Rams change course, bench hurting Bulger
One day after insisting he’d stick with Marc Bulger, St. Louis Rams Coach Scott Linehan benched his banged-up quarterback.
The winless Rams will go with backup Gus Frerotte on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, Linehan said Wednesday. Bulger has been ineffective while playing with two broken ribs.
Linehan also will return to play-calling in an effort to wake up an offense that has scored only two touchdowns, yanking duties from offensive coordinator Greg Olson. Olson was Linehan’s first hire when he got the job last year, and will move to the coaches booth, where he’ll assist the head coach.
Linehan said sitting Bulger was his call after reviewing the last three games, and not a decision made under pressure from superiors.
“Any theories or anything said out there are absolutely not true,” Linehan said. “I look forward to a healthy Marc Bulger getting back in the lineup as soon as possible.”
Bulger, a two-time Pro Bowl player, signed a six-year, $65-million contract extension in training camp. He has thrown passes for four interceptions the last two weeks and was 11 for 24 for 114 yards and an interception in Sunday’s 35-7 loss to Dallas.
Safety Rodney Harrison has returned to a New England team that didn’t miss a beat without him.
Harrison was suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, reportedly by using human growth hormone.
Coach Bill Belichick would not say if Harrison will play Sunday against Cleveland.
With his four-week suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy over, Oakland Raiders running back Dominic Rhodes returned to practice for the first time since the end of the preseason. The Raiders have a bye this week.
Rhodes was suspended after pleading guilty in the off-season to reckless driving charges in Indiana after prosecutors agreed to drop drunk driving charges against him.
San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith learned nothing new about his separated right shoulder, which will keep him out of the 49ers’ game Sunday against Baltimore.
The 49ers sent the results of Smith’s MRI exam to Dr. James Andrews for a routine evaluation Tuesday, and the noted orthopedic surgeon confirmed the team’s original diagnosis of a moderate shoulder separation that won’t require surgery.
Suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick moved one step closer to being tried on state dogfighting charges at a hearing in Sussex, Va., to make sure he has legal representation.
An attorney for Vick appeared in Surry County Circuit Court and was asked to return Nov. 27 to set a trial date.
Meanwhile, today representatives from the Falcons, the NFL management council and the NFL Players Assn. are to meet in Philadelphia for a contract arbitration case. The Falcons want Vick to return up to $22 million in bonus money, arguing his guilty plea to a federal dogfighting charge violated his 10-year, $130-million contract.
In other news, Davon Boddie, the Vick cousin whose drug arrest led to the discovery of the dogfighting compound, pleaded guilty in Hampton to possessing marijuana with intent to sell. Boddie, 27, was given a five-year suspended sentence.