Gunshot victim Bailey provides inspiration to Rams teammates

While the emotion of a potential final home game in St. Louis was also on their minds, the Rams had additional motivation Thursday night against Tampa Bay.

It came in a pregame chat with injured teammate Stedman Bailey, who FaceTimed the entire squad from his Miami-area hospital thanks to a large projection screen set up for Rams players and coaches to see.

The Rams’ receiver is recovering from two gunshot wounds to the head in a Nov. 24 drive-by shooting near Miami. Many teammates mentioned Bailey in their postgame comments following a 31-23 victory over the Bucs.

Rams defensive end William Hayes risked a potential NFL fine by writing Bailey’s number 12 on the front of his helmet.

“We actually face-timed him before the game, the whole team,” Hayes said. “It was awesome, seeing him jog (recently) and just progressing and getting better every day ... it was amazing.”

“My boys came to play!!” Bailey tweeted from his hospital during the game on Thursday, singling out Kenny Britt and Tavon Austin. “I love y’all boys, man keep it up. I’m (in) my hospital bed on 100! Let’s go Rams.”

Asked about the video chat with Bailey a day later, Rams coach Jeff Fisher spoke about the powerful message it sent to the team.

“He was great,” Fisher said. “I haven’t had a chance to see the TV tape, but my understanding is they did use it on the network. We had it set up and really, it was special. Guys didn’t anticipate it and he wished them well. As a matter of fact, (we) gave him a chance to talk and said, ‘Do you have anything to say to your teammates?’and he said, ‘Yeah, go kick their (butt).’ So, (it) must mean he’s getting better.”

Hayes seemed far more worried about Bailey’s potential recovery than any amount of money he might surrender to the league for writing his teammate’s number on his helmet “just to let Sted know I was thinking about him.”

“That was probably one of the guys I joked with the most, between him, Tavon and a couple other guys,” Hayes said. “When I first heard about it, it hurt. That’s my brother, so I just wanted him to know I’m thinking about him and I love him and I’m happy for him. I’m happy to see him progressing every day.”

How about that potential fine?

“I’m not concerned about it,” Hayes said. “If the league wants to fine me for putting No. 12 on my helmet I’m OK with it. I just want them to know the purpose is just to let my guy know I’m thinking about him and the love I’ve got for him.

“It wasn’t to try to go against the grain, it was to let people know to keep him in your prayers. He’s still got an uphill battle to try to get back in this game and play again, but the dude’s progressing every day. “

Austin played with Bailey at the University of West Virginia. After scoring his second TD of the night, Austin held up a No. 1 and No. 2 with his fingers, signifying Bailey’s No. 12. Austin also has been wearing Bailey’s No. 12 jersey in practice.

“I represent for ’12’ every day. ,” Austin said. “It ain’t never going nowhere, until the day I step off this field. He’s going to be with me. And that’s how I’m always going to feel about it.”

Austin said he and some teammates are visiting Bailey this weekend.

“We’ll show him some love and then hopefully he can come back up here,” Austin said.

Offense shows signs of life

The major change in two games under new Rams offensive coordinator Rob Boras, both wins, has been getting the ball to playmakers Todd Gurley and Austin on a regular basis.

Of the Rams’ 50 plays Thursday, Gurley or Austin had the ball in their hands on 30 of them. Gurley ran 21 times for 48 yards and scored a touchdown, while Austin scored two TDs. Austin had four carries for 32 yards and also caught three passes for 41 yards.

In the win over Detroit, Gurley and Austin combined for 24 touches on the Rams’ 51 plays, with Gurley running for 140 yards and two TDs on 16 carries.

Boras was the Rams’ tight ends coach this season and tight ends Jared Cook and Lance Kendricks were targeted nine times by quarterback Case Keenum, catching a combined seven passes for 91 yards.

Gurley went over the 1,000 yard mark and his 1,023 yards is the third-highest in the NFL this season behind Doug Martin (1,305) and Adrian Peterson (1,251).

“He got a late start as we all know,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said of Gurley. “Everybody knows we’re going to run it and he still got 1,000. That speaks volumes for him. He pass protects, he gets out and catches the football and keeps drives alive as well.

“As we said way back in April, we’re drafting Todd to be our future. I didn’t anticipate he was going to play as early as he did, but knew once he got going he’d be productive. We got two weeks left.”

Gurley is the first 1,000-yard rusher for the Rams since Steven Jackson had 1,045 yards in 2012.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Gunshot victim Bailey provides inspiration to Rams teammates."