Aaron Donald won’t be on the field in Philadelphia, but the Rams got more help than they might have expected elsewhere on the injury report.
Donald is out for Week 4 with back soreness, ending any suspense after he logged DNPs all week and got an unpromising update from Sean McVay on Thursday. At 35 and only two games into his unretirement tour, the Rams are opting to keep him out against the Eagles.
The rest of the report is a lot friendlier. Cornerback Jaylen Watson (shoulder) and tight end Terrance Ferguson (ankle) are also out, and Colby Parkinson is questionable with knee and shoulder issues. But the bigger names the Rams were monitoring came through.
Safety Kamren Kinchens, sidelined since Week 1 with a hamstring injury, carries no designation after practicing fully on Friday. Puka Nacua, whom McVay said he expected to play but still wasn’t fully out of the woods, is good to go with no questionable tag at all. Davante Adams and nose tackle Poona Ford, who missed practice on routine rest days, are also set to play.
That leaves the Rams with a final injury report that feels neutral at worst and probably tilts their way.
Getting Nacua back matters, especially with Ferguson unavailable and Parkinson potentially limited or out. It should also ease some of the burden on Adams, who is coming off the best two-game stretch of his career and won’t have to carry quite as much of the load.
Adams won’t mind the help, either. The more one-on-ones he sees, the better.
Kinchens’ return could matter just as much on the back end. Trent McDuffie and Quentin Lake have been excellent, but the secondary took a beating when Watson was out in the second half against the Broncos. That forced more of Emmanuel Forbes, and the results were ugly.
Kinchens isn’t a corner, of course, but another healthy defensive back should help the group hold up over the course of the game. Jaylen McCollough has done a solid job filling in for him at safety, yet the Rams would still love to have Kinchens back next to veteran starter Kam Curl.
Donald’s absence won’t make life any easier on the defensive front, especially with Saquon Barkley waiting. The Rams will lose some interior pass-rush punch, too. Even so, Ford, Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske give them a strong starting line, with Tyler Davis available behind them.
If there’s a spot that could swing things more than the defensive line, it’s the tight end rotation. McVay leans on heavy personnel, and with the Rams thin at receiver, what happens if Parkinson can’t go or isn’t effective could have a real impact on the offense.
In Other News...
Rams Enter Eagles Test With A Sudden Special Teams Problem
The Rams head into their Week 4 matchup with the Eagles carrying the usual injury baggage, but the special teams picture changed in a hurry this week. Los Angeles put tight end Terrance Ferguson on injured reserve, waived punt returner Xavier Smith and promoted running back Dean Connors to the active roster, a set of moves that puts extra attention on how the Rams handle the kicking game going into a matchup that already has plenty of personnel questions on both sides.
Philadelphia is dealing with its own absences, including DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert, but the Rams immediate concern is more basic: who handles returns and how cleanly the operation holds together. Those decisions tend to matter most when the games get tight, and with another short-week style test looming against a banged-up opponent, Los Angeles suddenly has one more area to sort out before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Just Watched A Massive Eagles Threat Suddenly Leave The Game
Saquon Barkleys afternoon against the Rams changed in an instant in Week 4, when the Eagles star suffered a right hamstring injury on a non-contact run and headed to the sideline. Barkley was listed as questionable to return after leaving the field favoring his leg, and Philadelphia had to quickly reshuffle its backfield with Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley stepping in.
For the Rams, the timing mattered as much as the injury itself. Barkley is the kind of player who can force an offense to stay on schedule and stress a defense every snap, so his exit immediately altered how the Eagles had to approach the rest of the game. Any setback involving a threat of that caliber is the sort of development a defense notices right away, even before the full impact becomes clear. [Read more 🡒]
Puka Nacuas Return Still Leaves Rams With One Big Concern
Puka Nacua was back on the field for the Rams in Week 4 against the Eagles after sitting out two games because of a pre-hernia injury that involved hip and groin soreness, a reminder of how careful Los Angeles has been trying to be with one of its most important receivers. Sean McVay has already clarified that Nacua does not have a full hernia, and the teams approach has been to manage the issue rather than push it.
Nacuas return mattered because he had already led the Rams in receptions and receiving yards in Week 1, and he still found a way to contribute against Philadelphia. The bigger concern now is less about whether he can play through it in the short term and more about how the Rams balance his value on the field with the risk of the injury lingering over the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]