Rams cut Armstrong, cite several reasons
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_aa915abf-72d1-5c68-b45a-548774c5e218.html
On Sunday, after a highly frustrating 34-28 loss to Philadelphia, a highly frustrated Jeff Fisher said the next time a Rams special teams player committed a stupid penalty, he would send him to the locker room for the rest of the game.
On Monday, Fisher didn’t just send Ray Ray Armstrong to the locker room. He sent him home.
“We released Ray this morning,” Fisher said at his Monday media session. “As far as his special teams role, it just wasn’t working out. So we’ve moved on.”
Fisher is tired of penalties and tired of mistakes holding back a 1-3 Rams squad that has lost its last two games by a combined nine points.
Armstrong committed a totally unnecessary shove at the end of a Darren Sproles punt return with 6 minutes left in the first quarter, resulting in a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty. So instead of starting at their 38, the Eagles had a first down at the St. Louis 47, and they ended up kicking a field goal for a 13-0 lead.
When asked if he was unhappy with Armstrong’s penalty, Fisher replied: “That’s correct.”
But he added: “I was not happy with (his) progression on the field. It’s a production business, and when you don’t get the production you have to get better — so that’s what we’re gonna do.”
It was Armstrong’s first penalty of the season, but he committed nine last season as a rookie, one of which was declined. That’s an extremely high total for someone who was almost exclusively a special teams player in 2013.
In fact, it was the most for any Rams player who wasn’t a starter on offense and defense, or at least a rotational player. And his 69 yards of penalties assessed was the third-highest total on the team.
But Fisher again made it a point to say that penalties alone didn’t lead to Armstrong’s dismissal.
“No, it was pretty much the whole body of work,” Fisher said. “He was just having a hard time doing things the way we wanted them done.”
The Rams took a risk signing Armstrong as an undrafted rookie in 2013. He was suspended on two occasions in 2011 for a total of five games at the University of Miami. Then, in July 2012, Armstrong was dismissed from school for unspecified reasons — but reasons believed to be related to a continuing NCAA investigation into the program.
He didn’t play in 2012, meaning he hadn’t played a game in nearly 1½ seasons when he signed with the Rams. Despite the penalties as a rookie Armstrong showed promise, leading the team in special teams tackles (12).
Entering the 2014 campaign, it was hoped that with a little maturity Armstrong could be even more effective on special teams and possibly push Jo-Lonn Dunbar for playing time at outside linebacker.
But none of that materialized. The aggressive, athletic Armstrong had only one tackle on special teams this season. Despite getting plenty of playing time at linebacker during the preseason, Armstrong missed several tackles and simply didn’t make many plays. According to NFL stats, he participated in only one play on defense in the Rams’ four regular-season games.
At the end of the day, Sunday’s penalty put Fisher over the top.
“Again, it’s the body of work,” Fisher said. “It had been addressed with him numerous times, and that penalty ultimately becomes my fault because when a guy’s making mistakes over and over, and he’s allowed to play, it becomes my fault.
“So we’re gonna get someone else in there that understands things a little differently.
“And it’s not the (result of the) game. This was gonna happen win or lose. This is not a scapegoat. You guys know me, I’m not about that. But we need to make a change and go a different direction.”
The release of Armstrong may not be a “scapegoat” situation as Fisher mentioned, but he certainly sent a message to the rest of the team about the need to cut down penalties and minimize mistakes.
There aren’t a ton of jobs out there where you can make half a million dollars a year — and Armstrong just lost one. In the second year of a three-year contract, he was scheduled to make $495,000 this year. Now, the player known as the “Boom King” is looking for work. That fact shouldn’t escape notice from the rest of the team.
“The penalties between the snap and the whistle are going to happen,” Fisher said. “But it’s the penalties prior to the snap and after the whistle that are completely under our control. And those are the ones that we have to get fixed.”
Fisher said the Rams have been flagged for 16 penalties this season that came either before the snap or after the play.
“That’s four per game,” he said. “We’ve got to knock that down. That’s got to be focus, and has been, and will continue to be a focus for us.”
Fisher said the Rams will work out several linebacker prospects over the next couple of days. With Armstrong’s release, the team has only four linebackers on its 53-man roster: James Laurinaitis, Alec Ogletree, Dunbar and Daren Bates.
In addition, the practice squad includes linebacker Denicos Allen, and Fisher said he will be given consideration for a spot on the 53-man roster.
The Rams brought in free-agent linebackers Pat Angerer, Larry Dean, Marshall McFadden and Kelvin Sheppard for visits on Sept. 5, but Sheppard has since signed with Miami and Dean with Buffalo.
Armstrong could not be reached to comment.