The Rams have placed 26-year old WR Donnie Avery on the Injured Reserve List after tearing his ACL against the Patriots on Thursday Night.  Avery will be missed as he was the Rams’ leading receiver in 2009.  Avery has played in 31 games in his two seasons with the Rams and he has caught 100 passes for 1,263 (12.6 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  He also has carried the ball 14 times for 99 yards (7.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  The Rams couldn’t afford this type of injury as Avery is the best receiver on the team.  It will be interesting to see who steps up.

The Rams have released safety David Roach.  Roach played in 15 games as a rookie for the Rams last season and he had 15 tackles.  The Rams have signed 23-year old safety Brett Johnson to replace him.  Johnson has no game experience during the regular season but he was with the Eagles last year.  This shouldn’t be much of a loss for the Rams as Roach was little more than a special teams player.

37-year old WR Isaac Bruce was acquired earlier this week from the 49ers for a conditional 7th round pick which the Rams won’t have to give up because he decided to retire as a Ram.  Bruce played in 197 games (180 starts) in his 14 years with the Rams and he caught 942 passes for 14,109 yards (15.0 avg) with 80 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 23 times for 150 yards (6.5 ypc) in his time with the Rams.  Bruce retires as the Rams’ all time leader in receptions (942), receiving yards (14,109) and TD receptions (80).  Isaac Bruce was one of the very best players in Rams’ history.

The Rams have signed 32-year old DT Chris Hovan.  Hovan played in all 16 games for the Bucs last season and he had 33 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and a 1/2 a sack.  Hovan has now played in 156 games in his NFL career and he has made 408 tackles, he defensed 15 passes, he has 22 sacks and he has forced 2 fumbles.  This was a good signing for the Rams as Hovan might still have something left to offer.

UPDATE:  (8/7/2010) - The Rams have placed Chris Hovan on the Injured Reserve List because of a back injury. 

The Rams have acquired 26-year old OLB Bobby Carpenter from the Cowboys for 27-year old OT Earl Barron.  Carpenter played in 16 games for the Cowboys last season and he had 46 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, he had 2 sacks and he defensed 1 pass.  He played 4 years with the Cowboys in which he played in 58 games finishing up with 96 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 3.5 sacks.  Carpenter will likely start at one of the OLB spots for the Rams in 2010.  Alex Barron started all 16 games for the Rams last season and he has played in 76 games (74 starts) in his five years with the team.  Carpenter will probably be a pretty good upgrade at OLB for the Rams and for that reason I like this trade for them.