While the Los Angeles Rams are certainly licking their wound after getting handled thoroughly by the Buffalo Bills, fans are wondering what happened to Cam Akers.
Both Akers and Darrell Henderson were dressed for Week 1, but after months of hearing head coach Sean McVay say he would utilize both backs, it was Henderson who got the bulk of the work. Henderson handled 13 carries compared to Akers’ three, but even more peculiar was that the latter didn’t even come into the game until the second quarter. Ultimately, Akers didn’t manage to gain any yards on his attempts and barely saw the field the remainder of the game.
Akers’ usage was certainly puzzling, but McVay shed some light on his decision when he mentioned needing to see more from the young back, via Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic:
“I know what Cam is capable of”.
Here is the transcript of Sean McVay’s comments when asked about a limited workload Thursday night for RB Cam Akers (w/ attribution to @LATimesklein for the initial questions): pic.twitter.com/3jq9Asxy3l— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) September 9, 2022
The initial thought from observers was that Akers wasn’t completely healthy which led to his diminished role, but it sounds like McVay was not happy with his on-field presence and attitude. Akers wound up playing a total of 12 snaps and in those limited opportunities, it’s evident that McVay felt like he wasn’t doing enough to garner more playing time.
This is a first as there were no reported signs of Akers lagging in training camp, so it might be best to consider this an isolated incident versus a trouble trend. Fortunately for Akers and McVay, the Rams draw the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2, who represent the perfect opportunity to get right.
