The Rams are in a luxurious place. They're one of a select few who get a pseudo-BYE week to end their regular season. Unlike most of the NFL, which is battling for playoff positions or jobs, the Rams are looking toward next week's home playoff game, and their injury list reflects their mindset.
Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Kyren Williams, Alaric Jackson, and Kevin Dotson were added to the list as NFL protocols required, allowing all six men to sit out against Seattle with a coach's decision designation. All six men were full participants for Friday's practice.
Rob Havenstein continues his shoulder rehabilitation, missing yet another practice as he looks to be ready by next week. He will also miss the Rams' regular-season finale.
Jordan Whittington's ankle injury seems to have progressed to the point that the rookie receiver feels comfortable playing with it. Whittington was a full participant in practice after being listed as limited on Wednesday and Thursday. With Nacua and Kupp out, Whittington should see a fair share of snaps against Seattle as long as his ankle doesn't cause him any issues.
Out of the remaining active receivers, Whittington is the only one with a contract through next season so while the team may want to give him opportunities, concerns about his ankle paired with the front office needing to evaluate Tutu Atwell, Demarcus Robinson, Tyler Johnson and Xavier Smith may limit the man from Texas.
McVay went into detail regarding his decisions saying "Rob Havenstein will be out for this game and then the other guys that will be affected... really, it's a unique situation like we've talked about. You get 53 guys on your active roster, two practice squad flexes and then that can enable you to be able to have five other additional inactives."
"Guys are banged up, but they'd be able to go if it was a normal game so we're going to err on the side of caution with those guys and then some of the skill players offensively that’ve gotten a bunch of work and really have been just a little bit more experienced players. The guys that you guys will see that will be listed as doubtful."
Tutu Atwell returned to practice on Friday, paving the way for an expected high snap count on Sunday. Atwell missed practice on Wednesday due to personal reasons. McVay did not go further regarding Atwell's absence.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/ as BREAKING: Rams Release Final Week 18 Injury Report.