Rams fire longtime athletic trainer

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams fired longtime head athletic trainer Jim Anderson on Saturday, saying the move is not related to a rash of injuries during the team's 1-15 season.

The Rams had 13 players on injured reserve and a handful of others who could have been on the list.

"We just felt like we needed to make a change in our training staff," coach Steve Spagnuolo said in a telephone interview. "It's not a reflection on the number of injuries we had. We wish Jim all the best."

General manager Billy Devaney said the day after the season ended that the team would evaluate the cause of the injuries, but said the strength and conditioning coaches did a "great job." Devaney also noted there was no particular pattern to the injuries.

"When that stuff happens, that's the football gods looking ill down at you," Devaney said. "That's bad breaks or what have you, but there's been so many and not just this year, so we have to go back and do a detailed study and just find out, is there any correlation."

Anderson was with the Rams for 26 seasons, making the move with the franchise from the West Coast in 1995. He was among personnel Spagnuolo inherited by last year when he began his first head coaching job.

Spagnuolo said he would begin a search for a replacement.