LA Rams sports medicine working overtime

[BonifayRam]

LA Rams sports medicine working overtime

<h2>After several seasons with few injuries, the LA Rams sports medicine department is working overtime</h2> The LA Rams had been rather quiet ...

ramblinfan.com

by Bret Stuter

The LA Rams had been rather quiet on the injury front for a number of years. While there is always an injury or two to each NFL team, the Rams had found success in the NFL with an offensive line which remained in tact for the entire season. That was not the case in 2019. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The Rams offensive line injuries included: starting center Brian Allen MCL injury, guard Joseph Noteboom ACL/MCL injury, wide receiver Jojo Natson pulled hamstring, running back Darrell Henderson ankle, tackle Andrew Whitworth ankle, and center Austin Blythe ankle and shoulders.

On the defensive side of the ball, the list is even longer: linebacker Micah Kiser torn pectoral, defensive end Justin Lawler foot, linebacker John Caraway torn Achilles, strong safety John Johnson shoulder, linebacker Bryce Hager shoulder, inside linebacker Cory Littleton chest, defensive end Michael Brockers ankle, cornerback Troy Hill thumb, cornerback Jalen Ramsey knee, and free safety Eric Weddle torn meniscus knee.

On the mend
This offseason, Whitworth, Weddle, and Blythe had corrective surgeries. While Whitworth and Blythe are free agents, Weddle’s contract may need to be revisited this off-season to help the team remain under the NFL salary cap. Players who may not be medically cleared by the start of training camp include: Hill, Ramsey, and Weddle. Free agents who may not be cleared by the time training camp begins includes Littleton, Brockers, and Whitworth.

That’s a lot of rehabbing. But Reggie Scott, Senior Director of sports medicine and performance, is up to the task. Referring to the training room as the “Barber Shop”, Scott creates a center for recovery and performance enhancement for players.

The Sports Medicine group does this by focusing on the mind, body and spirit in the healing process. In Scott’s own words: “believe it or not, the body is probably the easiest part to rehab”. It’s not just physical therapy. It is designed to restore a player’s trust in their own body once more. And it works to eliminate the doubts which accompany each devastating body injury. Beyond that, sports medicine encompasses all body inputs. It covers hydration, nutrition, sleep, body fatigue, circulation, massage therapy and a host of disciplines which focus upon healing the athlete to the optimal level.

We’ve just covered the Data analytics, and now moved over to sports medicine. Why? Well the two are incredibly tightly related. Sports medicine focuses upon and records body inputs. Data analytics focuses upon and records performance outputs. Combine the two and now players and coaches can measure how much sleep, water, nutrition, pre game warmups, and playing minutes a player needs to perform their best on game day Sunday.

Head coach Sean McVay benefits greatly from the efforts of the teams Sports Medicine department. Now that he has hired two coordinators who are equally comfortable in working with sports medicine and big data, the team can make even more advances in that direction. Sometimes improving the team is adopting the latest and greatest advances in related fields. The Rams are ahead of that curve now.

Better than ever
Wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who fell to an ACL injury in 2018 and missed the Rams playoff run to Super Bowl 53, returned to health with a vengeance in 2019. Kupp led the receivers in catches (94), yards (1161), and touchdowns (10) this past season – all career bests.

Fans take it all for granted nowadays. But injuries had a history of ending an NFL player’s career not so long ago. Now the team relies upon Scott and his staff: Byron Cunningham, Tyler Williams, Mark Dydasco, Jacques McClendon, and Joey Blake to ensure that does not happen again.

It says quite a bit about the sports medicine department when the team suffers so many injuries and there is almost no concern about player’s losing playing ability afterwards. A strong sports medicine department gives a strong advantage to an NFL team

 

[So Ram]

REGGIE SCOTT !!! He has been A Ram for a long time !! He is solid through the move & rebuild.

Still upset at Reggie for not stepping up to get Case Keemun off the field against Baltimore after he was badly concussed.

That all said it is interesting with Whiterspoon,Whitworth both being injured.

Also Weedle & how The Rams buy out his contract ??? He says he wouldn’t come back as a non-starter.

Noteboom & Allen ??? Sign big Whitworth as he rehabs being a mentor to both Allen & Boom like he has the past 2 seasons.

 

[BonifayRam]

I will be thinking some on the pending UFA former starting RG & center Austin Blythe. The Rams are fully aware of just how severe those injuries were to AB & just to what extent those injuries played in his overall poor game performances.

I do not see AB getting a lot of attention from other teams who are in the market for OL'ers to improve their 2019 inadequacies. I expect that the Rams will let AB experience the Free Agency market & let him try to get a nice pay increase in a new contract.

If AB were to have very few suitors & he remains on the open market collecting dust I can see the Rams make him an offer on the low end pay scale to have the opportunity to for his first time enter competition for the starting center post in 2020, not RG as it has been in the past.

 

[XXXIVwin]

Does the original post imply Ramsey may not be ready for training camp? As in, in July, 6 months from now?

We never heard about the extent of his knee injury, right?

 

[Riverumbbq]

I will be thinking some on the pending UFA former starting RG & center Austin Blythe. The Rams are fully aware of just how severe those injuries were to AB & just to what extent those injuries played in his overall poor game performances.

I do not see AB getting a lot of attention from other teams who are in the market for OL'ers to improve their 2019 inadequacies. I expect that the Rams will let AD experience the Free Agency market & let him try to get a nice pay increase in a new contract.

If AB were to have very few suitors & he remains on the open market collecting dust I can see the Rams make him an offer on the low end pay scale to have the opportunity to for his first time enter competition for the starting center post in 2020, not RG as it has been in the past.

Who is AD, or do you mean AB again or AW for Whit ? Your multiple use of initials can get confusing at times, especially with player names and positions getting the same treatment.

 

[BonifayRam]

Who is AD, or do you mean AB again or AW for Whit ? Your multiple use of initials can get confusing at times, especially with player names and positions getting the same treatment.

The subject was Austin Blythe. I try to use initials a lot to shorten up the post as much as possible. I will keep what you said in the back of my small brain in the future.

 

[BonifayRam]

OL'ers in general have a rough time in the NFL when compared to other positions. OL'ers seemed to always be injured or ailing. When you review NFL teams injured reserve roster they are usually full of OL'ers.

Jamon Brown was a strong large built man who had been a starting OT for 3 or more seasons in college & was well known as an excellent player before the Rams inserted him in @ both OG posts. Brown was not built for Rams zone blocking scheme.

Blythe was a small center in college & held no such recognition while in college compared to Brown. Blythe being under 6-2 295 lbs was built for much of the zone blocking schemes Kromer was utilizing in 2017/2018.

If Blythe has recovered from his several injuries & surgeries this off season its very possible that you will be right (Blythe will look very attractive) to some NFL team who will run a zone blocking scheme & has suffered numerous interior OL casualties will take a chance on a seasoned 2 yr starting OL'er.

Blythe has been a Rams now for 3 seasons now & has 36 starts for us. On the flip side he has caused the Rams offense some issues too.