Los Angeles Rams linebacker Clay Matthews was among the notable key injuries the team suffered on the defensive side of the ball early on in the 2019 NFL season.
Matthews has missed three games while being sidelined since Week 5 after breaking his jaw against the Seattle Seahawks. There is no question that his absence has left a rather notable void in the linebacker corps.
Los Angeles is hoping that the extra week of rest with the bye will potentially allow him to make his return in Week 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It appears his activity in practice this week could determine his status moving forward.
Head coach Sean McVay indicates that the Rams will take a cautious approach with his recovery, via Stu Jackson of the team’s official website:
“I think, really, it’s just kind of getting him back into normal routine, seeing how he’s feeling,” McVay said of how they plan to bring Matthews along this week. “Everything’s checked out in a positive manner up to this point, so I think it’s just kind of progressing back to, ‘How comfortable do you feel putting a helmet on?’ Some of the collisions that naturally would occur and just kind of trusting that you’re nice and secure in that absence of some of that stuff that kind of kept it in place and helped it heal over the last couple weeks.”
This is certainly an encouraging update regarding Matthews’ status given how severe the injury initially appeared to be. Although McVay is hesitant to declare his readiness for Week 10, the fact that he is able to make his return to practice is a positive sign for his looming return.
Matthews had proven to be quite the offseason addition for Los Angeles after doing a stellar job of capitalizing on defensive tackle Aaron Donald‘s play to register 19 tackles and 6.0 sacks prior to the injury. His experience and veteran leadership has also helped serve as a stabilizing factor for a young linebacker group that has shown tremendous signs of improvement over the last few weeks.
Fortunately, the Rams’ depth has come up big for them on the defensive side of the ball and the coaching staff is seemingly comfortable with letting the backups continue to find their footing with the increase in playing time. Regardless, Matthews’ return should provide a welcome boost for the second half of the season as they look to bounce back in a competitive NFC West Division.
