St. Louis Rams’ left tackle Jake Long suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee, an injury that will keep him out of the season finale against Seattle and require surgery.
Long suffered the injury on the Rams’ third offensive play against the Buccaneers. The play seemed fairly innocuous as Long dropped into a pass set before his right knee buckled and he fell to the ground. Head coach Jeff Fisher described the injury as “non contact,” noting that Long lost his balance.
Given the normal time required to recover from a torn ACL, the potential for Long’s return in time for the start of the 2014 season, but adding another four-to-six week waiting time for the MCL injury to heal and scar over could extend that.
Long signed a four-year, $34 million deal with the Rams as a free agent in March and moved to left tackle and started all 15 games for the team this season.