ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little will have surgery this week to repair a torn ligament in his left big toe, ending his season.
Meanwhile, guard Richie Incognito said Monday he'll have surgery this week on his dislocated kneecap, and is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Little disclosed plans for the surgery Monday as the Rams, at 0-8 off to the worst start in franchise history, returned from a bye week.
"It isn't the type of injury where it will heal on its own," Little said. "If that was the case, then it should have felt a lot better by now. Surgery is the only way to repair the ligament."
Dr. Robert Anderson, the team orthopedist for the Carolina Panthers, will perform the operation. Rehabilitation is expected to take four to six months.
Little sprained the toe when his left foot was caught in the turf in a 22-3 loss at Baltimore on Oct. 14. The injury made it difficult for Little to push off on the pass rush. He visited Anderson in North Carolina during the bye week to discuss options.
"We pretty much knew what he was going to say," Little said. "We tried to give it two weeks for it to heal back up, but it never responded like it's supposed to."
Little is the team's all-time sacks leader, but was off to a slow start even before the injury. The 10th-year player has just one sack, against Baltimore's Kyle Boller. He had 13 last season, second most in his career, and he was a Pro Bowl alternate.
Incognito was hurt when the knee popped out of place in the first quarter of a loss to Cleveland on Oct. 28. The diagnosis was a partial dislocation with cartilage damage.
Running back Steven Jackson might play Sunday at New Orleans. Jackson was sidelined for a month with a groin injury, then played the first quarter against the Browns before developing back spasms and missing the rest of the game.
"Steven looks good. He feels a lot better," coach Scott Linehan said. "I think having some time off and being able to calm that down a little bit was real good for him. He did some conditioning today. We'll start him back in and do some light work on Wednesday."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
