Los Angeles Rams cornerback Derion Kendrick was a pivotal piece in the team’s win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Kendrick, as one of the leaders of the Rams secondary, held Cardinals quarterback Joshua Dobbs to 235 yards, one interception, a 58.5 passer rating and a 16.8 QB rating. It was arguably one of Kendrick’s best performances of the season.
The celebration was short-lived, though, as Kendrick was arrested on Monday morning in L.A. just hours after securing the team’s third victory of the season. It’s a disappointing situation for Kendrick, who had been steadily improving within his role.
Details were revealed about his arrest and the reason behind it, according to TMZ Sports:
Rams starting cornerback Derion Kendrick was arrested in Los Angeles on Monday … less than 12 hours after he helped his team beat the Arizona Cardinals.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports … the 23-year-old was pulled over early in the morning for a traffic violation — and we’re told during the stop, police found a gun and marijuana in his car.
Rams head coach Sean McVay commented on the arrest, expectedly leaving out most of the details and focusing only on what is publicly available information.
“I was made aware of the (DB) Derion Kendrick situation earlier this morning,” McVay said. “We’re continuing to gather more information on that and so, until then I am going to just kind of leave it at that until I have all the appropriate information and I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to speak on things that I don’t have the totality of it other than knowing that he was arrested early this morning and that’s kind of where we’re are at that.”
The Rams already had a relatively thin depth chart at the cornerback position. The hope is that Kendrick is able to get his legal issues sorted out to return to play. But if he cannot, the Rams are left with a cornerback room that includes Ahkello Witherspoon, Tre Tomlinson, Cobie Durant and Duke Shelley. Tomlinson and Shelley are two young players that the organization is high on, so perhaps they will now get an opportunity to show what they can do.
More information will surely be revealed regarding Kendrick’s situation, including whether or not he can return to play soon.
Rams running backs expected to miss time
Both Kyren Williams (ankle) and Ronnie Rivers (knee) suffered injuries during Sunday’s win against the Cardinals. They have different severities, but both are unlikely to play this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Williams is expected to only miss one week with an ankle sprain, while Rivers may need an injured reserve stint, as he’s expected to be out 4-5 weeks with a Grade 3 PCL sprain.
