Los Angeles Rams are left in a scramble today when Matthew Stafford departs from practice early. Joint practices with the Dallas Cowboys today and it was an early day for Stafford due to hamstring tightness. LA Times reported he was sidelined for most of the second half. What does this mean for the Ram’s upcoming season which happens to start in less than a month?
Rams Go Deep
The Rams have paid close attention to aligning a franchise that can withstand the upcoming years with the surrounding fierce competition. It appears that other things may be in the works for the Rams as they look to make last-minute changes based on the percentage of players who are injured, or questionable at best. Is the team falling apart before the season begins?
The team that fell into last season’s wild-card round appears to, despite their best efforts, be scrambling to keep their foundation. Both the offense and defense this week have taken some uncomfortable hits to make us all wonder what will become of the Rams season ahead. Billionaire Stan Kroenke, the Rams owner, known for moving the St. Louis team to Los Angeles back in 2016, is having to work closely with Sean McVay.
Despite earlier in the year, during the turbulent and public renegotiation of McVay’s contract, at this time Kroenke will have to depend on the respect the players have for McVay. They will have to work together to make pivots as the harsh reality is: that their players are dropping like flies.
Defensive Drops
On the first day of training camp, Derion Kendrick, the number one cornerback for the Rams suffered a torn ACL that will end his season. Darious Williams, defensive back, is on a week-to-week right now due to a hamstring strain. Signing on Jerry Jacobs from the Detroit Lions came after Kendrick and Willams were injured and seems like a last-minute stretch for the Los Angeles Rams to make right what has been so wrong over these last few opening pre-season weeks.
Jerry Jacobs 26, having played for the Lions originally was an undrafted free agent walking out of Arkansas in 2021. His contract officially ended this offseason after three seasons but, Jacobs did not see ample playing time last season due to Detriot revamping their defense.
While ranking ninth with a 69.1 PFF grade last year, The Rams will have to replace what was lost if they would like to increase their defensive standings. It will be challenging for them to provide a reasonable and dependable defense without having experience mixed with youthfulness. Can Jacobs come out on top with Los Angeles Week 1 with the first game against Detroit?
Without a strong defense, Matthew Stafford and the Rams will continue to be injury-prone. Stafford will rely on the defense to win games as he is an exceptional quarterback, no team can be measured in greatness without accounting for their defense. It is time to rally what is left of training camp and get the Rams ready, healthy, and well-practiced.
Offense Overhauled, Seemingly By Injuries
The Los Angeles Rams rank 7th in offense walking into this season. With Matthew Stafford out as of today, only time will tell where this offense will go. Since training camp Alaric Jackson, ‘tweaked’ his ankle along with Rob Havenstein and appears to have an ankle injury also. Jonah Jackson is recovering from a scapula injury, he missed the NFC Conference game last year due to a small meniscus tear along with other minor issues that kept him off the field.
With today, the starting quarterback, Matthew Stafford not practicing for most of the second half things seem bleak. There is a one-year contract with Jimmy Garoppolo for a base value of $4.5 million with a max of $12 million with incentives.
The crux of it all is that Garoppolo has to serve a two-week suspension due to violating the NFL’s policy about performance-enhancing substances. This two-week suspension begins on Week 1, unable to start until Week 3, leaving LA to potentially start Stenson Bennett. Bennett played all of Sunday’s win over the Cowboys, with 24 of 28 passes for 224 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions, although he did not play during his rookie season it may be the only option they have.
The End Before It Began?
The Los Angeles Rams are in a bit of a conundrum since hitting training camp. Matthew Stafford’s tight hamstring may pose serious problems for the 7th-ranked offense in the league. The Rams have some tough decisions to make moving forward. Injury-prone Rams will struggle this season if the direction doesn’t change for the better.
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