The bye week couldn’t have come soon enough for the Los Angeles Rams as they are dealing with several injuries to key players.
The Rams were shorthanded against the Green Bay Packers in Week 9 as they were without Matthew Stafford and Rob Havenstein. The defense was also missing Ernest Jones who has been dealing with a knee injury for a few weeks now.
Offensively, Los Angeles has had to make do with who they have available, especially in the running back room as the team has been without Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers. Williams and Rivers both got hurt in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals and were subsequently placed on injured reserve.
Fortunately, it looks like Williams will be back soon as Sean McVay expects him to return to the field as soon as he’s activated off of IR in Week 12, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
Sean McVay said he expects RB Kyren Williams to return after Williams comes off of Injured Reserve.
Williams still has to miss Week 11 against the Seahawks (would be the fourth game for the minimum four games missed when placed on IR).
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) November 6, 2023
Williams has been dealing with a sprained ankle that McVay and the team were initially optimistic wouldn’t keep him out long. However, the second-year player must’ve been feeling more discomfort later on as they made the decision to place him on IR.
Los Angeles has been trotting out Darrell Henderson and Royce Freeman in Williams’ absence, and the two haven’t been nearly as productive. The duo found little running room against the Packers, so getting Williams back would be a huge boost to the run game.
Rivers will probably miss more time as he deals with a PCL sprain, though he should be able to return before the end of the regular season. However, the key is a healthy Williams as he’s the team’s best runner and pass catcher out of the backfield.
Stetson Bennett not likely to return this season
The backup quarterback situation looks dire as Brett Rypien was overwhelmed against Green Bay. The Rams tried to address the quarterback room when they drafted Stetson Bennett, but the former Georgia Bulldog has been away from the team.
McVay recently said that he’s spoken to Bennett, though he does not expect the rookie to return this year.
