- Joined
- May 26, 2013
- Messages
- 11,962
- Name
- River
By: Cameron DaSilva | 4 hours ago
Sean McVay approaches the preseason differently than most coaches. The Los Angeles Rams’ veteran starters haven’t taken a single snap in the preseason with the majority of them not even making the trip to Hawaii for last week’s game against the Cowboys.
The Rams used the same plan last year and it worked to perfection, keeping their top players out of the crosshairs of the preseason injury bug. Unfortunately, McVay was almost forced to play a few of his potential starters because of competitions that are ongoing.
That led to Micah Kiser playing the last two weeks and ultimately suffering a pectoral injury, sidelining him indefinitely. It’s not something the Rams could’ve predicted and with Kiser battling Bryce Hager for the starting job, McVay needed game film to help pick a starter.
As unfortunate as the injury is, it won’t cause McVay to change his plan about playing Hager, Sebastian Joseph-Day and Greg Gaines in the preseason.
“For us, I don’t think you want to let one instance change it but if you feel like those guys that have carved out that role for themselves have got enough work in the preseason, then you say, ‘Hey, let’s just continue to focus on the practice and be smart about that over the next couple of weeks.’ That’s certainly something that we would discuss whether or not an injury occurs to Micah or whether we came out of that thing totally clean,” McVay said recently.
As for why Kiser and some of the other potential starters were playing, McVay explained that they’re young and inexperienced. It’s important for those players to get their feet wet in the event that they do turn out to be starters.
“I think for us, the reason that we thought it was important for those guys to play is because they are still younger guys that haven’t had the accumulation of work,” he said. “Then there is also an element of what does the depth look like at that specific spot, specific to our roster. Then you say, ‘Why haven’t Joe Noteboom, and Brian Allen played?’ I think they’ve clearly established themselves as clear cut starters. Different than some of these situational starters that you might have on defense or even in Micah’s case.”
Unlike Kiser, Noteboom and Allen are going to be on the field for just about every single play. They aren’t going to be subbed out on third downs like Kiser would’ve been, which makes them more valuable assets – thus McVay’s decision to keep them out of preseason games.
“Those guys are playing every single snap so, if it is something that ends up leading to an injury, you certainly hate it,” he continued. “I think we’ve been really thorough and always having a why we are approaching it the way that we are. Unfortunately, whether it is in preseason games or regular season, even in practice, sometimes these injuries are inevitable and you can’t always avoid it.”
It’s impossible to blame McVay for playing Kiser, and his injury is just more evidence that his decision to rest players such as Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Andrew Whitworth and Aaron Donald is the right move. If one of them were to get hurt, it would dramatically impact the Rams’ season.
Sean McVay not second-guessing preseason plan after Micah Kiser's injury
Micah Kiser’s injury hasn’t caused Sean McVay to second-guess his decision to play the Rams’ young starters.
theramswire.usatoday.com
