Since becoming head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, Sean McVay has made it a point not to play his starters or regulars in preseason games.
Football is a high-risk sport when it comes to injuries and for a team like the Rams that has several veteran players, protecting them from hits and keeping them fresh for the regular season. Most teams around the league still deploy their starters for minimal snaps in preseason games, though some have gotten smart and held them out like McVay does.
Unfortunately, injuries still occur during training camp and preseason and the Rams are no strangers to losing players before the games officially count. For example, in the Rams’ recent comeback win against the L.A. Chargers, Willie Lampkin suffered knee and ankle injuries.
McVay announced that Lampkin sprained his ankle pretty badly and will miss at least a few weeks, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“He got a bad ankle sprain,” McVay said. “He’s so tough. It’s kind of a knee and an ankle. He got his, I think it was his PCL. He’s so damn tough, and so it’ll be a few weeks for him.”
Lampkin went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft due to his size at the guard position, but he has been one of the talks of the preseason after a strong debut against the Dallas Cowboys. Perhaps the production shouldn’t have been a surprise as Lampkin was a standout at North Carolina, allowing zero sacks across two seasons.
With Lampkin set to miss the remainder of training camp and preseason, he could find it difficult to make the final 53-man roster. The Rams’ offensive line is fairly set with Alaric Jackson, Steve Avila, Coleman Shelton, Kevin Dotson and Rob Havenstein, but Lampkin would be great depth on a cheap rookie deal.
McVay understands how important it is to have a strong offensive line, so keeping Lampkin around might be the best long-term move despite the injury. It will be interesting to see if the rookie did enough to stay around or if he finds himself cut before the regular season begins.
Stetson Bennett calls it pretty cool to lead Rams comeback against Chargers
The Rams found themselves trailing against the Chargers going into the fourth quarter, but backup Stetson Bennett was able to lead the offense to a thrilling comeback. After the game, Bennett admitted it was pretty cool to lead the way down the stretch.
