It was in the Nation’s Capital last year where Donnie Avery made a diving catch coming back on a ball that he caught deep in Washington’s territory that helped give the Rams their first win of the season. The Rams return to Washington looking again for their first win of the season at Fed Ex Field on Sunday.
The knock on Avery is that he is all speed and no hands, but midway through the season last year, he started to show why he is worthy of being considered the team’s number one receiver.
After the Redskins game, he followed that up in Dallas with his first pro touchdown…a 42 yarder. Then against New England he pulled in six passes for 163 yards. He was named the NFC Offensive Rookie of the Month. Yet, head coach Steve Spagnuolo is not ready to give Avery the "number one receiver" tag.
"Well, I am not going to go with the No. 1 thing. We’ve got a flock of receivers there and I have always stood by that. We try to spread it around. But getting back to Donnie, I am going to tell you what, he is one of the hardest working guys I’ve got, one of the hardest working guys. He is always doing that, whether it is special teams, whether it is running a route, whether it is doing extra conditioning when he was hurt. I saw him in the training room continually. I have got a lot of respect for him – I think he is exactly what you need on the team."
It’s still unclear whether or not Bulger will have a new receiver to throw to. Earlier this week, the Rams signed former Packer receiver Ruvell Martin who was one of Green Bay’s last cuts. Spagnuolo had nothing but good things to say about Martin, but he wouldn’t commit to him playing this Sunday.
"I tell you what, for a guy that just got in here in the last, whatever it has been, 36, 24 hours, he has stepped right in there and getting in and out of the huddle and getting lined up learning a new offense. Now I think there was a route there too that he needed a little bit of correction on and I know he dropped the ball. All things considered, he has kind of jumped in there pretty good I think. One of the things that impressed us when we worked him out was his hands. When you do that kind of workout where there is not much more than running, and agilities, and ball catching, he was pretty impressive there. If he is like what we saw, I think that is pretty good. I am not sure yet."
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