Updated 3:53 p.m.: Includes details, comment from Rams press conference.
Without ever coaching a game, the Rams' new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has been banned from the NFL indefinitely over an issue with his prior team, the New Orleans Saints.
The NFL has suspended New Orleans head coach Sean Payton for the 2012 season, and former Saints defensive coordinator Williams is banned from the league indefinitely because of the team's bounty program that targeted opposing players.
Commissioner Roger Goodell will review Williams' status after the upcoming season and consider whether he can return to the league. Williams had just been hired by new Rams coach Jeff Fisher. Fisher hasn't decided who will take over the defense, but he did say he thinks the defense will be fine.
"I've got Dave McGinnis on staff, Chuck Cecil on staff and I'll remind you that the playbook that Gregg had originated in my office," Fisher said. " So I have a pretty good feel for the defense. So, at this point I'm not at liberty to say who's going to make the calls and the decisions, but it'll get done. It'll get done effectively."
Fisher also says the team can't dwell on the situation.
"I don't mean to be insensitive to this, but you know, we have to move on," Fisher said. "Our job's to win games in this organization and Gregg's got to learn from his mistakes and he's paying dearly for them."
Also Wednesday, Goodell suspended Saints general manager Mickey Loomis for the first eight regular-season games of 2012, and assistant coach Joe Vit, a former interim coach of the Rams, has to sit out the first six games.
In addition, the Saints are being fined $500,000 and forfeit second-round draft picks this year and in 2013.