Michael Sam survived the first cut and will continue to play for the St. Louis Rams in the penultimate stage of their preparation for the upcoming NFL season.

Sam, who was the first openly gay player to be selected in the NFL draft, made it into the 75-man roster of the Rams as coach Jeff Fisher decided to cut Matt Daniels and Sammy Brown, while also placing Sam Bradford and Demetrius Rhaney on the injury list.

The decision did not come as a surprise after Sam fared well in their preseason game against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday night where he had two sacks -- both against rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel.

In three preseason games, the defensive end posted five tackles and three sacks, while also having two quarterback pressures and one quarterback hit. Sam also served as a blocker on special teams, but Fisher pointed out that the former Missouri standout is being judged for his work on defense.

"It's rare that you get a defensive end that's going to go out and contribute on all four of your core special teams," Fisher said on Tuesday via ESPN. "So special teams is not part of the equation for Mike. We're giving him every opportunity to do so, and he's participated in special-teams practices and everything, but that's not going to be part of the criteria for the evaluations."

Fisher has until 4 p.m. ET Saturday to name trim the Rams' roster to 53 players. When asked about how Sam is faring against other players who are in danger of not making the final roster, including lineman Ethan Westbrooks, Fisher declined to comment.

"I think they're both doing well right now," Fisher said of Sam and Westbrooks. "No different than any other positional races on this football team. They're both doing well. You know me, I'm not going to say who's one or who's two."

The Rams lost to the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers before winning against the Browns on Saturday. They will face the Miami Dolphins in their final pre-season game before opening their season on Sept. 7 against the Minnesota Vikings.

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