St. Louis Rams E.J. Gaines upends Arizona Cardinals Jaron Brown in the first quarter at the Edward Jones in St. Louis on December 11, 2014. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Cornerback E.J. Gaines was stepped on early into Sunday evening’s practice and hurt his knee, forcing him to miss the rest of practice. It has already been a slow start to his second season in the NFL for the former Missouri Tigers and Independence, Mo. native.
Gaines missed OTA’s in June with a back injury that happened at the end of last season. Gaines made 15 starts in place of last season’s projected starter Trumaine Johnson. Gaines and Johnson were set for a big position battle this summer, but now the health of Gaines could be a major question.
Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said things looked positive that this would not be a long term injury for Gaines.
“Going to have to do some tests. He got stepped on, which is encouraging as opposed to other things. We’ll find out. Right now, they’re not too concerned. He’s very sore, but that typically can happen when you get stepped on.”
Gaines finished with 105 tackles, two interceptions and a team-high 14 pass breakups. Considered a steal as a sixth round draft pick, Gaines can’t afford to lose anymore time with Johnson coming into camp healthy. At 6-2, 208, Johnson has 20 starts in three seasons with the Rams and has used his size to make big plays. He has eight career interceptions and could cut into Gaines’ playing time this season.
