Credit: AP

St. Louis Rams’ Austin Pettis, right, loses the ball on a punt return as he is hit by Washington Redskins’ Niles Paul during the second quarter of the NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011, in St. Louis. The Rams recovered the ball and Paul was charged with an unnecessary roughness penalty on the play. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

Associated Press

Posted on December 21, 2011 at 7:03 PM

Updated
yesterday at 9:36 PM

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Rams rookie wide receiver Austin Pettis has been suspended for four games for violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances.
  
Pettis, a third-round pick out of Boise State, has made three starts and has 27 catches for 256 yards, a 9.5-yard average. He’ll be eligible to return after the Rams’ second game next season, and can participate in offseason and preseason practices and games.
  
Coach Steve Spagnuolo did not mention Pettis’ suspension after practice Wednesday and said in a statement later in the day that the team was disappointed, but the Rams respected the NFL’s decision.
 

ST. LOUIS – Newly signed St. Louis Rams wide receiver Mark Clayton is likely to start the season on the physically unable to perform list.

That still leaves coach Steve Spagnuolo with a lot of tough choices on cutdown day Saturday. The Rams waived seven players Friday, and need to cut 20 more to get to the 53-man roster limit.

“Staring at the board the last three hours, there’s a couple of spots you really, really struggle with,” Spagnuolo said Friday on a conference call. “At some point you’ve got to pull the trigger.”

The Rams’ first unbeaten pre-season since 1979 has quickly become an afterthought. A day after St. Louis beat Jacksonville 24-17 to finish at 4-0, Spagnuolo said he complimented players for playing to win, and then told them it was time to move on.

“At this point now, they get tucked away,” Spagnuolo said. “They mean nothing. To add them all up and say we were undefeated in the preseason and it means this or it means that, I really don’t get caught up in that.”

The Rams were 7-9 last season and haven’t had a winning record since 2003. So there is some benefit in a solid slate of success.

“Confidence level is high,” defensive end Chris Long said. “We’ve put in a lot of work, even with the lockout. The great thing is we made it out of the preseason pretty healthy.”

Quarterback Sam Bradford exited the pre-season feeling good about his knowledge of the new offence.

“Obviously, we’re in a different system,” Bradford said. “As far as my comfort level in seeing defences and seeing pressures, it’s really night and day.”

The toughest calls might be at wide receiver, where probably eight players are competing for six slots, and quarterback, where Thaddeus Lewis is trying to unseat A.J. Feeley as the backup. Danario Alexander is on the bubble at wide receiver largely because of a left knee that’s undergone five operations.

“I’ve talked with Danario about that, but I’ll go back to the statement I made: He’s one tough sucker,” Spagnuolo said. “He’s always out there battling. I think he deserves a lot of credit for that.”

Spagnuolo provided no hints on the quarterback decision, saying Lewis and Feeley both played well in the preseason. Lewis was on the practice squad last year.

“I don’t have a clue if they will keep three quarterbacks or not,” Lewis said. “The quarterback position is tough and you have to be patient. You never know when you’re going to get the opportunity, but when you do, you have to be ready.”

Clayton signed Wednesday, and Spagnuolo said it’s unlikely Clayton would make the roster for the opener next Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Rams elected not to re-sign him at the start of training camp due to concerns about his knee, and the team believes he needs more rehab.

“My gut feeling is it’ll probably head that way,” Spagnuolo said. “I’d be really surprised if we can get him on the 53, but it’s nice to know Mark is back.”

Players will get most of the weekend off, with a meeting and short team run Saturday the only planned activities, before beginning preparations for the opener on Monday.

Defensive end James Hall (back) was a minor injury concern from the preseason finale, but Spagnuolo was hopeful he’d practice Monday. Middle linebacker James Laurinaitis (chest) was held out as a precaution.

Tight end Michael Hoomanawanui (calf) didn’t make the trip and Spagnuolo wasn’t sure he’d be ready for the opener, all but ruling him out of practice on Monday and Wednesday.

“If you ask him, he’ll say yes,” Spagnuolo said. “If you go too early with the calf, we could set him back. This is going to be a down-to-the-wire thing, I believe.

“This is a legitimate day to day thing.”

Credit: AP

St. Louis Rams wide receiver Mark Clayton, left, grabs a pass in the end zone for a touchdown as Oakland Raiders safety Tyvon Branch (33) defends during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010. Oakland won 16-14. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

The Associated Press

Posted on August 31, 2011 at 11:37 PM

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Rams re-signed Mark Clayton, the wide receiver who needed an extra month to recover from knee surgery.

Scores | Standings | Stats | Roster | Schedule | Transactions | Injuries | Depth

The team announced the move Wednesday night on its Twitter feed after arriving in Jacksonville, Fla., for its preseason finale Thursday night against the Jaguars.

Clayton caught 22 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns the first four games last season. Before the injury, he was Sam Bradford’s top target.

The Rams had been considering signing Clayton earlier, but in the opening week of training camp, coach Steve Spagnuolo said Clayton’s knee wasn’t ready.

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ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The agent for Mardy Gilyard denied that the St. Louis Rams wide receiver requested a trade.”Mardy Gilyard never requested a trade,” agent Andy Simms wrote on his Twitter account. “Untrue.” Former Rams assistant coach Rick Venturi, who now works for 101 ESPN in St. Louis, originally declared that Gilyard wanted out of the Gateway City.After signing a four-year, $2.34 million deal in last summer, Gilyard reeled in six passes for 63 yards in 11 games during his rookie season.He suffered a major wrist injury which ended his campaign.The Rams selected Gilyard out of the University of Cincinnati with the first pick in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft.

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