Rams hit by swine flu, cancel practice

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The NFL's St. Louis Rams canceled practice Thursday after an undisclosed number of swine flu cases were confirmed among several players.

Quarterback Kyle Boller and center Jason Brown missed practice Wednesday due to illness, but Coach Steve Spagnuolo did not say their absences were related to the disease.

"You know we sent them home," Spagnuolo told reporters. "We had a few more of those this morning. They went over to the doctor and we got some of those guys out of here. After that, I was advised by the doctors that it might be best to get everybody away from each other. It's really more of a precaution more than anything else. They all visited with the trainers. We're checking everybody."

He added that flu shots were made available to all players, but was not sure how many of them took advantage.