An MCL sprain suffered in Week 1 made Steve Avila a candidate for injured reserve. The second-year offensive lineman was certainly moved to IR on Wednesday as a part of the Rams’ injury-related strikes.
Avila will miss a minimum of the following 4 weeks in consequence, however he underwent surgical procedure to assist his restoration. The 24-year-old’s process came about Thursday, head coach Sean McVay stated. The plan behind that transfer, he added, was accelerating Avila’s therapeutic course of, and his restoration timeline will probably be watched carefully because the Rams transfer ahead with a shorthanded O-line.
Left deal with Joe Noteboom can also be on injured reserve, though changing him could also be a matter of merely inserting Alaric Jackson into the beginning lineup as early as Week 3. Jackson was hit with a two-game suspension to start the season as a consequence of a private conduct coverage violation. Alongside the inside, how the Rams proceed in Avila’s absence will rely largely on the place Jonah Jackson strains up.
Added in free company on a three-year, $51M deal, Jackson performed at guard throughout his Lions tenure. Avila’s success at left guard as a rookie prompted the workforce to maintain him there, although, and use Jackson at center. Adjustments to that association will probably be wanted now that Avila is out of the image in the intervening time. The TCU product’s absence will probably be acutely felt given the character of his rookie marketing campaign, throughout which he logged over 1,100 snaps and ranked thirty fifth amongst qualifying guards by way of PFF grade.
In different information alongside the O-line, McVay added that he expects proper deal with Rob Havenstein to be out there for Week 2. Having him in place would result in Warren McClendon taking up left deal with duties within the wake of Noteboom’s damage, he added (h/t Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic). McVay additionally stated proper guard Kevin Dotson must be be to swimsuit up on Sunday, a constructive signal for the Rams’ offensive inside. That unit will nonetheless be with out Avila for the foreseeable future, and his success in rehab following surgical procedure will probably be price monitoring.
