Bulger to miss more time due to injury

~ The Rams quarterback injured his shoulder for the second time this season.

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams won two straight games without Marc Bulger last month, and another shoulder injury to their quarterback will test them again.

Results of an MRI exam Monday revealed no tear or separation. The injury was described as a bruise after a 38-28 loss to the Cardinals, and interim coach Joe Vitt said Bulger was "sore, very, very sore."

Bulger also sustained a mild concussion and told stlouisrams.com, "It's going to be at least a couple of weeks. We'll see if it's longer."

Bulger needed three weeks to recuperate from his last injury, two games plus the team's bye. He got blindsided on a sack by blitzing safety Adrian Wilson in the third quarter on Sunday and needed his left hand to put on a hat after making to the sideline.

Backup quarterback Jamie Martin finished Sunday's game and likely will start this week at Houston with rookie Ryan Fitzpatrick moving to second string. The 36-year-old Martin led the team to a pair of victories over the Saints and Jaguars, the first two victories of his NFL career.

"You can't doubt Jamie after what he's done," center Andy McCollum said. "Absolutely, we feel comfortable with him out there. He does a heck of a job."

Martin enters a difficult situation. The loss to the Cardinals reduced the Rams (4-6) to longshot status for a wild card berth, putting them three games behind in that race with six to play, and they trail the Seahawks by four games in the NFC West.

The Rams had entered the bye week with momentum that was first stifled with a loss at Seattle. Vitt, the linebackers coach and assistant head coach, has a 2-3 record while filling in since Mike Martz stepped down for the season due to a heart ailment. Vitt said tough times can define a team.

"What I'm not going to do is take an air hose and stick it in their ear and start pumping them up," Vitt said. "Hey, none of us slept last night; we all feel terrible.

"I've said it before, I don't think anybody out there or here or anywhere is going to feel sorry about our sad story, it's up to us."

Vitt, who directed a pair of victories in his first two games, suddenly appears to be presiding over a team that's springing leaks everywhere.

Against the Cardinals the running game managed only 6 yards on 12 carries, all by Steven Jackson, for the second-worst total in franchise history. The team continued to commit penalties at inopportune times. Protection broke down again when Martin got clocked in the fourth quarter on a sack and forced fumble that helped Arizona put the game away.

"We're making the same mistakes over and over and over again, and really I have to say to myself that they're doing it, it's like I'm allowing it," Vitt said.

Vitt has addressed penalties by having referees at practice and then by charting the mistakes and showing them to players the next morning. He threatened to hold practice until 7 p.m., repeating a play whenever there's an error, if that's what it took to eliminate them.

He said keeping track of Wilson was a practice week priority, and then Wilson racked up three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

"We put him in the Pro Bowl yesterday," Vitt said.

Bulger isn't the only player who's hurting. Safety Adam Archuleta and offensive guard Blaine Saipaia both spent the night in a hospital with concussions. Their availability for this week's game is in doubt.

Archuleta was hurt in a collision when his helmet made contact with teammate DeJuan Groce's neck on the Cardinals' first offensive play. Groce returned in the third quarter and Archuleta played a few more series before retiring for the day.

"To his credit he tried to stay in there and battle, but boy he was really woozy on the sideline," Vitt said. "Same thing with Blaine."