St. Louis Rams visit hospitalized Stedman Bailey in Miami

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Following the Rams' win over Tampa Bay on Thursday, Dec. 17, about eight or nine players traveled the next day to Miami to visit teammate Stedman Bailey, who is in a physical therapy hospital recovering from two gunshots to the head after a Nov. 24 incident. Wide receiver Tavon Austin, a teammate of Bailey at West Virginia, organized the trip.

Said Austin, "It was hard to see him like that, but he was definitely positive about the situation. There were a couple smiles on his face - that was the best thing about it. I'm glad he could function. I was just anxious to see him. And to see all of us walking in as one, showing that we're there for him. It was a good feeling."

"It was just kind of surreal," said defensive tackle Michael Brockers. "Just seeing him, how good he was, how positive he was."

Said safety Rodney McLeod, "I know he was probably shocked to see us. It was just the coolest thing. It was a blessing, just getting a chance to see him. It was good to lift up his spirits."

--Linebacker Alec Ogletree did some running on the side during practice Wednesday, but he remains on reserve/injured, designated for return.

The Rams hope Ogletree can play a few snaps in the season finale against San Francisco.

Said head coach Jeff Fisher, "He's working inside. He'll be out over the next couple of days. We'll see how he moves and then we'll kind of push him as best we can, but we're not going to put him in a position where if he's not ready, we're not going to play him. But, I want him to have the opportunity to potentially get a few snaps against San Francisco. We'll know early in the week next week."

Fisher added, "I'm hoping. We were hopeful when the injury took place at Arizona that he would be back. Realistically, from a medical standpoint, the doctors said, 'probably not', but we want to give him that chance. I want to let him try to ... you set a goal out there for him and so we'll see. We'll know probably in the middle of next whether he can go or not."

--Things have settled down on the offensive line over the last two games, and that helped the performance of the offense in wins over Detroit and Tampa Bay. Line coach Paul Boudreau has had to shuffle numerous spots on the line this season.

Of course, those games were at home, and now the young line will be dealing with the crowd noise in Seattle this week.

Still, offensive coordinator Rob Boras said the line being together and having some continuity has helped.

"Without a doubt," Boras said. "Coach Bou has been doing this for 29 years. This probably might be the most frustrating just because of all the change that's happened and that's hard. And it's going to be a bigger challenge this week, obviously with the noise being on the road. But, anytime you can have that continuity, it's that unspoken word that those guys know what's going to happen before it happens. That's what you build with reps and with time."

Notes: Defensive end Robert Quinn, who is on injured reserve because of a back injury, has had surgery and Fisher said he had "immediate relief, which was great, which we expected." Quinn should be OK early in the offseason. ... Safety T.J. McDonald, who is on injured reserve because of a shoulder injury, underwent surgery and is expected to be OK for the team's offseason program. Said Fisher, "T.J.'s shoulder was not in good shape to say the least, but he's got a new shoulder. From a timing standpoint, we needed to do it, just so we could get him in the offseason program. He'll be good to go."