After having no names on their injury report last week, the Rams enter their final regular season game with right tackle Rob Havenstein and wide receiver Jordan Whittington appearing on the report released on Wednesday.
Neither player is expected to play much, if at all, this week vs. Seattle as the team prepares to host either Detroit or Minnesota in the Wild Card round.
Havenstein was a non-participant in practice on Wednesday. He is still dealing with a lingering shoulder injury. Havenstein missed the Arizona game for the same reason with Joe Noteboom starting in his place. Havenstein will miss the Seahawks game.
Sean McVay was asked if Havenstein would miss this week's game responding “Rob will be, yeah. He'll be a guy that because of his injury status, that sorts itself out. The good thing is everything is tilting towards he'll be ready to go for that playoff game.”
Jordan Whittington is dealing with an ankle injury that limited his participation in practice. Whittington's role in the Rams' offense has decreased since the return of Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp but he has taken on a new responsibility on the kickoff team. If Whittington can not go on Sunday, it is expected that Xavier Smith will take his place as a receiver and returner.
With the Rams having already clinched a playoff spot, the team will be able to activate multiple players off of IR once the postseason begins. McVay spoke about the team's plans moving forward regarding John Johnson III and Troy Reeder stating, “Here's what we get. We get a couple extra spots. We still have that one that's left from the regular season, which does carry over into the playoffs. The unique thing is you might have those spots, but then you also have to free it up by releasing somebody."
"There won't be any imminent moves for this week. As far as next week's concerned, that's something that we want to be intentional about," McVay continued. "Let's get through the Seattle game. Hopefully, that doesn't naturally sort itself out based on any injuries that occur, but that is a possibility. But being able to get those two additional spots is a good thing. When we connect after that game on Monday, then I'll have an idea because that's going to be one of the first priorities, just for clarity for those guys. Sometimes those things don't necessarily sort themselves out until you have the appropriate information, which would be getting through this game.”
Moving forward, the Rams look to use their last game to make their final roster preparations before the playoffs.
Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @RamsInsideronSI and @MNSToday and never miss another breaking news story again.
Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/ as BREAKING: Rams Release First Injury Report of Week 18.