The Los Angeles Rams have turned a lot of heads this season as many believed they would be one of the worst teams in the NFL. Even though their record is 2-3, Sean McVay’s team has been extremely competitive in all of their games this season, despite some injury issues. But now the team has been dealt another setback with defensive tackle Bobby Brown III.
While his numbers may not stand out, Brown is the Rams’ starting nose tackle and is the only defensive lineman on the team who weighs over 300 pounds. He is extremely important to the team’s run defense and now they will have to figure out a way to remain solid in that aspect without him, though the news could have been much worse.
McVay gave an update on the defensive tackle, revealing that what was thought to be a tear is instead a Grade 3 MCL sprain and Brown could return in a couple months.
“Fortunate news on Bobby Brown,” the Rams head coach said. “He just got his MCL, it was a grade three sprain. He should be out five to seven weeks, so he’ll probably be a candidate for short-term IR.
“Initially, we were thinking that might’ve been potentially the year, so grateful for that. Not ideal in general, but he was able to come out with what I thought was going to be a worse injury just based on our initial observation so that was a positive thing.”
As McVay said, considering the belief that the injury was much worse, the news of a sprain, even one this severe, is still positive news. The Rams will likely place Brown on injured reserve, but he has the chance to return later this season which is good to hear. The question now becomes what will the Rams do to replace their nose tackle.
Third-round pick Kobie Turner is an option as is fourth-year man Larrell Murchison, but neither has the ideal size of a true nose tackle that Brown possesses. A team needs that true big man to eat up blockers and take up space and the Rams might need to look at outside options for a solution.
Perhaps someone like an Akiem Hicks or a familiar face in Michael Brockers could help fill the void at nose tackle. Maybe McVay and the Rams will stick with their in-house options, but the loss of Brown will be a difficult void to fill.
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