ST. LOUIS, Nov. 22 -- Two days after being released by the New England Patriots, veteran cornerback Maurice Hurst was claimed off waivers by the St. Louis Rams. Hurst was victimized by two 40-yard passes from Jim Harbaugh to Sean Dawkins, which led to two touchdowns in Sunday's 24-10 loss to Indianapolis.
Hurst was waived the next day. The loss severely damaged the playoff hopes of the Patriots, who slipped to 4-7. The 28-year-old Hurst was a fixture at right cornerback for the Patriots for the last seven years. He had either led or shared the team lead in interceptions in each of his first six seasons. Hurst had just one interception this year. Doug Senseri, Hurst's agent, said Monday that the Patriots should not have been allowed to release his client. He plans to file a grievance with the NFL Players Association, claiming Hurst has been playing with a bulging disk in his neck since the start of the season at the team's request. 'The injury definitely hurt his play,' Senseri said. 'His disk has nerve root impingement. It is a very serious injury.' A Patriots spokesman declined comment on the matter. Hurst was in the second year of a three-year contract worth $5.1 million. Thus far, he has received approximately $3.3 million of the total value of the contract. 'We will file a grievance sometime this week,' Senseri added. 'I normally don't comment publicly, but any dropoff in his performance was because he was seriously injured. He just did what the team asked him to.' Hurst has 27 career interceptions, including seven in 1994.
