Rams' Fisher sticking by Foles despite another listless performance
Despite another subpar effort by Nick Foles in Sunday's loss to Chicago, St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher said he has no plans to change quarterbacks.
Foles barely ended a streak of seven consecutive games with fewer than 200 passing yards, reaching 200 on 17-of-36 passing with zero touchdowns and an interception before he was pulled in favor of Case Keenum. Still, Fisher said there's no thought of making a permanent switch.
"He was prepared, he had a great practice this week," Fisher told reporters of Foles. "I'll look at it, but at this point, no."
Foles, who was acquired in a trade with the Eagles for Sam Bradford in the offseason, has thrown only seven touchdown passes this season — three of which came in one game. St. Louis entered Sunday's loss averaging a league-worst 177.1 passing yards per game.
The Rams scored on their opening drive of the game for only the second time this season, easily moving 80 yards in seven plays. An offensive holding penalty on Greg Robinson midway through the first quarter wiped out a 17-yard touchdown on an end-around by Tavon Austin, and the offense did next-to-nothing the rest of the way.
Looking at Nick Foles' season stats. #Rams are 4-0 when QB rating is over 80. Now 0-5 when it is under. #STLRams pic.twitter.com/SbEMCzE7Uj
— Nate Latsch (@NateLatsch) November 16, 2015
“We’re not winning, so I have to keep working to get better, working to make sure offensively we get rolling,” Foles told reporters. “We as an offense just have to continue to keep improving.”
Rookie Todd Gurley, who rushed for a touchdown for the fourth consecutive game, was limited to 45 yards on 12 carries — his lowest totals since he rushed for 9 yards on six attempts in his NFL debut.
Fisher was so desperate for an offensive spark that, with his team trailing 27-13 with just over 10 minutes left in the game, he called for an unsuccessful fake punt with the Rams at their own 23-yard line. The Bears turned that into a Robbie Gould field goal and a 17-point edge with 8:05 to play.
"That's on me, I'm trying to win the game," Fisher said of the gamble. "Sometimes they work, sometimes they dont, but that's our personality."
