By Cedric Williams
The Rams have yet to make an official statement regarding defensive end Chris Long’s status for Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders. But Long looked smooth and moved around well during Friday’s practice at the Rams Park Training Facility in Earth City.
Long, St. Louis’ first-round pick (No. 2 overall) in 2008, has been out of the lineup since Week 1, when he tore two tendons in his left foot in the Rams’ season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Rams placed Long on the injured reserve/designated to return list when it was determined that he didn’t need surgery to fix his injured foot.
Long has been practicing for three weeks and is running out of time to return to game action or be placed on the regular injured reserve list, which would mean the Rams would have to sit him for the season.
If Long can’t play this week, then he would most likely have to sit out the rest of the year.
“He’s close,” head coach Jeff Fisher said following Friday’s practice. “I think he had his best day of practice today, so we’re going to discuss it this afternoon and if we make a decision, we’ll probably make a decision tomorrow.”
As far as the rest of the team, St. Louis has 14 players on its injury list, though most of them seem likely to play on Sunday.
ST. LOUIS RAMS Injury Report
PROBABLE: WR Kenny Britt (back), TE Jared Cook (back), LB James Laurinaitis (ankle), LB Alec Ogletree (illness), DE Robert Quinn (not injury related), C Scott Wells (not injury related), RG Davin Joseph (not injury related), CB E.J. Gaines (knee), DE Eugene Sims (not injury related), TE Cory Harkey (thigh), LB Will Herring (foot).
QUESTIONABLE: DT Alex Carrington (thigh), CB Lamarcus Joyner (groin).
DOUBTFUL: CB Marcus Roberson (ankle).
Oakland has eight players on its injury list, with the most significant of those injuries being to RB Latavius Murray (concussion). The Raiders’ second-year back out of Central Florida had 112 yards and two touchdowns in Oakland’s 24-20 win over the rival Kansas City Chiefs last Thursday night. Murray had to leave that game after banging his head hard on the turf following his final carry of the night.
Raiders coaches had hoped the extra time off would allow Murray to recover enough to play Sunday, but after completing a series of concussion tests on Thursday and Friday, the decision was made to sit Murray for at least one more game.
OAKLAND RAIDERS Injury Report
PROBABLE: S Larry Asante (shoulde), CB T.J. Carrie (ankle), TE Brian Leonhardt (concussion).
QUESTIONABLE: G Gabe Jackson (knee).
OUT: RB Latavius Murray (concussion), S Jonathan Dowling (back), CB Carlos Rogers (knee), CB Neiko Thorpe (hand).
For more Rams news and updates, visit Rams Central.
Cedric Williams, a lifelong St. Louisan and proud UMSL alum, has been a freelance reporter/photographer covering St. Louis area sports for nearly two decades. Most recently, he has been working as a credentialed beat writer covering the Rams and small-school college sports for Examiner.com and other outlets from around the area. Please share any comments, questions, or feedback with Cedric at cedricwilliams510@gmail.com. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
