The Los Angeles Rams offensive line will be a unit to watch for as multiple starting spots are still up for grabs.
Joseph Noteboom is back with the team after using the offseason to recover from a torn Achilles and is currently competing for the starting left tackle or right guard job. Sean McVay explained that he and the coaching staff are trying to find the best o-line combination and giving Noteboom guard reps is part of the equation.
However, Noteboom faces an uphill climb as McVay announced that he would be held out of practice as he deals with an undisclosed injury, via Cameron DaSilva of USA Today:
“He was out today. He just did some individual stuff,” McVay said. “He’s dealing with a little something right now and so he won’t be practicing the rest of this week. I don’t have anymore information than that right now but he wasn’t part of the team activities today.”
Despite the injury, McVay remained optimistic that Noteboom would return soon and praised his positional versatility:
“I think the biggest thing is we want to focus on the things we can control,” he said. “I know Joe wants to be able to be out here. He’s had an outstanding camp. I’ve been so pleased with his ability to play tackle and guard for us. But I think he’s putting all the work in. that’s all you can do. There are things that occur sometimes on the field that it’s like, man, that’s an unfortunate thing. It’s just a little bit of a setback. We’ll hopefully get him out here sooner than later. But we don’t want to waste our emotional energy on stuff we can’t control and he’s done a great job of that.”
Although Noteboom’s injury isn’t considered serious, it’s still a blow for him and the team as he figured to be a part of their revamped line. Fortunately, Los Angeles has more depth this offseason and can sustain his absence.
When Noteboom is cleared to practice again, it’ll be interesting to see if he’ll be able to snag a starting spot or if he’ll be relegated as a backup.
Andrew Whitworth gives insight into how bad Matthew Stafford’s elbow was in 2022
Matthew Stafford has been lighting it up during training camp as he looks fully recovered from last season. Aside from the neck injury he suffered in 2022, he was also dealing with an en elbow issue.
Stafford never used his elbow as an excuse for his disappointing play, but Andrew Whitworth provided some insight into how bad it actually was.
