Goodnews: McVay expressed optimism that Kyren Williams will be back on the field of play in no distance time.
Does Kyren Williams’ foot ailment cause us to worry?
Kyren Williams, the running back, was one of the unexpected absences from the Los Angeles Rams’ Organized Team Activities (OTAs) this week. According to Sean McVay, Williams had a foot problem during training, but there was no need to be concerned about it moving forward. McVay stated,
“Kyren is doing well. We’re going to treat his little foot condition with caution. It’s most likely good. That madman has been amazing, but sometimes it’s nice to just be able to pull him back since he works so hard.He will not take part in the program during the off-season. There’s no need to be concerned. He’ll be prepared for training camp, but let me just kind of leave it at that. There was a small problem during his training. However, there is nothing to worry about. He is eager to return to the field, but that will be for training camp.
There’s little doubt that McVay frequently gives evasive and ambiguous responses when asked about injuries to the Rams. He has previously minimized injuries or withheld facts in the past. It’s just the way things have been under McVay, whether for player protection or competitive purposes.
The finest illustration of this was Cooper Kupp’s hamstring injury from the previous season. Following Kupp’s hamstring injury, McVay repeatedly remarked, “I’m not sure.” He mentioned something in the red zone, but I haven’t spoken to those folks. I was only informed that he was away for practice. “Don’t want to rush it, but I think it’s kind of more of a day-to-day thing,” McVay stated a few days later. It’s not something we anticipate taking a long time.
We already know that Kupp experienced a setback, and McVay was cited at the time as stating, “We’re kind of taking it day-by-day with him.” We want to be able to bring him back to normal, so I would certainly describe it as a setback. Following that Thursday response, McVay expressed optimism that he will return for Week 1 on Monday, but he was unable to share much detail about his meeting with the specialists.
But the Kupp incident from last summer wasn’t an isolated incident. You can review McVay’s handling of the conversations around Todd Gurley’s circumstances. According to McVay, “He’s feeling good” going into the 2019 training camp. He’s progressing steadily and hasn’t experienced any setbacks. It’s crucial that he feels fantastic. after Gurley had four carries during the entire NFC Championship game against the New Orleans Saints. Following the game, McVay stated, “To start, Todd is healthy and feeling good.”
We now know that probably wasn’t the case and that Gurley’s knee wasn’t fully healed when he sustained an injury later in the season against the Philadelphia Eagles. For months, McVay was questioned about Gurley, but he never appeared to have a clear response. In regards to Stafford’s elbow ailment after 2021, the same can be said.
This is not to suggest that Williams’ condition would worsen or even to suggest that McVay was not being truthful about how serious it was. It’s also not accurate or direct to compare Gurley’s degenerative knee with Williams’ foot issue. It’s conceivable that at the time of some inquiries, McVay was ignorant of some details. Having said that, in certain situations he probably knew more than he was revealing.
Having said that, there are a few points to consider.
First off, since his rookie season, Williams has had foot problems. He missed all of 2022’s OTAs due to a broken foot, which kept him out until Week 1. His first season was derailed when he subsequently sustained a severe ankle sprain during the home opener. Williams’ ankle issue from the previous year also kept him out of four games.
It’s also true that the Rams needed a running back to give the roster more depth heading into the 2024 campaign. They chose Michigan native Blake Corum to fill that need. One could counter that the third round addressed the position a little sooner and at a higher level than some had anticipated. Although it’s unclear if this foot problem has persisted, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic claims that
“They did not extend running backs, so every two years or so, a new should-start player must emerge. They drafted (Corum) in the third round because they adored him, he was a Sugarman visit, and there is enough injury history even before this (recent) issue with Kyren to need a solid 2.”
Regarding Williams and the severity of his foot ailment, there are definitely grounds for alarm. We currently only have McVay’s word that he will return for training camp, which is all the information we have. It’s not the end of the world to miss an OTA; in fact, it might just be a warning sign. Naturally, the optimistic storyline in this case is that many people are exaggerating Williams’ condition, and it might not be entirely untrue.
However, the same thing was reported in 2022 regarding Stafford’s elbow injury. McVay was quoted as stating, “People forget what a big deal that was,” prior to the draft last year. This came after the ailment was played down for the duration of the offseason.
Ultimately, it won’t be clear how serious Williams’ injury is until training camp, when he will be practicing with the starting offense.
Gaining more reps at this time will help Corum in the long run. The Rams are starting their install at this time, and he’s been able to participate in the offense early on thanks to his reps, just like Puka Nacua did during training camp the previous year when Kupp wasn’t healthy. According to Rodrigue,
That entails delving deeply into Sean McVay’s playbook as head coach. Despite being so new, Corum has already received about three-quarters of it.However, he soon saw that every component of McVay’s run game works in concert with the others to create a bigger image.
It looks good that Corum is joining in and taking the offensive early on in order to share the workload more fairly with Williams in 2024. Under McVay, the Rams have generally relied on more seasoned running backs, and their system hasn’t always consisted of two running backs. Building trust today will pay off later, when it matters most.
There will be a lot of eyes on the Rams running back group since Corum has the same pedigree as he did at Michigan and Williams is coming off of an exceptional season. That is a job where there will be intense competition. This is not to suggest that in 2024 Corum will be the team’s best running back. Williams has a history of injuries, and considering how he began the offseason with issues, Corum might receive more opportunities.
