Yesterday, Adam Schefter of NFL.com reported the Rams asked the Bucs for permission to interview defensive coordinator Raheem Morris for the vacant St. Louis head coaching position.

This caught both the Tampa Bay area MSM, as well as the St. Louis MSM, by surprise. Maybe for good reason. Morris claims this is news to him.

Communicating with Woody Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, Morris texted Cummings claiming the Rams had not contacted him.

“I seriously have not heard,’’ Morris said in a response to a text message about the situation.

Cummings does note that it’s possible, since Morris was returning from Denver after interviewing with the Broncos for their head coaching position, that he hadn’t received such a message yet.

Jim Thomas, the Rams beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, seems to reinforce Morris’ text to Cummings claiming the Rams have been looking elsewhere.

There were unconfirmed reports Tuesday that the Rams also had requested permission to speak with Tampa Bay assistant coach Raheem Morris. If so, that would represent another change in the Rams’ search paramaters, because league sources told the Post-Dispatch three days ago that the team was not interested in Morris.

Of course, NFL teams love the cloak and dagger mentality of the coaching search. Just from a modicum of research, it appears the Rams are interviewing virtually anyone and everyone who has paced a football sideline. Soon, Joe expects Countryside High School coach John Davis to fly to the Gateway City to interview with the Rams. Throw in the fact the Rams have a new front office, and it’s possible few if any reporters have solid contacts within it, it wouldn’t shock Joe if Morris indeed was to be interviewed by the Rams.