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St. Louis Rams lose CB E.J. Gaines for 2015 season

Photo Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Rams’ secondary took a significant blow on Saturday night after the team announced that second-year cornerback E.J. Gaines  will miss the 2015 season after undergoing surgery to repair a Lisfranc foot injury, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch beat writer Jim Thomas.

Gaines suffered the injury during the first weekend in training camp after his foot was stepped on by a teammate. He was originally expected to be sidelined for the first couple of games of the regular season.

Gaines is coming off an impressive rookie campaign where he recorded 70 tackles with two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and  had a team-best 15 pass deflections. He stepped into the starting left cornerback role after Trumaine Johnson suffered a knee injury in the team’s third preseason game  that forced him to miss the first seven regular season games.

Following Johnson’s return, Gaines retained the starter’s role due to his promising play that helped earn being selected to Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie team. Despite missing the season finale against the Seattle Seahawks due to a concussion, the 23-year-old was also the only rookie cornerback to start 15 games last season.

Prior to the injury, the 2014 sixth round pick was the early front-runner to retain his starting job next season. With Gaines out for the year, Johnson will likely take over the duties. The next two cornerbacks on the depth chart are Marcus Roberson and Brandon McGee.

McGee, who was selected by the Rams in the fifth round of 2013 draft, was limited to just two games last due to injury. Roberson signed with the Rams prior to the 2014 season as an undrafted rookie.

Johnson had a solid performance in the team’s first preseason game against the Oakland Raiders on Friday night recording two tackles with two pass deflections and one interception. This included two touchdown preventing plays with first being a pass deflection down the sideline while covering Crabtree that forced the Raiders to settle for a field goal.

The latter was an interception in the end zone on a Derek Carr to Cooper on a slant route. It was an outstanding play by Johnson being able to go full extension while leaping forward to make the grab.

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