Rams Waive Defensive Back Shaun Jolly With Injury Designation Before 2023 Season
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Rams announced they waived defensive back Shaun Jolly from the 53-man roster with an injury designation on Tuesday.

If Jolly clears waivers, the Rams will be able to place him on their injured reserve list.
Depending on how he recovers, Los Angeles can then decide to either keep him on injured reserve or outright waive him.

Jolly originally went undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft but landed with the Cleveland Browns practice squad. The Rams signed him to their active roster for the 2022 season and tendered him this past offseason. They eventually re-signed him a month later.

Los Angeles now has one extra roster spot to fill, though the team did not announce a corresponding move.

The Rams could opt to sign a veteran in free agency or elevate someone from their practice squad. There are a number of directions the team can go, most notably at outside linebacker as that is the most unproven group.

The move comes on the heels of Duke Shelley signing with Los Angeles after he was cut by the Las Vegas Raiders. Shelley provides valuable secondary depth, though he will still likely be relegated to special teams.

The organization will be leaning heavily on its young talent to fill their cornerback and safety positions. Outside of Jordan Fuller and Ahkello Witherspoon, the secondary will be headlined by second-year players like Cobie Durant, Derion Kendrick, Quentin Lake and Russ Yeast.

All four players have shown some upside in their short NFL careers, though they will not be handling much more responsibility earlier than expected. Raheem Morris is a capable defensive coordinator, but even he would likely admit that the group is more inexperienced than he would prefer.

Seahawks sign Robert Rochell to practice squad

The Rams had a few surprising cuts as they trimmed the roster down to 53 players. The most surprising one was Logan Bruss, though right behind him was Robert Rochell.

Rochell camp into training camp expected to compete for a starting spot, but instead the organization decided to release him. However, Rochell didn’t have to wait long to find his new home as he immediately signed on to the Seattle Seahawks practice squad once he cleared waivers.