After a disappointing loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Los Angeles Rams have only three games remaining on their 2022 schedule, beginning with a Christmas Day matchup against the Denver Broncos.
The matchup is notable in that Bobby Wagner will be facing his former Seattle Seahawks teammate Russell Wilson for the first time.
Wagner and Wilson were both selected by the Seahawks in the 2012 NFL Draft and helped lead the franchise to two Super Bowl appearances.
Both players went their separate ways this past offseason as the Seahawks traded Wilson to the Broncos and released Wagner, who went on to sign with his hometown Rams.
Wagner is looking forward to the challenge of containing Wilson, via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk:
“I think it’s going to be an upgraded version of practice,” Wagner said. “I think with practice, everything was pretty much live in the checks and the going back and forth, all of that was full speed, but the hitting wasn’t. You could never touch him. He said I would never catch him, so we’ll see.”
Wagner praised Wilson for his contributions on the field, but also noted the work he’s done for the community:
“I think he gets a lot of rap for a lot of things, but he was an extremely amazing person,” Wagner said. “All the stuff that he did in the community every week. I mean no matter what the situation was, he was always at the children’s hospital. I know that was inspirational for myself and a lot of the guys. Creating a school, doing all the things that he does to help people on a daily basis definitely stood out, but even the stuff that he did for the staff, teammates, things of that nature. There were some years where he had a deal with Alaska [Airlines] and he gifted everybody in the building flights to anywhere that Alaska flew.”
Wagner previously faced his old Seahawks team in Week 13, which resulted in a 23-17 loss for the Rams. He will look to get the upper hand on Wilson in what otherwise has been a lost season for both players.
L.A. enters play with a 4-10 record, tied for last place in the NFC West, while the Broncos, at 4-10, sit in last in the AFC West.
