The Los Angeles Rams suffered their first major injury blow of the year on Saturday night. Linebacker Micah Kiser left the game early with a pectoral injury, limiting him to just nine snaps against the Cowboys.
The team announced on Sunday that Kiser will undergo surgery on Tuesday and is sidelined indefinitely.
Kiser was projected to be the Rams’ starting linebacker next to Cory Littleton, stepping in for Mark Barron. The second-year player out of Virginia looked the part in the preseason, even making two tackles in just nine plays on Saturday.
As for who will fill in for Kiser, Sean McVay said it’ll be Bryce Hager.
“It would be Bryce that would play that Mike linebacker spot in our base defensive structures. We’ve got some good guys that have shown that they can play football. (Travin Howard) is a guy that has continued to improve. Really, he’s playing that inside linebacker spot. We’ve got a Mike and a Mo linebacker, but a lot of their responsibilities end up being interchangeable. We know what a great player Cory (Littleton) has been. Then in some different sub-packages, you could see some of our safeties potentially drop down into those linebacker locations. But it would be Bryce that would end up being in that Mike linebacker role if that’s the case with Micah.”
Kiser hasn’t yet started a game in the NFL, but replacing him won’t be easy for the Rams. Hager has primarily been a special teams player during his career and Howard hasn’t played a single regular-season snap.
