What looked like a long season for the Los Angeles Rams seems to have turned the corner. And they finally got a late-round draft pick for a benched player. But just a half-game out of first place in the NFC West, the Rams and QB Matthew Stafford loved the latest pair of offensive linemen injury updates.
Two guys could return soon, according to a post on X by Ari Meirov.
“The red-hot #Rams are getting healthier: They have designated C Steve Avila and G Jonah Jackson to return from IR.”
The Rams stand at 4-4 on the season while the first-place Arizona Cardinals are 5-4. The 49ers are 4-4 while the Seahawks at 4-5 in a supremely tight division race.
Rams QB Matthew Stafford might have more time in pocket
For the most part, it has been a typical Matthew Stafford season. He’s thrown for 1,969 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. If there’s any noticeable dip in the numbers, it likely stems from the injury absences of star receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. Also, the banged-up offensive line hasn’t helped.
But getting Avila and Jackson back on the field should be a boost for Stafford. Rams coach Sean McVay said Jackson should be ready for Week 10, according to therams.com.
McVay said Jackson “will be ready to go” for Week 10. As for Avila, “we'll see how he's feeling and how he's doing. Good thing is we got an extra day to be able to kind of get that figured out leading into the Dolphins (game), which we know is going to be a great challenge.”
Avila came to the Rams in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He started all 17 games as a rookie that season, but has played only one game so far in 2024. A third-round pick by the Lions in 2020, Jackson earned a Pro Bowl berth in 2021. He came to the Rams as an unrestricted free agent earlier this year. He has started only two games this season.
Once the Rams get healthier on the line, look for their pre-snap motion to become even more effective. Stafford said there are several reasons for using the motion, according to therams.com.
“Whether it's to try to created leverage, create communication from the defense, matchups, whatever it is, each play kind of has its own reasoning as to why we do it,” Stafford said. “But it is definitely something that we take pride in and doing it well and doing it crisp and sharp and all that kind of stuff to use it for our advantage.”
Stafford said the team puts a lot of effort into making things work.
“It's not arbitrary as to ‘hey, make this one be like this,'” Stafford said. “There's a word for it and those guys understand that — they take that to heart.”
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