The Rams had two pieces of news today that will greatly effect the Rams outcome in their season opener in Seattle.  The first piece of news is that Marc Bulger did take snaps from under center in practice and has declared himself ready to go on Sunday. The other piece of news, that will stop some of the hyperventilating in Rams Land, is that Jason Smith has finally been named the starter at offensive tackle for Sunday.

Smith, the second pick overall in the NFL Draft, had struggled through most of training camp but has gotten progressively better as August rolled on.  Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo has gained enough confidence in Smith that he has declared him ready to go on opening day.  Smith is thrilled about the opportunity saying, "The main thing is to prove myself and to be a part of a great offensive line."  The Rams obviously selected Smith to make a big difference in 2009 and beyond.  The Rams will be better on the offensive line if for no other reason then they can't be any worse than they were in 2008.

The news about Marc Bulger is also good for the Rams.  Bulger took the snaps directly from center and reported just a little pain but he will be the starter in Seattle.  Spagnuolo reported his throws as "good" in practice and has made the decision to give Kyle Boller more reps in practice just as a precaution.   After practice Bulger said that he is still experiencing some discomfort but it is "bearable" and not going to effect him taking snaps or how he throws the ball.  Bulger will leave the fingers bandaged together for the rest of the week but he says "hopefully I will have it off for the game but you want to be cautious."

One other note coming from Rams practice was that the captains for the first game of the season have been named.  Steven Jackson, O.J. Atogwe and Josh Brown will be the captains in Seattle.  Steve Spagnuolo said that it will be a week by week decision on the captains.  All of the selections are very solid decisions in my mind.  Atogwe should be a captain if for no other reason that he showed up for training camp without going through a long holdout because of the franchise tag.

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