NFL Preseason: Mike Sims-Walker Has Made Better First Impressions

Obviously it’s too early to draw any reasonable conclusions about Mike Sims-Walker, the St. Louis Rams‘ newest wide receiver, but after two preseason appearances—well, people have made better first impressions. In pretend-week one Sims-Walker left the game early after suffering a groin injury; week two he’s active, but he might as well not be.

In his first target of the night Bradford threw a bullet between two defenders only for Sims-Walker to bobble the ball into the air and facilitate an interception. Bradford went to him again on third-and-12, showing the daring you might expect after a move from Pat Shurmur to Josh McDaniels, but MSW had fallen down in mid-route, and the pass was incomplete.

This is, I think, fair to say: If you’re signed by a team filled with talented but inconsistent young receivers to be the steadying veteran influence, these kinds of mistakes don’t do great things for your playing time. With Brandon Gibson catching an 83-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game and Donnie Avery set to play later Saturday, Mike Sims-Walker’s playing time is definitely in question.