* Will quarterback Marc Bulger play in the team’s final preseason game against Kansas City?

That’s the decision likely awaiting coach Steve Spagnuolo. Bulger played one quarter against the Jets in the first preseason game, then suffered a chip fracture in the pinky of his right hand three days later in practice.

Starters rarely play much, if at all, in the final game. If Bulger doesn’t play for the rest of the preseason, it will a span of 30 days between the Jets game and the season opener in Seattle.

When asked about it, Spagnuolo said, “You have to make a decision there whether you think he’s got to get some timing and put him in. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Said Bulger, “We'll see. If coach feels it's important, I'd love to come back and play with the guys. But when I was at the doctor, No. 1 on my list was Seattle. I'm 100 percent going to be in for Seattle. That's all I'm thinking about now."

*It’s hard to believe anyone got excited when the Rams shut down the Jets’ running game in the first preseason game.

Making evaluations in the preseason is often difficult because matchups always have to be considered. The Jets were without their entire interior line in that game: center Nick Mangold and guards Alan Faneca and Damien Woody.

Things were different going against the Falcons’ No. 1 line, a unit that started 69 of 80 games last season. Then-rookie Sam Baker started five games; the other four all started 16. The last time the Rams had more than one offensive lineman start all 16 games was 2005. In the last three seasons, they have had one start 16 games at his projected position: Alex Barron in 2006. In 2007, Barron started 16 games with one at right tackle and 15 at left tackle.


* Numerous NFL teams are loosey-goosey with injury information, and the Rams have joined the club. Dings and tweaks are often used to initially describe injuries, as is the famous prognosis of “day-to-day.” So far, very few early descriptions have turned out to be accurate.

After missing practice Sunday, left guard Jacob Bell has now missed one game and five days of practice with a “mild” concussion.


* Rookie wide receiver Brooks Foster will likely be placed on injured reserve next week when NFL teams are required to cut their rosters to 75 players. Foster underwent ankle surgery last Friday, and is supposedly out six-to-eight weeks.

That would likely be mid-October, and it’s not realistic to think he could help the team this year. He could be placed on injured reserve now, but he would still count against the 80-man roster unless he’s waived/injured.


* Speaking of the cut to 75 rosters, there’s no point to cutting players next week. Once NFL Europe ceased operations and roster exemptions for Europe players disappeared, this first cut only includes five players. Five days later, after the final preseason game, 22 players are cut or placed on reserve.

If the NFL did things logically, there would be one final cut, and those five players would help the depth for the final game when frontline players participate sparingly.