By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer stlouisrams.com

Chris Draft has made a living out of being the right guy in the right place. Although he doesn’t always like the circumstances which lead to him playing, Draft is always ready at a moment’s notice when his number gets called.

“Unfortunately somebody has to go down for me to be out there, but again that’s how this game is,” Draft said. “You go out there and you are running around and running into 340 pound men, things can get hurt.”

When Draft signed with the Rams in the offseason, he did so with the understanding that he would be the primary backup. That’s not necessarily a promotion after he led Carolina in tackles in 2006. But Draft understood his new role and embraced it warmly.

“That’s the No. 1 reason why he’s here,” coach Scott Linehan said. “On top of his ability on special teams, it’s to fill in as a starter because he’s been a starter for a great deal of his career. It’s a luxury we’re needing to use pretty early in the year.”

In the season opener against his former teammates, Draft worked on special teams before weak side linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa suffered an ankle sprain late in the game. Draft entered the game for Tinoisamoa, who tried to play through the injury.

This week, though, it appears that Tinoisamoa might not be able to answer the bell against San Francisco. Tinoisamoa has missed both practices this week as he continues to recover from the ankle injury and his status for the game is uncertain.

With that in mind, the Rams and Draft are preparing as though Tinoisamoa won’t be able to play. Draft has spent the majority of his time in the NFL as a middle linebacker, but he also has experience playing on the weak side and can play the strong side.

That versatility was a big part of the reason the Rams wanted to bring him to St. Louis in the first place. The Rams are working Draft at both the weak side and the middle with Will Witherspoon moving to the weak side. They will continue to work both of those scenarios though Linehan said it’s more likely that Draft will stay outside with Witherspoon in the middle.

“We’ve worked both scenarios where he’s played ‘mike’ and ‘will’, but right now that’s what we’re going to do,” Linehan said.

Draft doesn’t care much either way, he says because he always prepares himself as though he is going to start that week’s game.

And his track record of performing as a substitute speaks for itself.

“That is the mind frame,” Draft said. “One of the most important things I have to do is get all of the mental reps. Basically when somebody else is taking the reps you have to make sure that you get as much out of them as possible. You can’t afford to have to make that mistake when I get those reps because there’s no telling when I am going to be able to get those reps. You have to be able to get it quick, learn from other people’s mistakes and be ready to go.”

LINE DANCING: Wednesday afternoon, Linehan said the Rams would try a few different combinations on the offensive line in the next couple of days before settling on an official line.

But during Thursday’s installation period, things stayed status quo with Alex Barron at left tackle, Milford Brown at right tackle and Claude Terrell at right guard.

There were, though, some other combinations working in during Thursday’s practice. Adam Goldberg, who worked some at right tackle Wednesday, worked at right guard during Thursday’s workout with Brown at right tackle.

By now, it’s clear that Barron will be the left tackle, but the right side is still undecided. Linehan said the Rams will have a decision on those two spots Friday.

“We’re settled in with the idea that Alex will be able to play the left side,” Linehan said. “There are still scenarios if we have something come up. We still have to work some guys over there. We’re still toying around with what we’re going to do with the right side of the line.”

SELL OUT: For the second week in a row a local business and Rams ownership has teamed up to ensure a sell out.

After Edward Jones chipped in last week to make sure the Carolina game would be on television, Express Scripts stepped up this week by purchasing 1,000 tickets. There are still tickets available as that didn’t clear up the allotment, but Rams ownership promised once again to buy up any remaining tickets to ensure the sell out and beat the deadline set by the NFL.

“What this means is that we will allow the public to purchase tickets to see the game in person up until kickoff and at that point, any remaining tickets will be bought by Rams’ ownership to lift the television blackout,” Michael Naughton, vice president of ticketing and finance, said.

Express Scripts plans to distribute the tickets bought to employees. To purchase tickets, fans can do it here, any TicketMaster outlet or by calling 314-421-4400.

INJURY REPORT: Receiver Drew Bennett (quad) and defensive end Victor Adeyanju (knee) continue to recover well from injury. Bennett was limited some in Thursday’s practice as he experienced some tightness, but he expects to play against the 49ers.

Guard Richie Incognito (ankle) joined Tinoisamoa on the sidelines for Thursday’s practice and is almost certainly not going to play against San Francisco.