The St. Louis Rams activated injured wide receiver Mark Clayton—Sam Bradford’s security blanket before a devastating knee injury last year—prior to last week’s game, but he made his first reception of the season Sunday vs. the Seattle Seahawks, catching a ball just in front of the line of scrimmage out of the slot and taking it just shy of the first down marker in his first target of the game.
Clayton’s return comes just in time, with Greg Salas the Rams’ second slot receiver of the 2011 season to go down for the year after Danny Amendola’s season-ending injury in Week 1. If he comes out of the slot all year he’s likely to emerge as a useful second banana to Brandon Lloyd, catching five to seven balls a game over the middle when Lloyd, Austin Pettis, and Brandon Gibson aren’t available downfield. With the Rams’ tight end game not emerging as promised, the slot man is more important than ever in Josh McDaniels’s triaged offense.