The prospective start of offensive guard Jonah Jackson‘s new tenure with the Rams hit a bit of a bump in the road yesterday. After leaving practice Tuesday with a member of the team’s training staff, Jackson was absent at today’s walkthrough. Initially, the team called Jackson’s shoulder injury a day-to-day ailment, but ESPN’s Sarah Barshop reports the update that Jackson is set to miss the preseason with a bruised left scapula. 
Jackson just played out his rookie contract with the Lions. When the two sides were unable to come together on an extension agreement in the offseason, the Rams swooped in and collected on Detroit’s loss. Los Angeles signed Jackson to a three-year, $51MM deal including $34MM in guarantees.
The guarantees came despite a recent trend of Jackson missing a handful of games in the last two seasons. He was unavailable for four games in 2022 and five games last year as he dealt with wrist, ankle, and knee injuries. Noting the history, Rams head coach Sean McVay insisted that, while Jackson was “in good shape,” the team was trying to be “smart” with how they were utilizing him at practices throughout the offseason. Their plan was for him to be full-go at training camp — a plan which has backfired as they can now add “shoulder” to the above list of body parts with recent injuries.
While Jackson’s sidelined for the rest of the preseason, the team will likely give players like Logan Bruss and Mike McAllister some run in his spot. Bruss is a former third-round pick who has yet to appear in an NFL contest. His rookie season was lost to a torn ACL and MCL in the Rams’ second preseason game that year, and he spent last season on the practice squad. McAllister was an undrafted rookie interior lineman a year ago who has also failed to see any NFL action. Joseph Noteboom could potentially backup Jackson at the position, but he’s already backing up an injured Alaric Jackson at left tackle, per Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic.
The lack of sufficient, experienced depth is a bit of a concern for the Rams, but they do think Jackson has a chance to return for the start of the regular season. The Rams open with the team that refused to meet Jackson’s contract demands as they head to Detroit for Week 1. They’ll hope Jackson is ready to face his former team, but if not, they may need to invest in a more secure backup situation.