Rams update, 10/19

Photo: NBC Sports

* Friday's injury report: while no new injuries were reported immediately after the Rams' 17-14 loss to Miami, the big injury situation in camp all week has been left tackle Wayne Hunter's back. He is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against Green Bay, but he hasn't practiced all week. The Rams haven't chosen a backup plan yet. Either Raider waiver wire pick up Joseph Barksdale will step into Hunter's spot, or Quinn Ojinnaka will slide out there and Texans waiver wire pick up Shelley Smith will step in at LG.



If the Rams are thinking about sliding a guard outside, RamView's pretty sure they're thinking of the wrong one. Ojinnaka's a poor enough pass-blocker at guard, and we saw in preseason how terrible he could be at tackle. Repeating that is just insanity. A better move would be to slide Harvey Dahl out to RT. He excelled there late last season in a spot role. Barry Richardson's the best option the Rams have at LT as well. Yikes, but true. But that combination is a far sight better than putting Ojinnaka out there to whiff on Clay Matthews all game.

Or, here's another idea: Slide Dahl to tackle, Robert Turner to guard and put Tim Barnes in at center. That's probably your best five. Without Raji lining up over him, Barnes wouldn't be as bad a weak link as Ojinnaka trying to do anything in space.

The rest of the injury report:
Out: Danny Amendola (clavicle); Mario Haggan (thigh); Rodger Saffold (knee).
Probable: Janoris Jenkins (back). He missed Tuesday's practice but has been full-go the past two.

Some good news coming the Rams' way is that Saffold and Scott Wells (IR, foot) are on track to return to practice. Saffold is possibly just a week or two away and Wells is out of his walking boot.

* The Packers, who are six-point favorites, are projected to be without Greg Jennings and four defensive starters Sunday: B.J. Raji, Nick Perry, Sam Shields and D.J. Smith, who's out for the season after tearing an ACL Sunday night. The game to my knowledge is sold out and will be on KTVI at noon Sunday, though I must have missed the official announcement.

* Adding to Greg Zuerlein's downer of a week, he didn't set the NFL record for consecutive FGs to start a career as previously reported. Garrett Hartley of the Saints owns the record with 16. He went 13-for-13 as a rookie and hit his first 3 his 2nd season before missing a 58-yarder. Scoff, that's a chip shot for Legatron.

* The Dolphins recap isn't quite up at ramview.com yet but will be soon. Link
Positives: Bradford over 300 yards, running game effective, defense holds Miami under 20 yards rushing.
Negatives: Too many penalties, too much settling for FGs, too much missing FGs.

* Former Rams news:
- Jamie McCoy cut from Pittsburgh's practice squad.
- Bryant Browning cut from Carolina's practice squad.
- Brody Eldridge signed by Chicago. Not that I care, but I never saw a transaction where the Rams officially cut him.
- Cleveland got away with what they wouldn't let the Rams get away with last summer, adding Thaddeus Lewis back to their practice squad after cutting him.

Now out of the league, former Ram draft bust Jimmy Kennedy released a statement calling NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a liar and vehemently denied that he had any role as a whistleblower in the Saints' bounty scandal. The denial is likely his best effort as a pro. The league says he told investigators that former teammate and fellow Rams failure Anthony Hargrove told him the Saints had a bounty on Brett Favre in the 2009 NFC Championship. Kennedy denies that conversation with Hargrove ever happened and that he only told investigators that he didn't know anything.

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