After suffering through injuries, suspensions, and positional shuffling, the Los Angeles Rams have finally gotten some good news on the offensive line, with Alaric Jackson, the team's expected starter at left tackle, officially returning to the field for practice.
While fans still aren't 100 percent privy to what happened, as all parties have chosen to keep the situation in-house, Jackson did grant an interview request to the Orange County Register, where he addressed the situation for the first time since coming back from his two-game suspension.
“That's behind us now; I'm keeping it in-house right now,” Jackson explained. “I was definitely selfish, but it's behind me now, and we're going to move forward with it.”
Asked what it was like to watch the Rams struggle up front, especially at his old spot, Jackson admitted it was tough, but he's excited to return to the field with his teammates and protect Stafford's blindside, even if he won't be playing alongside either Steve Avila or Jonah Jackson at left guard.
“It was definitely tough,” Jackson noted. “I felt bad about it, but it's behind us now, and we're here today.”
Did the Rams explicitly lose their first two games of the season because Jackson was suspended? No, they had more issues than his absence, even if that did play a pretty big role. Fortunately, even if they are far from a healthy, complete team heading into Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams will at least have a plus player at left tackle, which they weren't able to say in Week 1 or Week 2.
Sean McVay is excited to have Alaric Jackson back as the Rams' LT
Running down the Rams' extensive list of injuries heading into Week 3, with Jonah Jackson and John Johnson III both placed on IR after the team's loss to the Cardinals, McVay broke down just how challenging it is for the team and the players to overcome some setbacks this early in the season.
“Yeah, those are major impacts. First and foremost, you feel terrible for these guys. The amount of work, time, and effort that goes into it,” Sean McVay told reporters on Monday. “We've had some unfortunate breaks, and it's happened really early, and it's definitely nothing that I've been exposed to. For you guys that have kind of been covering us back to '22, that was unprecedented but that was throughout the course of the year. This is unique, but this offers an opportunity for us to be what we say we want to be.”
Turning his sights to the offensive line specifically, McVay lamented the loss of Jackson to a shoulder injury but celebrated the return of Jackson, as, at this point, the Rams absolutely need him back in the worst way.
“For Jonah, it's really tough. The amount of moving parts that we've had offensive line-wise has been wild. That's such an important spot to be able to get a rapport with the guy that you're playing next to, and we've had basically a Rolodex of guys from the very start of training camp,” McVay noted.
“On a positive [note], we will get Alaric [Jackson] back, but whether it was at center and then playing guard, I thought he did some positive things yesterday. He's such a tough, competitive guy, and he wants to be out there. He injured that and aggravated that shoulder in the third quarter and continued to play through it. That's a big loss for him.”
While he would certainly like to be playing next to Avila or even Jonah Jackson for his return in Week 3, it's safe to say Alaric Jackson is excited to be back with the Rams in a starting capacity, even with Logan Bruss or Warren McClendon at left guard.
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