By Dan Moore

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Aug 31, 2011 – The St. Louis Rams’ crowded wide receiver situation got even more difficult to parse Wednesday when the team resigned injured wide receiver Mark Clayton, who had emerged as Sam Bradford’s favorite target before going down with a season-ending injury midway through the 2010 season. Assumed during the lockout to be a lock to return, Clayton fell off the radar for a while before the Rams reiterated their intentions earlier this month. Clayton is on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list for the moment, meaning he could miss the first six weeks of the season at this rate.

If he doesn’t, the Rams will have to make a second difficult cut from their wide receiver corps, which now totals eight rookies and veterans. Danario Alexander, widely believed to be at the bottom of the list, could be joined by Donnie Avery, who’s gotten some cut day press despite his solid comeback from his own knee injury. Clayton was acquired by the Rams in 2010 as Avery’s emergency replacement, so I suppose it would only be fitting.

Read More: Mark Clayton (WR – STL), Donnie Avery (WR – STL), Sam Bradford (QB – STL), Danario Alexander (WR – STL), St. Louis Rams

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Jacksonville, FL (Sports Network) – The St. Louis Rams have re-signed wide receiver Mark Clayton, who missed the team’s final 11 games last season after being injured in Week 5.

The Rams tweeted the news Wednesday, but didn’t provide details. They also placed cornerback Jerome Murphy on injured reserve, put cornerback Marquis Johnson on the physically unable to perform list and signed defensive tackle Marlon Favorite.

Clayton went down with a right knee injury in a game against Detroit and had season-ending surgery on his torn patella tendon. He had 23 catches for 306 yards and two touchdowns before getting hurt.

Acquired from Baltimore just before the start of the 2010-11 season, Clayton has 257 career catches for 3,422 yards and 14 touchdowns. He played his first five NFL seasons with the Ravens.

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By Dan Moore

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Aug 31, 2011 – The St. Louis Rams are continuing their trip down to the regular season active roster, and with that kind of bubble-bursting comes the yearly attempt to predict just which of the preseason stars and flops will make the team for Week One. The boldest one yet came Tuesday, when Turf Show Times proprietor VanRam guessed that Donnie Avery—by trade or something more insidious—wouldn’t be on the roster when the Rams finally finished sorting their dysfunctional wide receivers. 

Avery’s been solid in the preseason since returning from last season’s devastating knee injury; for the most part, he’s done everything that could be expected of him. But VanRam guesses that the Rams won’t have a need for his speed-first game in Josh McDaniels’s new offense, and that they’ll try to trade the erstwhile number-one-of-last-resort for whatever they can get, instead keeping newly minted special-teams-gunner Mardy Gilyard around. 

This is plausible to me, but I’m not sure I’m a fan of it. With both Avery and Danario Alexander off the roster we’ll be back to square one—Sam Bradford will have a big-play offensive coordinator, for once, but no big-play wide receiver. 

Read More: Donnie Avery (WR – STL), Sam Bradford (QB – STL), Mardy Gilyard (WR – STL), Danario Alexander (WR – STL), St. Louis Rams

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By Dan Moore

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Aug 31, 2011 – With the St. Louis Rams and the rest of the NFL celebrating the start of those ever-chilling cut days Wednesday afternoon, erstwhile Mizzou star Danario Alexander remains the biggest name on the bubble. He’s lost out to the Rams’ motley collection of veterans and rookies at wide receiver, but the biggest hurdle for his future could be fullback Brit Miller.

New offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has rarely been one to use the fullback position, which has become increasingly obsolete in the pass-heavy NFL McDaniels has helped to create; with two tight ends on the field so frequently—and Turf Show Times predicts they’ll carry four, among them project Fendi Onobun—there’s little use for the fullback as a blocker or an offensive weapon. 

But Miller, a member of last year’s practice squad, has spent a lot of time with the Rams’ first team, which means McDaniels might have had a come-to-Ditka moment between this year and last. If he’s carrying Miller, that’s bad news for both Alexander and whoever else you have on the Rams’ wide receiver bubble—it leaves them carrying six wide receivers. 

Read More: Donnie Avery (WR – STL), Brit Miller (RB – STL), Fendi Onobun (TE – STL), Danario Alexander (WR – STL), St. Louis Rams

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St. Louis Rams wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker went all out to honor his father.

In August 2009, Mike Walker legally changed his name to Mike Sims-Walker in a tribute to his father, Mike Sims, who died a year earlier from colon cancer.

“He just passed away out of the blue,” Sims-Walker said. “That was very devastating for me. He was my everything, my best friend. He is who I am today.”

Sims-Walker founded the Mike Sims-Walker Foundation in 2010 to help provide scholarships for students in his hometown of Orlando, Fla. He also speaks out about the awareness of colon cancer and the importance of checkups.

Now 26, Sims-Walker dedicated his life to his father. And his career began to flourish after the name change.

The 6-foot-2, 212-pound receiver was signed by St. Louis as a free agent last month. He has quickly moved toward the top of the crowded mix at wide receiver.

Sims-Walker caught a 6-yard touchdown pass on the first drive Friday in the Rams’ 14-10 win at Kansas City.

A big-play scoring threat, Sims-Walker has caught two passes for 26 yards in helping the Rams to a 3-0 preseason record going into the final exhibition game Thursday at Jacksonville.

Sims-Walker has built up a rapport with quarterback Sam Bradford. After a two-hour practice on Monday, Sims-Walker stayed on the field to catch more passes from Bradford, a common occurrence during training camp.

“The quarterback is comfortable with him and I think that’s important for a wide receiver,” St. Louis coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “He’s really grasped the playbook.”

Sims-Walker, in his fifth season, was chosen by Jacksonville in the third round of the 2007 draft. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in the final exhibition game of his rookie season and caught just 16 passes for 217 yards in 2008.

Then he put together a breakout season catching 63 passes for 869 yards, both team highs in 2009. He had 43 catches for 562 yards and seven TDs last season.

He was not offered a contact by Jacksonville and looked at several teams before choosing the Rams, who gave him a one-year deal that could reach $3.7 million including incentives.

Sims-Walker is working hard to prove he belongs in St. Louis. He is eager for the season to get started.

“We’re a little over a week from the real deal,” he said. “It’s critical right now. We’ve got to buckle down.”

The exhibition game against his former team also carries some importance. Sims-Walker remains upset that the Jaguars did not try to re-sign him.

He says he doesn’t carry a chip on his shoulder but rather, “a crack, it’s bigger.”

Notes: St. Louis linebacker James Laurinaitis, the leading tackler last season, missed practice on Monday due to a pectoral muscle strain. He expects to play at Jacksonville. “It just gets sore a little bit,” Laurinaitis said. “If I had to play tomorrow, I’d be suiting up and heading out there.” … St. Louis released veteran linebacker Na’il Diggs on Monday. Diggs, a 12-year veteran, started 12 games last season and made 37 tackles. He will likely be replaced by Brady Poppinga. “That was a hard move,’ Spagnuolo said. … “He’s a classy individual and we wish him well.”