As has seemingly become tradition around the Rams, the team’s offensive line will bear some monitoring entering Week 2 after guards Kevin Dotson and Steve Avila suffered ankle sprains in Sunday’s season-opening 14-9 victory over the Houston Texans.
Avila, the Rams’ starting left guard, suffered his injury in the second quarter on Sunday as his ankle was rolled up on during a running play. He tested the ankle out during halftime warmups, but ultimately the Rams (1-0) opted to stick with backup Beaux Limmer in Avila’s place.
But after Dotson sprained his ankle, Avila came back into the game and Limmer switched over to right guard. Avila finished the game out, walking downfield in between snaps before going full-speed during plays, moving up to the second level on runs.
“Steve did an amazing job of being able to come in to finish the game,” head coach Sean McVay said during his Monday Zoom call with reporters.
McVay said both players suffered lateral ankle sprains. But he did not rule either out for next weekend’s game against the Tennessee Titans (0-1), saying both would be evaluated as the week progressed and both could practice at some point this week.
“It’s really kind of day-to-day,” McVay said. “So there’s a possibility they could practice. There’s a possibility they might. And that’s where I know I’ll have more information and more clarity as we have a little bit of time for them to get their rehab, see how they respond post-24 hours and 48 hours. Leading into Wednesday, I’ll have a lot better idea of their projected workload looks like and what their status will be.”
As things stand currently, the Rams have two backup interior linemen on the active roster – Limmer and the second-year player Justin Dedich. The Rams also have Wyatt Bowles and Dylan McMahon on the practice squad who could be promoted to the active roster should Avila or Dotson be ruled out for the Titans.
McVay didn’t rule out signing someone to offset depth concerns at guard with Avila and Dotson’s situations being in flux, but said the preference would be to resolve any issues with players currently on the roster or practice squad.
Tight end Colby Parkinson also suffered an AC sprain in his shoulder in the first half against the Texans. While he was able to finish the game and make two catches, McVay said he was uncertain whether or not Parkinson would play against Tennessee.