Jared Goff suffers shoulder injury in first series with Rams

— -- LOS ANGELES - That Jared Goff NFL debut was cut a tad short Saturday night when head coach Jeff Fisher sat him after only two series.

Fisher said he planned to play Goff throughout the third quarter against the Cowboys in the preseason opener, but when he learned at the half the rookie quarterback had suffered a sore, non-throwing shoulder from a hit taken in the second quarter, Fisher decided to sit him.

"At halftime he was getting stiff and I didn't want to mess around with it," Fisher said.

Both Fisher and Goff said the injury was not serious.

"I'm fine," Goff said. "I've played through much worse."

Goff, the No.1 overall pick in last April's draft, completed just 4-of-9 passes for 38 yards in Rams 28-24 win. Two passes were dropped. He threw an interception and suffered the injury when hit by Dallas linebacker Derek Akunne in his first series.

"He got hit and the ball floated," Fisher said. "He understands that."

Fisher said he expects the rookie to be able to practice next week.

"He was fine," Fisher said. "Nothing was too big for him. He was at ease. It was fun."

Goff did return for a second series and may have thrown his first touchdown pass if rookie receiver Pharoh Cooper had not dropped the ball.

"It would have been great, but I have a lot of football ahead of me," Goff said.

"Hopefully next week I can have a little more production."