The Los Angeles Rams’ journey to repeat as Super Bowl champions begins this week with the team reporting to Irvine for training camp.
As is normally the case, not every player was healthy returning to camp as it was originally announced that Jalen Ramsey, Travin Howard, Kyren Williams and Quentin Lake would be placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list to begin camp.
Any player that is placed on the PUP list cannot participate in the physical part of practice. Because of that, it appears the Rams have had a change of heart and ultimately did not place Ramsey on the PUP list.
According to Sean McVay, the doctors cleared Ramsey to allow him to participate in some drills so he was able to avoid landing on the PUP list after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:
“We ended up not putting Ramsey on the PUP as a result of doctors cleared him in a limited fashion that enables him to participate in a lot of the jog throughs — the above the neck stuff, and to be able to have him out here with his teammates with all the different things that we ask of him,” McVay told reporters. ‘He felt good about that. We felt good about that. So, I think that’s what’s best for our football team. That’s why we kind of pivoted in that direction.”
McVay went on to further explain the decision and how important it is to have Ramsey on the field:
“If you put him on PUP, you’re not able to participate in any of the football activities,” McVay said. “You’re restricted to just go with [athletic trainer] Reggie [Scott] and his group. Where Jalen’s at, the doctors felt like we could clear him in a limited fashion. Anytime that you have a player of his caliber — and it’s really fortunate for us that it’s an upper body injury, because a lot of the stuff you’re still moving around in your lower half. There were some unique parameters that enabled us to take that approach.”
The expectation is that Ramsey will be ready for Week 1, although the Rams will not rush him back as his long-term health is most important.
Having Ramsey on the field in even a limited fashion during training camp is big for the Rams though as he is one of the vocal leaders, especially in the secondary where the team has a bunch of young players.
