Chris Long will have surgery on Thursday morning

St. Louis Rams star defensive end Chris Long hit the short-term injured reserve today after it was reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that he would miss eight to ten weeks with an ankle injury after going down in the fourth quarter of the team’s embarrassing loss to the Minnesota Vikings. It’s a tough blow for the Rams, though it isn’t quite as tough as the quarterback issues they are already going through as a result of Sam Bradford’s season-ending injury and Shaun Hill’s subsequent thigh injury, which could knock him out of the Week 2 contest. The Rams have arguably the deepest defensive ends in the league, so William Hayes and Eugene Sims should do just fine as replacements, and the added reps for them could give the Rams two very strong “next men up”, though we are already fairly certain that they are capable replacements.

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The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Long will have surgery at the end of this week and might only miss the eight weeks outlined by the short-term IR, as going under the knife sooner will help speed things up. We now have more details, as ESPN NFL Nation’s Nick Wagoner reports that Long will have surgery on Thursday morning with the renowned Dr. Robert Anderson performing the procedure.

Hopefully Long has a full recovery, and I don’t expect this to be a lingering issue for him long-term. The Rams defensive line is still one of the best in the league, even without a very consistent source of pressure.