The Los Angeles Rams announced that they placed kick and punter returner JoJo Natson on injured reserve and signed tight end Kendall Blanton off their practice squad.
The move does not come as much of a surprise after head coach Sean McVay announced on Monday that Natson is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a hamstring injury that he suffered in the Week 13 win over the Cardinals. With only a handful of weeks left in the season, there was no reason to keep Natson on the active roster if he is gonna miss most – if not all – of the rest of the season.
In 12 games for the Rams this season, Natson averaged 7.8 yards per return on punts and 22.2 yards and kickoffs. With him being done for the year, Darrell Henderson Jr. is expected to take over returning kicks and Nsimba Webster could get the first crack at bringing back punts.
Blanton was among the undrafted free agents that the Rams signed this offseason and he spent training camp and the preseason with the team before being cut and landing on the practice squad.
The 24-year-old played in four seasons at Missouri, hauling in 44 receptions for 476 yards and six touchdowns. The Rams’ best pass-catching tight end, Gerald Everett, is currently dealing with an injury of his own that forced him to miss the game against Arizona. He is listed as day-to-day, but if the Rams are adding another tight end to the roster then he could potentially miss another game or two.
