Rams' quarterback situation unresolved
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11611/rams-quarterback-situation-unresolved
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams wrapped up their work week Friday afternoon but coach Jeff Fisher isn't ready to make a call on who his starting quarterback will be against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
That's because presumptive starter Shaun Hill did not practice most of the week and was extremely limited in Friday's practice because of a quad/thigh injury. The choice between Hill and Austin Davis might not be made until hours before kickoff.
"(Hill is) probably a game-time decision," Fisher said. "We got Austin some reps and Austin is much better suited to play this game this week because of the starter reps he took this week, so we’ll see what happens."
The Ram are confident in QB Austin Davis should starter Shaun Hill be unable to play.
Fisher indicated Friday that Hill had made progress on his injured leg throughout the week, but there wasn't enough to go on to make a decision at this point. Hill was at least in uniform for Friday's practice, but he really didn't participate much as Davis took the bulk of the reps.
Based on the week of practice, one would assume Davis is primed to make his first NFL start, but Fisher and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said Hill is far enough along in the offense that he could start without any meaningful practice reps during the week.
"He’s been dialed in, doing everything," Schottenheimer said. "We actually make him call the plays of the quarterbacks in a lot of the walk-thrus that we do. No, if he’s ready to go, we have no problems that he’d go out there and perform well."
And if Hill is not ready to go, Davis will take his long-awaited turn as the starter. Davis got his first NFL game experience last week against Minnesota, going 16-of-23 for 192 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Those numbers weren't too bad on the surface, but a closer look at the performance revealed plenty of rough patches.
Looking back at his debut, Davis pointed to communication and basic operation as "spotty," pointing out he simply had not had a chance to huddle with the first-team offense before. He also took four sacks, some of which were the product of his inability to get rid of the ball or throw it away. Davis is hopeful that having a week's worth of practice and his three years of knowledge in the offense should allow him to clean up some of those areas.
"There's not a play call that I don't know exactly what the read is and exactly where the ball is supposed to go," Davis said. "It's really just getting game experience. It was great last week to get in and play ball, but I feel very, very comfortable with what we're doing."
The Rams apparently share that sentiment. Schottenheimer said Davis' knowledge of the scheme is such that he wouldn't need to scale the offense back for him.
"He’s really grown, he’s really developed," Schottenheimer said. "Coming from Southern Miss, it’s been a long process, he’s worked really, really hard. Very comfortable calling the game with him. Trust that he’s going to know what to do, do the right things. Again, I think that’s a credit to him."
The other part of the equation is whether to keep two or three quarterbacks active against the Bucs. Third-team signal caller Case Keenum now has a total of six practices with the Rams, but has impressed coaches with his work ethic and desire to get up to speed as fast as possible.
If Keenum is active and does have to play, the Rams will have a much smaller set of plays to work with.
"He beats the coaches in here most days," Schottenheimer said. "He really does. We’re here later than he is, but he’s here early working hard. By the looks of that he’s obviously got ability, and if he has to go for some reason, we’ll keep it simple."