The Los Angeles Rams bounced back with a 28-22 win over the New England Patriots in Week 11 to get back to .500 on the season.
The team was without Rob Havenstein for the second consecutive game after he injured his ankle in a victory against the Seattle Seahawks earlier this month.
Warren McClendon started in Havenstein’s place at right tackle due to the usual backup Joe Noteboom also dealing with an ankle injury of his own.
Rams head coach Sean McVay said Havenstein is making progress and could return for the team’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football in Week 12, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“We’ll take it a day at a time,” McVay said. “He’s one of those guys, like we’ve talked about with some of these veterans, he really understands his body, but I know he’s chomping at the bit to get back out there, and he’s going to do everything in his power to do that. We just want to make sure that he’s ready to go, but he’s trending in that being a possibility.”
The Rams potentially getting Havenstein back for an important matchup with the Eagles would be a huge boost and go a long way toward keeping the momentum going.
The 32-year-old is the leader of the offensive line and has appeared in seven of the team’s 10 games this year. He previously missed the season opener against the Detroit Lions due to an ankle injury as well.
If Havenstein is able to play on Sunday, the Rams’ offensive line would be at full strength for the first time this season. Steve Avila was recently reinstated from injured reserve, joining Alaric Jackson and Kevin Dotson as key holdovers from last year.
Jonah Jackson, one of the Rams’ biggest signings of the offseason, was benched in favor of keeping Beaux Limmer in the starting lineup at center.
Rams’ Sean McVay gives game balls to former Patriots
After their much-needed win on Sunday, McVay handed out game balls to the likes of Matthew Stafford, Braden Fiske, Kamren Kinchens and others who spent time with the Patriots.
Among the latter was Rams backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who spent the first three seasons of his career in New England and at one point appeared to be the heir apparent to Tom Brady.
Rams senior offensive assistant Jerry Schuplinski, offensive line coach Ryan Wendell and tight ends coach/pass game coordinator Nick Caley also received game balls for their previous stints with the Patriots.
