The Los Angeles Rams saw breakout seasons from a number of their young players in 2023, with running back Kyren Williams being near the top of the list.
Williams took over as the Rams’ lead back early in the season and in 12 games, he rushed for 1,144 yards and 12 touchdowns while adding 32 receptions for 206 yards and three touchdowns through the air. He missed time due to an ankle issue but led the league with 95.3 rushing yards per game.
Heading into 2024, Williams will look to build off that breakout season, although it appears he has hit a bit of a road block.
With the Rams starting OTAs this week, head coach Sean McVay announced that Williams is dealing with a foot issue.
“Kyren’s good. He had a little foot issue that we’re going to be smart with him. It’s probably good,” McVay said. “That maniac works so hard sometimes it’s good to just be able to pull him back, but he’s been great. He’s doing an excellent job just physically feeling really good and he’ll be ready to roll and be a consistent producer for us this year.”
As a result of the foot injury that happened while training, Williams will sit out of OTAs and the rest of the Rams’ offseason workouts.
“Here’s what I would say. I’ll keep it brief, but he’s not going to participate in the offseason program,” McVay added. “It’s nothing to worry about. He’ll be ready to go for training camp, but there’s a little issue when he was training and I’ll kind of just leave it at that. But nothing to be concerned about. I told him, ‘It’s probably a good thing now that you’ll be with Reggie in a little bit more of a disciplined program instead you just running yourself ragged.’ But I love Kyren. He’s champing at the bit to get back out there, but that’ll be training camp.”
While a foot injury is never something you want to see for a star running back, it is at least positive news that the expectation is Williams will be good to go for training camp. The Rams will report to camp in about two months, which should give him plenty of time to rest up and get healthy so he is ready to go.
L.A. received some scrutiny for drafting another running back in Blake Corum in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, but as can already been seen, ball carriers staying healthy is no guarantee and it is good to have quality depth at the position.
Rams promote Aubrey Pleasant to assistant head coach
In other news coming out of OTAs, the Rams have promoted defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant to assistant head coach, giving him even more responsibilities and a well-deserved title.
