By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

The Rams got a mixed bag of news when it comes to injuries Monday afternoon as they placed a pair of players on injured reserve, ending their season.

Running back Brian Leonard and cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. will have season ending surgery in the coming days.

Leonard re-injured the shoulder that caused him to wear a harness in the preseason on a special teams play early against Washington.

After weighing the options, coach Jim Haslett said the Rams decided to tell Leonard to go ahead and have surgery though he probably could have come back in a month or so with some rest and rehabilitation.

“His shoulder popped out, he tore some more ligaments and muscles in it, so we thought he could probably do rehab for a couple weeks and could play but it would probably happen again,” Haslett said. “I would rather do it now and get it over with and have him ready for the offseason next year, if we wait until the end of the season to get it done, it would hinder him from being ready for training camp next year. It is best for him, not the best thing for us, but the best thing for him to get it done.”

The loss of Manning comes as even more of a hit to a secondary already crushed by injury. Manning suffered a broken right foot in the first half when he came on a blitz and missed quarterback Jason Campbell. As Manning turned to get back to Campbell, he felt a pop and was helped off the field.

A disappointed Manning said Monday that he wishes he could have finished the season because he had finally began to feel comfortable in St. Louis. Before the injury, Manning had a tackle and sack and had proved to be a physical presence that had previously been lacking in the secondary.

“I’ve have never had an injury,” Manning said. “I’ve never been injured. It’s kind of a fluke thing where my ankle just rolled on me. It’s a slow process, three to four month healing. They will put a pin in it and let it heal correctly.”

Manning will have surgery on the foot Thursday morning and says he will stay around the area with his family.

On the offensive line, the Rams are facing some serious questions heading into this week on the left side.

Tackle Orlando Pace said Monday afternoon he had a slight quadriceps tear is questionable this week. Pace suffered the injury in the fourth quarter.

Pace said he felt better Monday morning than expected and is hopeful he’ll be OK to play this week. Guard Jacob Bell suffered a strained foot and is also day to day.

The best news of the day comes for receiver Dane Looker. Looker has been dealing with an abnormality revealed by his CAT scan that could potentially have been an aneurysm.

After some worries about his status, Haslett said Looker got word that he’s going to be able to return to practice Wednesday.

“He passed his physical, he will be back on the active roster starting Wednesday and I don’t know all the other answers for you,” Haslett said. “You can talk to him about that but he is back and he is ready to go and he is going to start this Wednesday.”

The rest of the injury report is as follows:

- Rookie receiver Keenan Burton (leg) will return to practice this week and is expected to play.
- Quarterback Marc Bulger has a swollen right index finger and is day to day but expected to play this week.
- Receiver Drew Bennett (foot) and cornerback Tye Hill (knee) are out for a couple more weeks.
- Running back Antonio Pittman (leg) is also out again this week but closer to a return.

Fakhir Brown took Manning’s spot on the roster and the Rams also signed defensive tackle Willie Williams to the practice squad.

The Rams are scanning practice squads around the league to fill the spot vacated by Leonard until Pittman can return. They will likely sign a back in the coming days.

HASLETT’S HIT: Early in the third quarter, Redskins punter Durant Brooks shanked a punt down the Rams’ sideline.

Washington cornerback Leigh Torrence raced down the sideline but was out of bounds. As he approached the spot on the sideline where Haslett was standing, Haslett backed away.

But he apparently didn’t back up far enough and Torrence ran right at him. After seeing other coaches suffer injuries from similar situations, Haslett did what he thought was necessary for self-preservation: he threw a forearm shiver.

“I backed out of the white and then I saw he was getting a little closer so I backed out of the white area and I could not get any further back, when we jammed him out of bounds,” Haslett said. “So he decided he was going to run the side lines and he is supposed to run the white, he can’t run behind the bench. So he was coming at me so I figured it was me or him. He was going to run me over or I was going to get him, so I got a good shot on him. I did not want to get run over. You see those coaches that get toppled; it was not going to be me.”