‘Hyped up’ Incognito commits 4 penalties
October 8th, 2007 | by Kevin Morris |
By
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Richie Incognito made a name for himself Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome. But
when you’re an offensive lineman, that’s usually not a good thing. Making his
regular-season debut after being sidelined since mid-August with a high ankle
sprain, Incognito was flagged four times for 50 yards against Arizona.
All four penalties came in the second half. Two were unnecessary roughness
infractions, drawing 15-yard penalties apiece. The first came on the extra
point after a touchdown catch by Torry Holt early in the third quarter. The
second came on the Rams’ next possession, after an interception thrown by
quarterback Gus Frerotte.
Incognito’s day also included two holding calls, drawing 10-yard penalties
apiece — one in the third quarter and one in the fourth.
“It was all on my shoulders,” Incognito said. “I shouldn’t have been in those
situations. Really, I let my emotions get the best of me. It was my first game
back. I was real hyped up. Playing the hometown team, and that was all my
fault. I killed us today.”
Incognito, who is from Glendale, Ariz., started at right guard. Last season, he
had a costly personal-foul penalty against Seattle that helped the Seahawks
rally late for a 24-22 victory.
No fan of Richie
Although he never mentioned him by name, Arizona defensive tackle Darnell
Dockett took some thinly veiled shots at Incognito, basically accusing him of
taking cheap shots at Arizona players.
“In my eyes, that’s low-class,” Dockett said. “That one individual that
everybody knows, he’s been able to play that way since college. The league is
going to have to do something about it, because one day he’s going to really
injure somebody’s career. The guy was trying to hurt some of our guys.”
Safety shortage
The injury bug hit the Rams’ safety position for the second week in a row
Sunday, with Jerome Carter and Todd Johnson unable to finish the contest. Last
week against Dallas, starting strong safety Corey Chavous suffered a pectoral
muscle injury that is expected to sideline him for two to three weeks.
Against Arizona, Carter and Johnson split Chavous’ duties, with Carter on the
field in the base defense and Johnson taking over in the nickel package. But
Carter’s day ended early with a fractured right foot midway through the second
quarter.
Johnson suffered a sprained neck on punt coverage with 1 minute 5 seconds
remaining in the third quarter. At that point, the Rams were short one safety.
They had free safety Oshimogho Atogwe still standing, but no one else.
Starting cornerback Ron Bartell finished out the game at safety, a position he
had played sparingly earlier in his NFL career
“Guys go down, you’ve got to be able to step up and go in,” Bartell said. “So
if I’ve got to play safety for us to get a win, I’ll play safety. They can move
me to offensive tackle if they have to.”
Dante Hall injured
Less than a minute after Johnson’s injury, wide receiver-return man Dante Hall
suffered a sprained ankle on his 36-yard punt return at the end of the third
quarter. He did not return.
Sunday’s inactives
Designated as pregame inactives for the Rams were Chavous, CB Tye Hill (back,
ribs), RB Steven Jackson (groin), LB Raonall Smith (knee), WR Isaac Bruce
(hamstring), WR Dane Looker (thigh), OT Jeremy Parquet and C Nick Leckey.
Leckey, a former Arizona Cardinal, was signed Saturday to the active roster,
with DT Louis Leonard released to free up a roster spot for Leckey.
