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Mark Clayton News & Rumors

Rams decide today on Clayton
November 9
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
"It's decision day for the Rams and wide receiver Mark Clayton, and with the team's numbers dwindling at that position, the timing couldn't be better for Clayton's return. With Greg Salas out for the season with a broken leg, the Rams are down to Brandon Lloyd and Austin Pettis as their only healthy options at wide receiver. Where's everybody else? Danario Alexander has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, and there's no guarantee he'll be back this week. "We can't really rush anything," Alexander said. "We're just going to take it day-by-day. I tried to run last Wednesday on it, and I thought I did pretty well until the end. It kind of bit me a little bit. So I don't want"
Mark Clayton may not play until October
September 2
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
"The newest member of the St. Louis Rams, wide receiver Mark Clayton, didn't make the trip with the team to Jacksonville, and he may not play until October. Clayton, coming off 2010 knee surgery, was placed on the physically unable to perform/active list after signing. For the time being, that means Clayton counts against the 80-man roster. The Rams are expected to place Clayton on the PUP/reserve list by Saturday, when teams have to cut to the regular-season roster limit of 53 players. As a PUP/reserve player, Clayton won't count against the 53-man roster, but won't be eligible to play for a minimum of six weeks. But Clayton wanted to sign, St. Louis is a good fit for him, and the Rams"
Clayton returns to Rams
September 1
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
"The Rams' logjam at wide receiver became even more congested Wednesday when the team re-signed veteran Mark Clayton, a 5-foot-10, 190-pounder who starred at the University of Oklahoma. Clayton, 29, joined the Rams last year in a trade with Baltimore just days before the regular-season opener. He caught 10 passes in his first game with the team and was leading the Rams in receptions (23 for 306 yards and two touchdowns) when he suffered a torn patellar tendon against Detroit on Oct. 10 in the fifth game. He underwent surgery on the knee, was done for the season and became a free agent in the offseason. The Rams had expressed interest all along in re-signing Clayton, but not until they were"
Mark Clayton returns to Rams
September 1
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
"The Rams' logjam at wide receiver became even more congested Wednesday when the team re-signed veteran Mark Clayton, a 5-foot-10, 190-pounder who starred at the University of Oklahoma. Clayton, 29, joined the Rams last year in a trade with Baltimore just days before the regular-season opener. He caught 10 passes in his first game with the team and was leading the Rams in receptions (23 for 306 yards and two touchdowns) when he suffered a torn patellar tendon against Detroit on Oct. 10 in the fifth game. He underwent surgery on the knee, was done for the season and became a free agent in the offseason. The Rams had expressed interest all along in re-signing Clayton, but not until they were"
Have the Rams improved the WR position this season?
August 25
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 columnist Roger Hensley
"QUESTION: Through training camp and two preseason games so far, have you seen much improvement in the Rams WR corps over last season? JIM THOMAS Well, if you could tell me that the group was healthy – and could stay healthy – it would be an emphatic yes. But who knows if Donnie Avery and Danario Alexander can stay healthy for 16 games – or close to it. Same goes for Mardy Gilyard. Mike-Sims Walker will help, but he's had only a couple weeks of practice time and still needs to get in sync with Sam Bradford. The rookies, Austin Pettis and Greg Salas, haven't shown a whole lot. Salas was out with a hamstring injury for a while, but made a couple of nice catches on the fourth-quarter field"
Giants sign former first-rounder Michael Clayton to add depth, enhance depleted receiving corps
November 24
New York Daily News
 
"The Giants' desperate search for a healthy receiver took them to the United Football League, where they found former first-round draft pick Michael Clayton. Clayton, the 15th pick of the 2004 draft, signed a deal with the Giants Tuesday and he immediately became the most accomplished healthy receiver on their roster. Still, it's been all downhill for the 28-year-old since his stellar rookie season (80 catches, 1,193 yards, seven touchdowns) with Tampa Bay, and he's been out of the NFL since the Bucs cut him in September. Clayton signed with the UFL's Omaha Nighthawks on Oct. 25. Since he didn't spend four full weeks on their active roster, the Giants are able to sign him without paying the"
Rams' WR Clayton is out for the season
October 11
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
"Mark Clayton's breakout season had a breakdown ending. The Rams' leading receiver suffered a season-ending knee injury on the team's fifth offensive play of Sunday's 44-6 loss to Detroit. When asked if the injury was season-ending, Clayton replied: "Yeah. I'm going to have to get surgery to get everything taken care of." Clayton entered the game among the NFC leaders in receptions (22) and reception yards (300), and among the league leaders in catches of 25 yards or more (five). He caught a 6-yard pass from Sam Bradford on the Rams' first offensive play of the day — a series that resulted in a three-and-out. On the second play of the Rams' second series, Clayton streaked down the left"
Rams trade for WR Mark Clayton
September 7
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 
"The St. Louis Rams have added a veteran presence to their young and still inexperienced wide receiver corps. The Post-Dispatch has confirmed that the Rams have traded for Mark Clayton, the veteran wideout of the Baltimore Ravens. Clayton, 5-10, 190 pounds, was a No. 22 overall pick by Baltimore in 2005. He caught a career-best 67 passes for 939 yards in 2006, scoring five touchdowns. But his production dipped to 48 receptions in '07, 41 in '08, and 34 in '09."
Ravens trade WR Mark Clayton to Rams
September 6
Baltimore Sun
 
"The Ravens traded wide receiver Mark Clayton to the St. Louis Rams for a late-round pick. The move comes hours after the Ravens signed free-agent receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Clayton was a 2005 first-round pick by the Ravens but he struggled with his consistency. His catches have dropped the past three seasons. His 34 catches last season were a career low. Still, Clayton had one of his best training camps with the Ravens. He outplayed Donte' Stallworth and worked as the No. 3 wide receiver in the preseason."
Bit of redemption for Ravens' Clayton
January 11
Boston Globe
 
"When Mark Clayton made a 17-yard catch for a first down at the Patriots 16 in the fourth quarter of yesterday's 33-14 wild-card triumph, the Ravens wide receiver said his thoughts were not on redemption. Clayton, after all, was responsible for dropping a fourth-down pass from Joe Flacco at the Patriots 14 with 32 seconds left that enabled New England to preserve a 27-21 win over the Ravens Oct. 4 at Gillette Stadium. So when he made his one and only catch yesterday ("In the same spot, too,'' said offensive coordinator Cam Cameron), what was the first thought that crossed Clayton's mind?"
Clean slate for Mark Clayton
January 8
Boston Herald
 
"It was one of those haunting mistakes that dooms a team's chances of winning the big game, the kind of mistake that results in an endless loop of television replays and hours of postgame analysis on sports radio. "But you get over it," Mark Clayton was saying yesterday, sitting at his locker at the Baltimore Ravens' practice facility. "If you're a veteran player, that's what you do. You move on. You forget about it." If you're a Ravens fan or a Patriots fan, you know exactly what Mark Clayton, now in his fifth NFL season, had to get over. It was Oct. 4, the Ravens playing the Pats at Gillette Stadium, trailing 27-21 late in the game but closing in on the end zone. With 32 seconds left to"
Reed, Suggs and Clayton to be game-time decisions
December 11
Baltimore Sun
 
"The Ravens won't know until Sunday whether they will be playing with three starters in free safety Ed Reed, linebacker Terrell Suggs and wide receiver Mark Clayton against the Detroit Lions. Coach John Harbaugh seemed to imply that all three will be game-time decisions, saying, "They’ll be in that probable/questionable mix." Reed and Clayton did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday due to a strained hip and tweaked right hamstring, respectively. Suggs has been limited both days due to a sprained ligament in his right knee."
Homewreckers
January 11
St. Petersburg Times
 
"The image that will be replayed from Satur"
Ravens' Clayton catches on quickly to difference between talk, winning
January 10
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
 
"Mark Clayton's mother, JacQuetta, has his national championship ring in a display case at her home in Grand Prairie. He was a redshirt during his first year at Oklahoma in 2000, when the Sooners won their most recent national title. Clayton, now a starting receiver with the Baltimore Ravens, might keep his Super Bowl ring if the Ravens win the title this year. "That's what the season is about," Clayton said in a telephone interview. "Everything else doesn't matter really. All the training camps, all the minicamps, that's what we're doing: We're working to be the best team in the NFL, and the best team in the NFL holds up the Lombardi Trophy." The Ravens (12-5) beat the Miami Dolphins 27-9"
Big-play day for Clayton
December 1
Baltimore Sun
 columnist David Steele
"The Ravens kept insisting that Mark Clayton was going to bust out any game now. Derrick Mason, Joe Flacco, John Harbaugh and Cam Cameron made the claim more often as the season wore on. He's close to popping one. We're just a fraction away from clicking big with him. Yesterday, against the feeble Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium, no more close and no more fractions. Clayton was not just the playmaker he was promised to be on draft day in 2005. He was the day's biggest playmaker by far. On a dull, dreary day against a dull, dreary opponent, Clayton's totals were a beacon: five catches for 164 yards and a touchdown, one completion for 32yards and another touchdown, and a direct hand"