Every team in the NFL is hoping to avoid serious injuries during training camp and for the most part, the Los Angeles Rams did just that. Sure, Cooper Kupp has been sidelined by a hamstring injury, but it’s nothing that will affect his Week 1 status.
Elsewhere on the injury front, the Rams have been missing three young players who are competing for snaps: Derion Kendrick, Hunter Long and Davis Allen. All three have been sidelined for more than a week with soft-tissue injuries, causing them to miss the Rams’ padded practices in camp.
Sean McVay was asked about their statuses on Tuesday and he didn’t have much of an update, other than to say they’re day-to-day.
He expressed a heightened level of urgency with all three, hoping they can return as quickly as possible because they’re missing valuable practice time.
“Those guys are really day-to-day. I wish I had a better answer for you. We’re truly taking it a day at a time,” McVay said. “With those soft tissues, it’s more about once Reggie (Scott) and Justin Lovett and (John Griffin) and Zach Witherspoon and those guys can test them out where they can really open up in some of those controlled settings, you get a feel for when they’re hitting some of those high-speed yards. All right, are they ready to return back to performance? Because it’s one thing to return to play. It’s another thing to return to performance. But we need to get those guys back out here as quickly as possible because we can’t afford to waste this time. But we’re also not gonna get caught up in things we can’t control. I’m hopeful those guys will be out here sooner than later.”
Of the three, Kendrick is expected to have the most significant role this season. He’s competing to be a starting cornerback but since he’s been sidelined, Ahkello Witherspoon has risen up the depth chart with some impressive play in practice. Robert Rochell could also jump Kendrick if he plays well in the preseason.
It doesn’t sound like Kendrick, Long or Allen will be ready to play in the preseason opener on Saturday but there’s still a chance they’ll heal quickly enough this week to play a few snaps against the Chargers.
