Bulger's Broken Pinkie Means Better Looks for the Other Rams QBs

While their fans may have had their heart skip a beat Monday morning when they read that Marc Bulger injured a finger on his throwing hand, the rest of the St. Louis Rams were loose and upbeat during the afternoon session.

Bulger jammed his right pinkie Monday morning taking a snap from center. An X-ray later revealed a "small fracture," according to head coach Steve Spagnuolo. Bulger will not play in Friday's preseason home opener against Atlanta, and is doubtful for the following week at Cincinnati.

"He won't do much in the next couple weeks," Spagnuolo said Monday afternoon, following a 90-minute practice that saw Kyle Boller work with the first team. "It’s not displaced which is a good thing...you can’t cast it. You don’t do anything to it. He’ll just tape it. We’ll keep him immobilized with the finger for a couple of weeks, and we’ll see where we are after that."

Boller struggled during the Rams' preseason opener Friday in New York, but is excited about the opportunity to work with the starters.

"This is why they brought me in here, in case something like this happened," Boller said. "It’ll be an opportunity for me to get out there with the ‘1s.' Hopefully, we can go out there and not miss a beat.”

Spagnuolo said the injury moves everybody else up, and will mean more playing time in preseason games for Boller, Brock Berlin and rookie Keith Null.

Boller struggled during 11-on-11 drills, throwing behind receivers, nearly having a ball picked off as he hit Randy McMichael between a pair of defenders, and was picked off by Oshiomogho Atogwe on an out route.

Bulger's is just the latest injury to hit the Rams. Held out of Monday's practice were Donnie Avery (ankle), Brooks Foster (ankle), Tim Carter (groin), Jacob Bell (head) and Adam Carriker (ankle).

Despite the injuries, the rest of the players were in good spirits. Chris Draft, Hollis Thomas and Adam Goldberg all had light-hearted jokes for the on-looking media members.

Draft said he'd like to have more sponsors on his jersey, and liked my idea of treating them like soccer jerseys with one big advertisement on the front, and having the player's number only on the back.

Thomas said one reporter's orange shirt was becoming too much to look at, and Goldberg made a few joking remarks towards others. Rookie linebacker James Laurinaitis said he may drop by the Scottrade Center "for about 10 minutes" to take in WWE Monday Night Raw, but added that he's "seen so many of those shows live, it's really no big deal."

The players aren't particularly worried about Bulger's finger, and Rams fans probably shouldn't be either.