There are only five weeks to go until the Los Angeles Rams take the field against the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium – a potential Super Bowl preview between the defending champions and arguably the top team in the AFC. Exciting, isn’t it?
It’s hard not to count down the days until the season opener, but the Rams probably wouldn’t mind a little extra time if they could get it. Not because they aren’t ready to face the Bills, but because they have a few lingering injuries that are taking some time to heal.
Jalen Ramsey underwent shoulder surgery in June to repair an injury he played through for the second half of last season. He tried to let the issue heal on its own this spring, but after that didn’t work, he and the team opted for surgery on June 21.
Ramsey isn’t on the PUP list, which is encouraging, but he also said just this week that he’s “nowhere near 100%” yet. He previously said he has no doubt he’ll be ready for Week 1, and he feels “10 times better” now than he did last season, but it remains to be seen when he’ll even be able to practice.
Matthew Stafford is another player with at least some minor injury concern. He played through some pain in his throwing arm last season and had an injection in his elbow this offseason to help alleviate it.
The pain hasn’t yet subsided and as a result, the Rams limited Stafford’s workload in practice on Monday. He only participated in individual drills and Sean McVay said afterwards that the team is just being smart with him.
“It’s not something that we’re concerned about. We just want to be really smart with somebody that is as important as our quarterback is,” McVay said.
And then there’s Van Jefferson, whose availability for Week 1 is far less certain than Ramsey and Stafford’s. Jefferson is undergoing minor knee surgery on Tuesday, which would be his second of the offseason.
McVay said he had a “little knee tweak” and after seeing a specialist, surgery was the best option. He’ll be out a few weeks, McVay said, and “we’ll see what his availability looks like to start the season.”
The coach called it “positive news,” but his unknown status for Week 1 isn’t all that encouraging. If Jefferson were to miss any time, it would result in Ben Skowronek, Tutu Atwell or Jacob Harris likely stepping up as the No. 3 option in an offense that uses three receivers on most plays.
It’s possible all three of Ramsey, Stafford and Jefferson will be on the field against the Bills. But this isn’t the way the Rams would prefer to go through camp, with three key players either being limited or sidelined altogether.
Even though Stafford is the most important player of the bunch, his injury is the least concerning because he’s still practicing and getting in plenty of work. Ramsey shouldn’t need much time to get back up to speed, being a veteran and star cornerback, but Jefferson may not practice again before the season starts – depending how long his recovery is.
The goal is for them to be back for Week 1, and with five weeks to go, there’s still hope all three will be available.
