In a season that has been difficult to say the least, the St. Louis Rams got dealt another blow after week 15 when they were forced to place both kick returner Derek Stanley and linebacker Gary Sills on injured reserve. The Rams have had more than their fair share on injuries. Also on the injured reserve are wide receiver Drew Bennett, left tackle Brandon Gorin, kick returner Dante Hall, cornerback Tye Hill, cornerback Justin King, center Nick Leckey, running back Brian Leonard, cornerback Ricky Manning Jr., tight end Randy McMichael and left guard Mark Setterstrom. The Rams still have two games left, one against the San Francisco 49ers and another against the Atlanta Falcons. See them finish their season with St. Louis Rams tickets from http://www.stubhub.com/st-louis-rams-tickets where you can buy or sell tickets all year long.

Stanley suffered a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during week 15’s game against the Seattle Seahawks, which the Rams lost 23-20. He will need surgery on the knee and will be out for six to eight months after that. Stanley has been with the Rams since they selected him in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft. His first year, he played in three games. That season, he returned 20 kicks for 509 yards, and 17 of his returns were over 20 yards. So far this season, he has played in 10 games with 25 returns for 620 yards and 20 over 20 yards. He has also returned 11 punts this season for 101 yards as well as tallied two tackles. With Stanley out, Travis Minor will be the new go-to man on kick returns with Jonathan Wade moving up from third team to second team. Dane Looker will be the new first team player on punt returns.

Gary Stills has been playing much of this season with left knee bone chips and went on injured reserve in order to have surgery. He first entered the league in 1999 when he was picked in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. By his fourth year with the Chiefs, he was playing in every game. In 2003, he had 35 tackles, one pass defended, three sacks and three forced fumbles, a career-high for Stills. He signed with the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent in 2006 and spent two seasons there. This year is his first with the Rams and he has seen action in every game prior to his injury. The Rams won’t have to worry about replacing Stills as he was already behind Chris Draft, Will Witherspoon and David Vobora on the depth chart.

The Rams are hoping to improve on their 2-12 record with wins at the end of the season. They have been through a mid-season coaching change this year along with the multiple injuries. The team has not won a game this season since their 34-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys during week seven. Since then, they have lost five out of eight games by more than two touchdowns.

This article was written by Julie Cudney and is sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells tickets to sporting events, concerts and theater productions. Go to StubHub.com for St. Louis Rams tickets.

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