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Lindsey ThiryESPN
THOUSAND OAKS, California – Uncertainty over the health of Los Angeles rams threatens as they begin preparations for a playoff game for the Green Bay Packers.
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald has a rib injury, wide receiver Cooper Kupp has bursitis in his knee, quarterback John Wolford has a sting and quarterback Jared Goff continues to recover from the thumb surgery he underwent on Dec. 28.
Rams coach Sean McVay on Sunday night expressed optimism that Donald and Kupp could return for next Saturday’s game, but the quarterback situation remains unclear.
“I want to be able to just see their health,” McVay told Wolford and Goff. “That’s the first thing, and we’ll just go from there.”
McVay said he had not determined who was going to start against the Packers, and he did not indicate whether he would lean in any direction.
Wolford started a second straight game in a 30-20 win-win game against the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, but he played 5:40 in the first quarter after having a sting.
Goff entered the game – 12 days removed from surgery to repair a broken thumb on his throwing hand – and passed for 155 yards and a touchdown. Afterwards, Goff said he has no pain in his thumb and that he is ‘very competent with what I am doing right now’, even though he is less than 100 percent healthy.
However, McVay said on Sunday it was clear Goff’s injured thumb was affecting his game, and the coach did not want to speculate on who would start against the Packers if Goff’s recovery continued without any setback.
“I’m going to take it one day at a time. It affected him yesterday; you watch the game, it did,” McVay said of Goff. “And it might not have been painful, but it was something he did very well to fight while he was ready to go; and there were some things he could usually accomplish to make it seem like it. was a factor. “
Wolford and Goff were the Rams’ only active fullbacks against the Seahawks, but McVay said he might keep a third fullback against the Packers due to the circumstances.
As for Donald, who scored 13.5 bags in the regular season and added two more against the Seahawks, McVay declined to provide details when asked about the severity of his rib injury.
“We’ll be smart with him all week,” McVay said. “But I do think that if he is going to do something, he will do everything in his power to be ready.”
Donald suffered the injury in the third quarter in Seattle when he hit quarterback Russell Wilson, who landed on Donald’s ribs. Donald left the game and did not return.
Kupp left the game in the fourth quarter, though McVay said his injury did not occur at any particular game.
“We will just keep an eye on him for the day and hopefully undertake the swelling and inflammation with the anticipation and hope of having him ready,” McVay said.
McVay also said left-back David Edwards, who left the trend on Saturday in the second quarter, has Achilles tendinitis and will be from day to day. If he can not play, Bobby Evans will start on left guard.