Sebastian Joseph-Day was not on the field Saturday night for the Los Angeles Rams’ win over the Denver Broncos and it wasn’t exactly clear why. There was some speculation that he might have already secured the starting nose tackle job, but it turns out he’s actually dealing with an injury.
Sean McVay shared the unfortunate news after the game, announcing that Joseph-Day has a hamstring injury he’s nursing.
“He had a little hamstring tightness. He’s really done such a nice job for us that, listening to Reggie (Scott) and talking through that there was potentially … you’re going to leave him susceptible to maybe further injuring that,” McVay said. “I think just based on all those things, we felt like that was going to be the best decision. We didn’t want to leave him exposed to further injuring that and that was what went into the decision. Had that not occurred, then we were still talking through whether we were going to play him or not. He’s done a nice job for us, but he still is a young player and that’s the reason why we held him out tonight.”
The Rams are smart to play it safe with Joseph-Day, who could be the Week 1 starter at nose tackle. It also sounds like he may have locked up the job, or is close to doing so, with McVay saying they were considering resting him regardless.
Greg Gaines did play in his place, making two tackles, both of which were assists. Gaines was out there for 28 snaps, or 46 percent of the plays.
Given the injury, it’s highly doubtful Joseph-Day will play on Thursday night against the Texans in the preseason finale.
