Rams News

Bruce expects to play Sunday despite twinges in leg
09/19 12:23 AM

By Elizabethe Holland
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

By the time Rams coach Dick Vermeil made his way across the practice field and within eye-contact range of wide receiver Isaac Bruce on Friday, Vermeil's mind was made up: He would not ask Bruce for a hamstring update.
``I didn't ask him this morning because everybody on this football team and every coach and every trainer asked him,'' Vermeil said. ``So I just walked by him and smiled, and when he smiled, I just figured, `Oh, he's all right.' ''
The Rams play at Buffalo on Sunday. Bruce, the NFL leader in receptions (21) and reception yards (323), will be ready for that game, Vermeil and Bruce predicted. However, just to be sure, Bruce sat out practice Friday -- though he was at all times accompanied by a football he cradled, tossed or otherwise befriended.
Bruce first was sidelined Thursday after noticing a tightness in his right hamstring. Last season, ``hamstring'' was a dirty word to the receiver and his fans, as he missed nearly all of the Rams' first five games with to a hamstring injury in his left leg. But this week's measures were taken simply to rest his leg, Bruce said.
``It's fine,'' he said Friday. ``Sometimes you've got to rest it. Sometimes your legs let you know when they need some rest so you try to catch it before it happens. . . . It just got tight.''
Other injuries: Quarterback Tony Banks said he, too, was feeling better Friday.
Banks missed half of practice Wednesday and all of Thursday because of a bruised shoulder on his throwing arm. Friday, however, he was back to work.
``I was out there the whole practice,'' Banks said. ``It's a little sore, but it'll be all right. I feel a lot better today. We'll see how it reacts tonight (Friday) and then that will basically tell me how it's going to be Sunday -- if I've got to get it shot or not.''
Starting tight end Ernie Conwell also was back to practice after missing two days with bruised ribs. Cornerback Todd Lyght was sidelined Friday by a turf toe injury, but Vermeil said he should be fine by Sunday.
Robert Holcombe -- the Rams' second-round draft pick this year -- has been placed on the Rams' list of inactive players. Holcombe not only will not play, he doesn't plan to attend the game in Buffalo.
``Personally, I don't feel comfortable being in that environment knowing that I'm not playing,'' he said. ``I would just be there and I won't be playing so I'm in a different mindset than everyone else is. . . . It would be hard.''
As for the decision to sit him out, Holcombe said: ``I'm upset about not playing. I think anybody who loves playing football would be, but . . . the only thing I can do is just stay positive and just try to learn as much as I can and just be ready.''
The other three Friday inactives are LB Roman Phifer (hamstring), C/G Tom Nutten (elbow) and WR Az-Zahir Hakim (hand).

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