will be sidelined for the near future after injuring his

Greg Zuerlein Michael Brockers Jersey , the Rams' All-Pro kicker,groin during pregame warmups for Los Angeles' blowout win over Arizona.The Rams (2-0) are re-signing Sam Ficken to take Zuerlein's place for "at least a few weeks," coach Sean McVay said Monday after confirming the only disappointing development from the Rams' 34-0 thrashing of the Cardinals."We'll move forward with Sam," McVay said. "Got a lot of confidence in him. It's good that he's kind of been through some experience with us, playing in games that are very, very important, which we know this next one is. Greg will get back hopefully sooner than later, and we'll embrace that when that time comes."The Rams are placing receiver Michael Thomas on injured reserve to make room on their 53-man roster for Ficken, who was with the Rams throughout training camp. He initially joined the club last December when Zuerlein injured his back with two games left in his Pro Bowl season.Ficken made two of his three field goal attempts in the regular season, and he added two field goals without a miss in Los Angeles' playoff loss to Atlanta.While Ficken doesn't have the booming range of the All-Pro known as Greg the Leg, McVay isn't worried as the Rams head into a crosstown showdown with the Los Angeles Chargers (1-1) on Sunday."You've got a lot of confidence in Sam, and he has shown that he's a good kicker," McVay said. "But certainly you don't take for granted the fact that you're talking about Greg, (who) smashes a 55-yarder on the dirt in Oakland."The Rams reached out to Ficken on Sunday even before the team had finished beating Arizona, likely aware that several teams would be in need of a new kicker after the special-teams tumult of Week 2."He was still in the area, so it worked out in our favor Ethan Westbrooks Jersey ," McVay said.After Zuerlein was hurt in warmups, All-Pro punter Johnny Hekker filled in on kickoffs and even made a 20-yard field goal and an extra point. But the Rams also went for successful 2-point conversions on their first three touchdowns, and the ever-innovative McVay acknowledged the experience had made him even more interested in going for two regularly."That's definitely something that we'll think about, and it can potentially alter the way we approach things, for sure," McVay said. "We always talk about being an aggressive team. ... Those guys, when they end up executing the way that they did in those situations, it certainly gives you a belief and a confidence that this is something that you might explore doing more times than not."Thomas, a special-teams standout and backup kick returner, injured his hip in the Rams' season-opening win at Oakland. The injury absences of Thomas and All-Pro kick returner Pharoh Cooper leave the Rams with just five healthy receivers: Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Josh Reynolds and JoJo Natson, who was only re-signed last week to return kicks.McVay also must choose a starting right guard to face the Chargers during practice this week. Jamon Brown's two-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy has ended, but fill-in starter Austin Blythe performed strongly in his two starts."This is a situation where we feel like we have two starting-caliber guards," McVay said. "As far as how we move forward John Sullivan Jersey , it's not a result of anything Jamon hasn't done, but the fact that these are decisions that aren't very clear-cut is because of Austin's play. He's played so well. He's done such a great job." It just doesn’t make any sense."WhiteSections 2019 offseason2019 free agency2019 NFL DraftFull ArchiveLibrary 2019 NFL calendar2019 Rams regular season sched2019 Rams preseason schedMasthead Community Guidelines NFL Odds StubHub 鉁?019 NFL Playoffs2019 Los Angeles Rams Offseason2019 NFL Free AgencyThe Detroit Lions’ signing of RB C.J. Anderson underscores just how strange the Los Angeles Rams’ handling of RB Todd Gurley was in the playoffsNew,76commentsIt just doesn’t make any sense.CDTShareTweetShareShareThe Detroit Lions’ signing of RB C.J. Anderson underscores just how strange the Los Angeles Rams’ handling of RB Todd Gurley was in the playoffsLos Angeles Rams RB Todd Gurley celebrates with RB C.J. Anderson after scoring a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional Round of the 2019 NFL Playoffs, Jan. 12, 2019.Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY SportsThe Detroit Lions signed RB C.J. Anderson yesterday just three and a half months after he joined the Los Angeles Rams en route to one of the weirdest sagas Rams fans have ever seen with the handling of RB Todd Gurley and his knee.A reminder of the timeline that played out over the final weeks of the 2018 regular season into the playoffs.The first domino to fall came in Week 13 against the Detroit Lions when RB Malcolm Brown injured his clavicle forcing him to miss the rest of the season (although some might argue the real first domino was Gurley aggravating the knee in Week 1 against the Oakland Raiders (or some might argue it truly began when the Rams made Gurley the highest-paid running back in the NFL last July (and some might even suggest it goes back to Gurley initially injuring the knee in college with the Georgia Bulldogs (and some might even suggest it was when he was born in the first place!)))). Interestingly, the Rams didn’t make any personnel changes to the RB depth chart once Brown got injured. Perhaps prophetically, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo suggested the injury would be a major factor for the Rams were anything to happen to Gurley:And well, wouldn’t you know it...something did happen.In Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Gurley injured/aggravated/whatevered his knee. In retrospect, it’s certainly strange the Rams didn’t lighten the load for Gurley in Brown’s absence by using either of their backups in RB John Kelly or RB Justin Davis as our own Sosa Kremenjas advocated following the Brown injury:Instead, Kelly and Davis accounted for just four carries in Weeks 14 and 15 while Gurley ran the ball 23 times.With the Rams coming out of Week 15 saying that Gurley was “on track” to play in Week 16, I framed the issue his injury posed as this:Good lord, did it ever.A day later, the Rams signed Anderson who had already been released by two teams in the 2018 season. He jumped over Kelly and Davis on the depth chart to become the starting running back in Weeks 16 and 17 as Gurley was sidelined with the knee injury.Anderson was fantastic in both starts, though it’s worth noting the offensive line was fantastic as well to give Anderson the opportunity to be as much.Despite having an extra week to rest thanks to a first-round bye, Rams fans were given an indication of Gurley’s health status when he appeared on the initial injury report in the divisional round of the playoffs against the Dallas Cowboys. But a fantastic performance from the Rams’ offensive line gave Gurley and Anderson the chance to shine as the two combined for 238 rushing yards. Gurley had a memorable 35-yard touchdown through a GIGANTIC lane that many used to suggest he was at optimal health; others Cory Littleton Jersey , including myself, thought it was clear evidence to the contrary.In any case, the next two games catapulted the saga into top tier drama. Against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship, Gurley, the NFL’s highest-paid running back, had just four carries. While Rams Head Coach suggested after the game that Gurley was “healthy” and “feeling good” along with using that touchdown run against the Cowboys to reinforce as much, I remained skeptical and asked how injured he really was.Gurley downplayed the developing drama heading into Super Bowl LIII:Gurley indeed wasn’t listed on any of the three injury reports leading up to the Super Bowl though speculation continued to grow surrounding his knee.Some reporters even mocked the speculation heading into the Super Bowl:Gurley, in fact, was not involved early with just three runs in the first half as cameras repeatedly showed him on the sideline as the broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo along with media and fans worldwide wondered why the Rams had placed the highest-paid running back in the NFL in a job share with someone who had been unemployed as recently as two months prior.The Super Bowl did not go well.Gurley refused to speak to reporters in their final exit interviews two days later.Anderson revealed that at the time of his signing, Gurley had been injured worse than initially anticipated.Then the Rams revealed that, despite having insisted throughout the playoffs that there was no injury after sitting out the final two games of the regular season, Gurley had been dealing with “a wear and tear issue.”And just a month ago, we learned that Gurley has been suffering from arthritis in the knee.It’s been one hell of a ride.So now as Anderson heads to Detroit after they tried to poach Brown of all people, we can close out this chapter of the Gurley knee saga...and prepare to open the next one in four months’ time.