Eric Weddle is used to playing at least a couple of games in the preseason each year, but he got some time off this summer as a member of the Los Angeles Rams. Like the rest of the starters, Weddle didn’t play a single snap this preseason as Sean McVay guarded against injuries to his top players.
Weddle now enters the regular season with no exhibition games under his belt, but likely with fresher legs than usual. He did admit there could be some rust to knock off, specifically with his timing on plays.
He doesn’t expect it to take very long for him to get back in a groove, though.
“I’m sure the first couple of quarters, or maybe even a game, my timing will be a little off, but it will come back fairly quickly, so just timing for tackling and stuff,” Weddle said, via ESPN.
As many joint practices and scrimmages as the Rams had this offseason, nothing can replicate what a regular-season game is going to feel like. There’s no way to simulate the speed or intensity of a game that actually counts.
Michael Brockers sat out the preseason, too, but he would’ve been fine with playing at least a few snaps before Week 1.
“The third preseason game is always a good game just to kind of gauge where you’re at,” Brockers said. “You want to get that feel, that speed of the game, because you get into these practices and, you know, we can ramp it up and go fast, but it’s nothing like when those lights are on and you’ve got the crowd.”
Resting their starters during the preseason last year worked out beautifully for the Rams considering they made it all the way to the Super Bowl, but we’ll have to see if it pays dividends once again in 2019.
