The Rams got through Week 1 with more than just a loss to the 49ers, but the early injury picture is looking better than it could have been.
Safety Kam Curl, linebacker Nate Landman and tight end Davis Allen all came out of the opener with injuries - Curl with an ankle issue, Landman with shoulder and thumb problems, and Allen with a concussion - yet the expectation is that all three will be available Monday against the Giants. That gives Los Angeles a chance to move on without having to dig deep into emergency replacements.
The one update that wasn’t quite as clean came on Omar Speights. He left with a hip injury, came back into the game, and is still dealing with swelling. Even so, Sean McVay sounded encouraged.
"[He's] got some swelling there ... but he's feeling better than what we had anticipated," McVay said via beat writer Stu Jackson. "He's making positive gains right now."
That matters because the Rams already have enough to sort out after a rough opener. If Curl, Landman and Allen are good to go, the focus can shift entirely to bouncing back from the disaster against San Francisco instead of patching holes on the fly. There’s also the possibility Aaron Donald could return, which would help however much it can.
The linebacker situation is the biggest concern. Los Angeles is thin there already, and both starters getting banged up in the same game is not ideal.
Shaun Dolac filled in for Speights and handled himself well before Speights returned, but the only other linebackers on the roster are Grant Stuard and Dolac. Still, the expectation is that Landman will be ready for the Giants, and McVay said the team will be careful with him in practice so the injury doesn’t flare up.
Curl also appears likely to play.
If those pieces are in place, the Rams can spend the week cleaning up what went wrong Thursday - which, by their own performance, was just about everything. The defense has to start with the run after the 49ers piled up 174 yards at 5.8 yards per carry. Having Landman available would go a long way toward tightening things up at and around the line of scrimmage.
Garrett’s absence is a separate problem, and there’s no real replacing that. The soonest he can return is Week 6 against Arizona. But with the other injuries not turning into anything worse, Chris Shula at least has a healthier group to work with while he tries to straighten out a defense that looked flat from the start.
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