With the secondary of the Los Angeles Rams battered with injuries ahead of the postseason, L.A. made a call to retired safety Eric Weddle. In the moment, the move looked like it came out of desperation with the team simply out of options at safety.
However, Weddle has been surprisingly effective in his three playoff games with the Rams. Including his help, the Rams defense has stifled three consecutive opponents en route to an appearance in Super Bowl LVI.
Rams offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth — who has had injuries of his own in the postseason — praised Weddle for stepping in and making an immediate impact, according to Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“Eric Weddle is one of those rare infectious energy guys who just, when he walks in a building, you hear his laugh, you hear his voice, you hear his energy,” Whitworth said. “He’s here, from 5 a.m. ’til midnight at night. I mean, this guy lives in the facility, and he might as well just put a bed in here, I guess. But he’s one of those guys that honestly, his accountability in the way he can kind of push guys and ask more of guys and demand more and really hold that standard of excellence that he does, it couldn’t have timed out better for us to get him when we did and have him in the building in this critical stretch when those kinds of things – your attitude, your commitment, your standard of what you do and how you do things – couldn’t be more important during the playoffs. It’s really the basis of everything in your identity. And to have him added and his energy and his level of really just leadership has been so special.”
What Weddle has done as a replacement safety is already impressive by itself. But it’s even more of a physical feat when considering that he had been well into retirement when the Rams placed the call. For him to come back and immediately impact a run to the Super Bowl shows the kind of player he is.
Regardless of result in Sunday’s championship game, Weddle has already announced that he is retiring for good afterwards. And also regardless of the result, the Rams may not be where they are today had Weddle opted against joining them in the postseason.
Rams getting healthy
Weddle’s role may be reduced when the Rams take the field at SoFi Stadium, as the team is finally getting some starters back in the lineup. In the secondary, safety Taylor Rapp and cornerback Robert Rochell look as though they will be available for Super Bowl LVI.
