Rypien Ready To Start Against Buffalo
It’s back to that foggy feeling for St. Louis Rams quarterback Chris Miller after sustaining his fifth concussion in 15 months.
Miller was nursing a headache and fighting drowsiness at home Monday, one day after getting knocked unconscious by a helmet-on-helmet blow from 280-pound Marvin Washington in the Rams’ 23-20 victory Sunday over the New York Jets.
Washington, a former University of Idaho Vandal, who was ejected following the blow, said he didn’t believe the hit was that strong.
“That guy should consider retiring,” Washington said of Miller. “If he takes a hit like that and gets one (a concussion), he’d better get out.”
But the Rams don’t appear worried about Miller’s future. Coach Rich Brooks wouldn’t even rule him out for Sunday’s game against Buffalo.
Whether Miller plays this weekend will depend on further medical consultation and testing the next two days. After previous concussions he was tested on reactions and thought process. And ultimately, Brooks said, it’ll be Miller’s call.
That said, Brooks conceded the likely starter Sunday is former Washington State quarterback Mark Rypien, who had two touchdown passes and was intercepted three times in a relief role against the Jets.
Two of the interceptions, one a pass off rookie wide receiver J.T. Thomas’ hands and the other on a pattern where Isaac Bruce slipped and fell, were not Rypien’s fault.
“I think Rypien played a gutsy game,” Brooks said.
“He made a lot of real big plays. He was rusty and he floated some passes, but he in one sense got our offense settled down a little bit.”
The Rams’ third quarterback is Dave Barr, who was picked up early in the season after the team waived Tommy Maddox.
Haley retires
Four-time Super Bowl winner Charles Haley said he has decided to retire from the Dallas Cowboys after medical tests indicated he needs surgery to repair another herniated disk in his lower back.
“My career is over. I’m through,” Haley, 31, told The Dallas Morning News. “I’m not depressed because I’ve had a good career, and I did it my way.”
Coach Barry Switzer said Haley complained of intolerable back pain when they met in the equipment room at halftime of Sunday’s loss to Washington. The teary-eyed Haley reluctantly informed Switzer he could not continue.
Haley met with Switzer and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging test that confirmed damage to another disk.
End zone
New York Jets guard Carlton Haselrig was suspended for one year by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy… . Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh, the NFL’s top-rated passer, underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove damaged cartilage from his right knee and will be out at least a week… . New York quarterback Dave Brown said he is annoyed the Giants have not offered him a new contract and he would consider leaving the team to serve as a backup elsewhere under the right circumstances… . After 11 years in National Football League purgatory, Maryland returned with a vengeance, when the Washington Redskins and top government officials announced plans for a new stadium in Prince George’s County… . The Cleveland Browns’ payroll is so close to the NFL’s salary cap that team officials are asking players to accept pay cuts.