The Los Angeles Rams are gearing up for their Week 17 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night. A win for the Rams would keep them in control of the NFC West after the Seattle Seahawks won an ugly Thursday Night Football matchup. But L.A. could be without a key contributor on Saturday in right tackle Rob Havenstein.
Havenstein has been in and out of the Rams lineup this season, playing in 11 of the team’s 15 games. But when he’s been in, he’s done an incredible job protecting Matthew Stafford as L.A. has gone on their late-season run. The Rams have won four in a row and eight of their last 10, and Havenstein has been through it all.
But, according to head coach Sean McVay, Havenstein suffered a shoulder injury this week in practice that leaves his status on Saturday in doubt with him being listed as questionable.
McVay wouldn’t give any indication as to if he would be able to play, which tends to be a less-than-positive sign regarding a player’s status.
“I’m hopeful. We’ll see,” McVay said.
The Rams head coach revealed that Fridays are normally rest days for players like Havenstein anyways, but that the injury is certainly severe enough for him not to practice.
“He would not practice today. He typically has a veteran rest day on Fridays, but he would not be able to practice if that wasn’t the case just based on his injury today,” McVay added.
The Rams are prepared for his absence though, as they have one of the best backup offensive linemen in the league in the ever-reliable Joe Noteboom.
“I think Joe [Noteboom] would be the guy that’d be ready to go,” McVay said. “Warren [McClendon] has done a lot of really good stuff this year, but Joe’s played in a lot of games for us, a lot of big-time games and has done a great job of being able to play on either side. It’s a good option. It’s a good problem to be able to have, but Joe would be the guy.”
The Rams have gone as their offensive line goes this season when it comes to injuries and success. When they’ve had a fully or mostly healthy line, they have been able to win at a consistent clip. When there have been significant injuries, the Rams have fallen flat.
Hopefully, Havenstein is able to go. But if not, the Rams need to be able to keep the Cardinals at bay and keep their one-game lead before an all-important battle with the Seahawks in Week 18.
Rams can clinch NFC West in Week 17
Even though the Seahawks won on Thursday night, there is still a complicated way for the Rams to clinch the NFC West in Week 17. Of course, L.A. would need to beat the Cardinals on Saturday evening. But from there, they would need help from a collection of teams.
They would need four of the following six teams to win their Week 17 games in order to secure a high-enough strength of victory that the Seahawks would not be able to overcome it with any result in Week 18:
Cincinnati Bengals win over Denver Broncos
Washington Commanders win over Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills win over New York Jets
Minnesota Vikings win over Green Bay Packers
Cleveland Browns win over Miami Dolphins
San Francisco 49ers win over Detroit Lions
