Case Keenum will start against Bengals if he clears concussion protocol

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Jeff Fisher responds to Rams' critics (2:54)

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- St. Louis Rams quarterback Case Keenum did not participate in the team's light practice Tuesday afternoon because of the concussion he suffered last week against the Baltimore Ravens.

But coach Jeff Fisher offered hope that Keenum could be ready to participate in some capacity as soon as Wednesday.

"Yeah, he was in the building ... looked at a lot of tape," Fisher said. "[He] has not been cleared for any activity for [Tuesday], but we're hopeful that [Wednesday] he'll be ready to do some things outside. So, he's feeling pretty good actually."

Keenum, of course, made his first start for the Rams on Sunday and finished the game despite getting a concussion when he hit his head on the ground on the team's final possession. The play left more questions than answers about how the Rams and the league handled it after Keenum stayed in the game following the injury.

The NFL, which is investigating the series of events that led to Keenum staying in the game, held a conference call with doctors and trainers from all 32 teams Tuesday night to discuss possible ways to improve the system of in-game concussion evaluations.

"It's an important issue," Fisher said. "I mean, it's really a serious issue and the league's taking it very serious and you can understand why. So, the league's gathering information and we're looking at the system under which we operate right now to see if there's anything we can do to where we avoid that kind of situation that happened to Case. So, there will be a conference call and the league's going to gather the information and they'll adjust the features ever so slightly, I guess, on game day."

Asked if he had any suggestions for changes he'd like to see made to the system, Fisher declined.

"As far as recommendations and suggestions as to how something like this doesn't happen again, I can't go there because there's too many entities right now," Fisher said. "They’re discussing their opinions of exactly what happened."

In the meantime, Keenum continues to go through the normal concussion protocol. Fisher reiterated that Keenum would start against Cincinnati this week so long as he passes the proper tests, something Keenum is apparently on track to do.

"No setbacks," Fisher said. "No, he was fine. He just hasn't been cleared for any physical activity. He's in the protocol and that's typically the way things work on Tuesdays. So, he'll go through some more testing and then we're hopeful that he'll be released for activity tomorrow."