On a night in which the Rams unexpectedly have shown significant promise, with rookie quarterback Sam Bradford leading the starting offense to 20 first-half points against the Patriots, a bucket of ice water has been dumped on the budding optimism via a knee injury suffered by receiver Donnie Avery.
Avery, the top man on a receiving depth chart consisting primarily of no-names, injured his knee after he banged it against the field while diving for a pass.
Trainers attended to Avery before a cart took him to the locker room. After Avery was on the vehicle, Patriots receiver Wes Welker, who tore an ACL and MCL in the final regular-season game of the 2009 season, shook Avery’s hand and wished him well. (Then again, we’re only assuming that Welker wished him well. We didn’t hear what Welker said. For all we know, he rubbed it in.)
Though the Rams could still get lucky on this one, it’s hard for a team that hasn’t had much good luck in recent years to hope for the best.
In the first half, Bradford completed 15 of 22 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Starting in place of the injured A.J. Feeley, Bradford possibly has down enough to nail down the starting job as of Week 1.