Danny Amendola Injury Could Have Been Life-Threatening

Losing wide receiver Danny Amendola for any period of time is a big blow to the St. Louis Rams who really lack for pass catchers in the first place. When the young wideout laid out for a grab on Thursday night against the Arizona Cardinals, most reports after the game said that he suffered a broken collarbone. It turns out that the injury was much more severe than anyone could have imagined and it actually could have been life-threatening.

It was reported during the action on Sunday that Amendola’s injury was actually a separated SC joint. While the dislocation of a collarbone is not always a huge deal, what happened with Amendola was because the clavicle popped IN rather than out and could have endangered his trachea and aorta. Thankfully the Rams training staff took swift action to sedate Amendola and pop the collarbone back into place ensuring that it couldn’t displace again.

Most were concerned following the game that losing Amendola for any period of time would severely handicap the Rams’ offense as he is quarterback Sam Bradford’s favorite target. The disparity between him and the next closest receiver is gaping as Amendola’s 49 targets are more than double Brandon Gibson with 23 at the next highest total.

The QB weighed in on what this injury means to an offense which has already struggled at times this year saying: “Obviously, losing Danny is big. Everyone knows that he’s a big part of our offense. A lot of what we do runs through him.”

Certainly the Rams are frustrated that the injury will set their offense back a bit in terms of development this season. To put things in perspective however, the injury was potentially a life-threatening situation and obviously that is far more important than any football game. The team has to hope that the other receivers on the roster can help pick up the slack while Amendola is out and be happy that he could at least return to the field in a reasonable amount of time.

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