectly in Philadelphia so far. He was accepted immediately by his veteran teammates, led by Donovan McNabb. He's a look-at-me, big-ego player - he did a television show about himself, for crying out loud! - but the Eggles have kept the spotlight off him. He also is not a huge monetary risk, in NFL terms. Neither was Little, really. I still don't think Vick would have worked out here, but that point, as we say in Missourah, is now "mute".
The question today is whether Vincent Jackson would work out here, and I'm still not so sure. His willingness to hold out for the season and his WR position scream look-at-me, big-ego player. Unlike the Eggles with Vick, the Rams would have to put the spotlight on him right away. He'd be dropped immediately into a leadership role on a very young team. The x's and o's work, sure, but football is a lot more than x's and o's.
And I don't believe the Rams are the right team, or that this is the right time, for a big gamble on a risky character, one that's especially big because of the draft-pick compensation. I believe Vincent Jackson will be a far better fit in Minnesota than he would be here, a much better relative risk, and he'll be a great player there for as long as he has the sense to have a designated driver. People will predictably howl and heckle that the Rams should have gotten him, chemistry of a young, rebuilding team be damned. And Cincinnati Bengal me all you want; the jury's still very, very out on the long-term results there.
One day soon, the Rams will be the kind of team that can afford to take character risks on players, integrate those otherwise-talented players into their locker room, and be better for it. They're not there just yet. Cool your jets.
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