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Recuperating Ram St. Louis' Faulk has surgery to remove loose cartilage
Updated: Tuesday November 07, 2000 3:07 AM
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Already minus Kurt Warner, the St. Louis Rams now will be without Marshall Faulk for at least two more games. Faulk, who leads the NFL with 1,326 yards rushing and receiving, will be sidelined 2-4 weeks after having arthroscopic surgery early Monday to remove cartilage from his sore right knee. Faulk did not play Sunday night in a 27-24 loss to Carolina. The Super Bowl champion Rams lead the NFC West with a 7-2 record, one game ahead of New Orleans. "I'm sure he will be back as soon as he possibly can," head coach Mike Martz said. Doctors didn't find any other problems in the knee. An MRI last week also showed scar tissue from an old injury and a bruise. "When they looked around, everything else looked good," Martz said. Justin Watson will start again in place of Faulk for Sunday's game at New York against the Giants. Watson is a second-year player and, like Faulk, is from San Diego State. "It's tough," Watson said. "Marshall was working on probably being the MVP of this league. Now I have to come in and try to pick up the slack." Faulk ruled himself out about 1 1/2 hours before the game against Carolina after his knee locked up during warmups. Earlier in the day, he had fluid drained from the knee. "He came in and said, `I can't do this,'" Martz said. "For Marshall to say that, you've got to listen to him. If anybody can go, Marshall can go." The Rams had Faulk dress anyway and didn't announce that Watson, an undrafted free agent, would start until just before kickoff. Watson scored on a 3-yard run, but had only 12 yards on 12 carries. "We didn't want Carolina to know," tight end Ernie Conwell said. "You don't want to show your hand. You get your poker face on."
Martz had trouble in that department. Faulk is a huge part of the offense, averaging 166 yards per game. "It shook me up, I've got to admit it," Martz said. "It shook me up pretty good." Warner, last year's MVP, will be out another 2-3 weeks with a broken little finger on his throwing hand. The Rams will get kicker Jeff Wilkins back this week. He was sidelined three games with a quadriceps injury and his replacement, Pete Stoyanovich, missed badly from 37 and 50 yards in the second quarter on Sunday. Stoyanovich was released Monday and Martz said the team would sign Jeff Hall, who was with the team in training camp, on Tuesday. Hall will handle kickoff duties and longer field goal attempts while Wilkins, who is perfect in 12 attempts, continues to heal. "He's been stroking the ball in our indoor facility pretty good," Martz said. "He's been kicking from about the 40 and he didn't feel any twinge or anything, so that's good news." Fullback Robert Holcombe, who began his NFL career as a tailback, also returns after missing Sunday's game with a hamstring injury. Martz said Holcombe could see some action at tailback. First-round pick Trung Canidate also is available. Canidate dressed Sunday after missing six games with a sprained foot, but did not play. Martz said he decided not to use Canidate after watching him hobble in warmups. "You wonder if he can do the things you want him to do," Martz said. "But I think when you get into the game, you forget about it. He needs to play, he just needs to play." Offensive guard Adam Timmerman broke the tip of his thumb, but is not expected to miss any time. The injuries are mounting as the Rams enter a difficult stretch of their schedule, with six of their last seven games against teams with winning records. The lone exception is a Dec. 3 rematch at Carolina (4-5).
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