After months of anticipation, the 2025 season is nearly here which means the Los Angeles Rams will be back in action sooner than later.
The Rams are projected to be a Super Bowl contender this year after a busy offseason upgrading the roster. Matthew Stafford’s back injury lingered over training camp, but the veteran is on track to start Week 1 against the Houston Texans.
Aside from Stafford, Alaric Jackson also made his return to practice after a scary bout with blood clots.
Jackson was able to participate in a recent practice and is on track to also start against Houston, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
Meanwhile, offensive lineman Alaric Jackson (blood clots in lower leg) took part in Monday’s practice as scheduled. The team will monitor him throughout the week, but the plan is for him to also start, according to McVay. McVay previously said Jackson was scheduled to practice fully Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, provided things go according to plan.
“It’s always something that you have to manage,” McVay said, when asked if Jackson is past his blood clot issue. “He’s in great shape, we’ve got a great plan in place. One of the doctors that’s been instrumental in helping kind of facilitate this process was here, what seems like an eternity ago, last Thursday, and seemed to be really positive and optimistic about the plan we have in place and all the checkpoints that we wanted to be able to hit. But I certainly don’t think you minimize… but you manage this, we have a plan in place, but he’s in a great position, and it’s a huge credit to him and to the medical team behind the scenes.”
Jackson has been an underrated part of the team’s success the past couple of seasons and his return is an extremely positive sign for the offense. Stafford has been at his best when he has time in the pocket, and Jackson protecting his blindside should give head coach Sean McVay more peace of mind when the regular season begins.
With Jackson set to practice fully this week, it’ll be worth monitoring his progress to ensure he makes it out on the field on Sunday.
Kobie Turner believes Rams have improved defensive line depth
On the opposite side of the line of scrimmage, the Rams defensive line projects to be the team’s biggest strength in 2025. Kobie Turner noted how much the depth along the defensive line has improved which should lead to more productive outings for the group.
