Repeating as champions in the NFL is extremely difficult, as it takes a certain amount of injury luck to keep a run alive.
For the Los Angeles Rams, they enjoyed a relatively healthy 2021 campaign but the offseason has provided several challenges. Key rotation players like Van Jefferson and Jalen Ramsey have already undergone procedures to fix knee and shoulder injuriesm respectively, while young players like Kyren Williams missed part of training camp due to a broken foot.
Against the Houston Texans, the Rams saw more rookies get hurt, namely Logan Bruss, who will miss the 2022 season after tearing both his ACL and MCL. Aside from Bruss, outside linebacker Daniel Hardy sustained a high ankle sprain that head coach Sean McVay said will require surgery, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
McVay also said rookie outside linebacker Daniel Hardy left Friday night’s game early with a high ankle sprain that will end up requiring a procedure to fix.
“Won’t affect his whole season, but he’s a guy that’s a candidate to probably start the season on designated IR,” McVay said.
Hardy had been having a solid training camp and was in line to start out the season with special teams before injuring his ankle against the Texans. While it’s fortunate he won’t have to miss the entirety of the season, it’s still a setback for a promising young player with freakish athletic tools.
The bright side for Los Angeles is their main core of players remains healthy and should be ready to go once the season rolls around. The tough injury luck has been difficult to deal with, but they’ve got more than enough talent to compete at a high level over the course of the year.
