Sean McVay will have to wait a while.
The offensive line that cost the sheep tens of millions of dollars to reconfigure are mired in injuries as McVay prepares his team for Sunday’s joint practice with the chargers.
On Thursday, McVay said left guard Jonah Jackson would be “week to week” after suffering a shoulder injury on Tuesday. Left tackle Alaric Jackson remained sidelined with an ankle injury, and on Thursday right tackle Rob Havenstein left practice with an unspecified foot injury.
The sheep do not play your opener through Sept. 8 in Detroit, so the forwards will have plenty of time to recover.
McVay, however, does not start in preseason games, making joint practices with other teams the best opportunity to measure the progress of the offense, defense and special teams.
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When the Rams and quarterback Matthew Stafford visit El Segundo to practice with the Chargers – who feature pass rushers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack – who could possibly be without all three starting offensive linemen injured.
Joe Noteboom is playing left tackle, Zach Thomas is playing left guard.
“We’ll be better when these guys come back, whatever the schedule is,” McVay said of the starters, “but in the meantime, we owe it to ourselves and the other guys to be able to support them.”
After making the playoffs last season, the Rams invested millions in signing right guard Kevin Dotson (three years, $32 million guaranteed per Overthecap.com) and then signed left guard Jonah Jackson (three years, U.S. $34 million guaranteed), which allowed them to move second-year pro Steve Avila from left guard to center.
Alaric Jackson, a restricted free agent, received a second-round tender that cost the Rams $4.9 million.
Jonah Jackson’s injury appears to be the most serious.
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Last season with the Detroit Lions, Jackson was sidelined for four games with wrist and ankle injuries. He did not play in the NFC Championship Game because of a knee injury suffered in the divisional round.
During offseason workouts, Jonah Jackson did not participate in most on-field practices while recovering from knee surgery.
McVay said Jonah Jackson had his “best practices” before suffering the shoulder injury.
“I know he wants to be here more than anyone, and he played really well the other day,” McVay said. “He has a lot of work to do – there’s a reason we feel so strongly about being able to add him here, and this is another small, temporary setback.”
Etc.
Defensive tackle Kobie Turner, who has been limited since the start of training camp because of a groin issue, participated in the team’s practices. “You felt his presence, his communication, his ability to disrupt,” McVay said. … The Rams are off Friday. They will practice on Saturday and then practice with the Chargers on Sunday in El Segundo.
This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
