The Los Angeles Rams have been plagued by injuries this season, with their offensive line among the most affected groups.
Steve Avila and Joe Noteboom were placed on injured reserve after going down in Week 1, and Jonah Jackson was later put on IR as well. The injuries have created an opportunity for Logan Bruss, who started at left guard in each of the last three games.
The 25-year-old was selected by the Rams in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but he tore his ACL and MCL during the preseason and didn’t get to play that year. He then spent the entire 2023 season on the Rams’ practice squad.
Bruss reflected on the last two years and always believed he would get an opportunity to showcase his skills, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“The last couple of years definitely didn’t go the way I expected,” Bruss told theRams.com. “There was a lot of days during that time where being back in a position like this just felt almost impossible, to be honest with you. This kind of thing, I knew it wasn’t gonna happen overnight, but just chipping away every day, getting a little bit better and better, I just waited until the day where I finally felt like myself again.”
Bruss said he finally started to feel like himself again during training camp and has rode the momentum ever since:
“It’s just a feeling like… I feel like you can’t fake it, you know?” Bruss said, when asked if there was a particular moment he felt that difference. “You feel like you’re the best player on the field, and it doesn’t matter who they put in front of you. That’s something I felt like when I was playing at my best, I had that feeling, and I hadn’t felt that in a long time, but I just felt like it was a day where I just finally felt that again. Like I said, you can’t just, like, fake that. For me it’s something that just comes when I’m playing at my best, and I felt like I had a really good day at practice, and I finally felt that again. It’s something that I hadn’t felt in such a long time, so I kind of felt like I was back to myself again.”
It isn’t clear how much playing time Bruss will receive going forward now that the Rams are in a position to get some of their injured players back.
If Avila or Noteboom return for the Rams’ Week 7 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, that would likely send Bruss back to the bench.
However, the experience of finally getting to play for the Rams after two rough years should help Bruss maintain the confidence to step into a larger role at any time if he is needed again.
Sean McVay believes bye week came at good time for Rams
Rams head coach Sean McVay believes the bye week came at a good time for the team amid their struggles and injuries. “Yeah. I think that I will be able to better answer that based on the availability of guys and what that really means, but yes,” McVay said.
“What I think it does serve as a good time is after five games where we’re obviously not where we want to be, how can we look at ourselves critically? How can we identify some of the things that we need to do with the 12 games remaining to be able to play more quality football that’s more in alignment with what we’re capable of and what we’ve seen when we’re operating at our best here.”
