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Jim Thomas
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-keep-adding-quarterbacks/article_4188af1a-4541-55fd-8dd9-30e701d2af57.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... 2af57.html</a>
[wrapimg=left]http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/df/8dfd53ff-d64c-5e21-9ca3-8381568ab3f4/4ede6f6244fdf.preview-300.jpg[/wrapimg]It wasn't that long ago the Rams had only two quarterbacks on their roster. Now, you can't walk 10 feet in Rams Park without tripping over one.
OK, that may be an exaggeration, but when the Rams claimed Kellen Clemens off waivers Wednesday afternoon from Houston, that gave the team five quarterbacks under contract. Clemens, Sam Bradford, A.J. Feeley and Tom Brandstater are on the active roster, and Matt Gutierrez was signed to the practice squad Tuesday.
Neither Bradford, with his high ankle sprain, nor Feeley, with his fractured right thumb, practiced Wednesday. That left Brandstater to take all the reps with the regular offense during an abbreviated practice session. With an extra practice day because of their Monday night game in Seattle, the Rams were on the field for little more than an hour Wednesday.
There has been no official declaration by coach Steve Spagnuolo, but all it took was one look at Feeley's swollen right thumb to realize he's not playing against the Seahawks.
"More than likely not," Feeley conceded.
He has a fractured bone right above the knuckle and straight across the thumb.
"It's pretty tough to grip," Feeley said. "It's amazing how you realize how much you use your thumb when you don't have it to use. So right now, I'm just trying to get the swelling out of it and kind of see where we are."
Feeley's throwing hand hit a helmet during Sunday's 26-0 loss to San Francisco, causing the fracture. Feeley isn't sure exactly when it happened; then again, he had a lot going on against the 49ers because he also suffered a dislocated left ring finger.
"When you stand in there, that's the price you pay," Feeley said. "When you stand in the pocket and try to throw."
With both hands banged up like that, Feeley probably won't be playing the piano for a while.
"No, not for a while," he laughed. "I'm not going to be a hand model anytime soon."
Feeley indicated that he could be out more than a week but will be better able to judge where he's at once the swelling subsides.
"Once the swelling gets down I'll get a true gauge of where I'll be at grabbing things," he said. "If it's a pain tolerance thing I have no problem going through it. But if it's giving way every time I grip the ball because the bone's shifting, then it probably won't work out."
Meanwhile, it's status quo for Bradford, meaning he's trying to rest and rehab his left ankle in hope that he can return against Seattle after missing the San Francisco game. Bradford came close to playing against the 49ers, and there's some hope at Rams Park he will be able to play this week.
But given the unpredictability of such injuries, Spagnuolo has almost run out of things to say about Bradford's ankle or his status. For example, when asked if the ankle wasn't making any progress, Spagnuolo replied: "I'm not saying that. It's just that his status is the same. He's not practicing. We're trying to get it to Monday."
Spagnuolo is hoping that even an extra day of rehab this week could make a difference.
"But again, these things have gone back and forth, so it's day-to-day," Spagnuolo said. "He ran in the pool today and felt pretty good."
However, should Bradford not be able to play in Seattle, the Rams would have been left with only Brandstater available, which explains why the team added Gutierrez to the practice squad Tuesday. Gutierrez lives in the San Francisco area and watched Sunday's 49ers-Rams game. Little did he know he'd be headed to St. Louis in a couple of days.
"I had no idea," Gutierrez said. "But obviously I'm excited with the opportunity."
Under a "doomsday" scenario, with no Bradford or Feeley available Monday, the Rams would have had to promote Gutierrez to the active roster for the Seahawks game because of the need to have a backup for Brandstater. But that dynamic changed once Clemens became available and the Rams' claim went through. Left guard Jacob Bell, who suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee against the 49ers, was placed on the injured reserve list to make room for Clemens.
Clemens, a six-year pro from Oregon, barely had time to unpack in Houston. He was signed two weeks ago by the Texans following Matt Schaub's season-ending foot injury. But when Jake Delhomme signed a week later and Jeff Garcia signed this week with Houston, Clemens was deemed expendable and released.
With rookie T.J. Yates now the starting quarterback, Texans coach Gary Kubiak cited the extensive NFL experience of Delhomme, 36, and Garcia, 41, in keeping them over Clemens. Between them, Delhomme and Garcia have 215 NFL regular-season starts and have thrown nearly 6,700 regular-season passes.
In comparison, Clemens has only nine NFL starts and 284 regular-season passes, all as a member of the New York Jets. That may pale in comparison to Delhomme and Garcia, but from where the Rams sit, Clemens is an NFL graybeard compared to Brandstater.
Clemens and Gutierrez were both in Washington's training camp this summer, with Clemens completing 18 of 33 passes for 203 yards, one touchdown and one interception in four preseason games. Gutierrez, appearing only in the Redskins' preseason finale against Tampa Bay, completed five of 12 for 41 yards with an interception.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-keep-adding-quarterbacks/article_4188af1a-4541-55fd-8dd9-30e701d2af57.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... 2af57.html</a>
[wrapimg=left]http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/df/8dfd53ff-d64c-5e21-9ca3-8381568ab3f4/4ede6f6244fdf.preview-300.jpg[/wrapimg]It wasn't that long ago the Rams had only two quarterbacks on their roster. Now, you can't walk 10 feet in Rams Park without tripping over one.
OK, that may be an exaggeration, but when the Rams claimed Kellen Clemens off waivers Wednesday afternoon from Houston, that gave the team five quarterbacks under contract. Clemens, Sam Bradford, A.J. Feeley and Tom Brandstater are on the active roster, and Matt Gutierrez was signed to the practice squad Tuesday.
Neither Bradford, with his high ankle sprain, nor Feeley, with his fractured right thumb, practiced Wednesday. That left Brandstater to take all the reps with the regular offense during an abbreviated practice session. With an extra practice day because of their Monday night game in Seattle, the Rams were on the field for little more than an hour Wednesday.
There has been no official declaration by coach Steve Spagnuolo, but all it took was one look at Feeley's swollen right thumb to realize he's not playing against the Seahawks.
"More than likely not," Feeley conceded.
He has a fractured bone right above the knuckle and straight across the thumb.
"It's pretty tough to grip," Feeley said. "It's amazing how you realize how much you use your thumb when you don't have it to use. So right now, I'm just trying to get the swelling out of it and kind of see where we are."
Feeley's throwing hand hit a helmet during Sunday's 26-0 loss to San Francisco, causing the fracture. Feeley isn't sure exactly when it happened; then again, he had a lot going on against the 49ers because he also suffered a dislocated left ring finger.
"When you stand in there, that's the price you pay," Feeley said. "When you stand in the pocket and try to throw."
With both hands banged up like that, Feeley probably won't be playing the piano for a while.
"No, not for a while," he laughed. "I'm not going to be a hand model anytime soon."
Feeley indicated that he could be out more than a week but will be better able to judge where he's at once the swelling subsides.
"Once the swelling gets down I'll get a true gauge of where I'll be at grabbing things," he said. "If it's a pain tolerance thing I have no problem going through it. But if it's giving way every time I grip the ball because the bone's shifting, then it probably won't work out."
Meanwhile, it's status quo for Bradford, meaning he's trying to rest and rehab his left ankle in hope that he can return against Seattle after missing the San Francisco game. Bradford came close to playing against the 49ers, and there's some hope at Rams Park he will be able to play this week.
But given the unpredictability of such injuries, Spagnuolo has almost run out of things to say about Bradford's ankle or his status. For example, when asked if the ankle wasn't making any progress, Spagnuolo replied: "I'm not saying that. It's just that his status is the same. He's not practicing. We're trying to get it to Monday."
Spagnuolo is hoping that even an extra day of rehab this week could make a difference.
"But again, these things have gone back and forth, so it's day-to-day," Spagnuolo said. "He ran in the pool today and felt pretty good."
However, should Bradford not be able to play in Seattle, the Rams would have been left with only Brandstater available, which explains why the team added Gutierrez to the practice squad Tuesday. Gutierrez lives in the San Francisco area and watched Sunday's 49ers-Rams game. Little did he know he'd be headed to St. Louis in a couple of days.
"I had no idea," Gutierrez said. "But obviously I'm excited with the opportunity."
Under a "doomsday" scenario, with no Bradford or Feeley available Monday, the Rams would have had to promote Gutierrez to the active roster for the Seahawks game because of the need to have a backup for Brandstater. But that dynamic changed once Clemens became available and the Rams' claim went through. Left guard Jacob Bell, who suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee against the 49ers, was placed on the injured reserve list to make room for Clemens.
Clemens, a six-year pro from Oregon, barely had time to unpack in Houston. He was signed two weeks ago by the Texans following Matt Schaub's season-ending foot injury. But when Jake Delhomme signed a week later and Jeff Garcia signed this week with Houston, Clemens was deemed expendable and released.
With rookie T.J. Yates now the starting quarterback, Texans coach Gary Kubiak cited the extensive NFL experience of Delhomme, 36, and Garcia, 41, in keeping them over Clemens. Between them, Delhomme and Garcia have 215 NFL regular-season starts and have thrown nearly 6,700 regular-season passes.
In comparison, Clemens has only nine NFL starts and 284 regular-season passes, all as a member of the New York Jets. That may pale in comparison to Delhomme and Garcia, but from where the Rams sit, Clemens is an NFL graybeard compared to Brandstater.
Clemens and Gutierrez were both in Washington's training camp this summer, with Clemens completing 18 of 33 passes for 203 yards, one touchdown and one interception in four preseason games. Gutierrez, appearing only in the Redskins' preseason finale against Tampa Bay, completed five of 12 for 41 yards with an interception.