St. Louis Rams Lose Donnie Avery To Injury

Donnie Avery suffered a stress fracture in his left foot during the St. Louis Rams scrimmage at Lindenwood University on Friday night. This is not good news for the Rams receiving core which is already without stars and depth. Everyone know the numbers, the remaining Rams receivers on the roster combined caught 43 passes for 524 yards and four touchdowns last season. Who will step up? Veterans Ronald Curry and Tim Carter were picked up recently but are they the answer with Avery out until possibly the home opener against the Green Bay Packers.

Well I am here to tell you that the sky is not falling...yet. With coach Steve Spagnuolo in town I have a renewed sense of hope and optimism. So with that in mind I am going to take another sip of kool-aid and give you some facts, and reason for hope. First off the season is 16 games long so if we can get Avery back by week 3 at the latest that will soften the blow. Spagnuolo has been around a lot of success with the Eagles and Giants. Three of the top 10 passing offenses last year did not have a 1000 yard receiver. The Eagles typically will pass for around 4000 yards by just spreading the ball around. The Giants also spread the ball around. The Rams look toward this philosophy in 2009. I believe the tight ends and backs will catch many more balls in 2009. You may know the New Orleans Saints led the league in passing, but did you know their leading receiver was undrafted Lance Moore who had only 928 yards receiving. Likewise the Philadelphia Eagles were led by rookie DeSean Jackson with 912 yards. The New York Giants made the playoffs with no receiver topping 600 yards. So hang in there and remember even Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce were rookies once.