EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Amongst the St. Louis Rams' pregame inactives Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, running back Tre Mason was the only one that qualified as a genuine surprise.
Mason wasn't listed on the injury report all week and the Rams hadn't given any indication that he'd been demoted to the point that he wouldn't even be in uniform on gameday.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher said after the 16-13 loss to the Ravens that Mason had violated team rules, thus the decision to deactivate him. But Fisher did not elaborate with the details until Monday, including the fact that offensive tackle Isaiah Battle was not active for his first NFL game for the same reason that Mason was on the bench.