The Los Angeles Rams' 2023 season has come to an end, and although they won't be bringing home another Lombardi Trophy, it was still a season to be proud of.
Despite fielding one of the youngest teams in the league and starting 3-6, the Rams never quit. They reeled off seven of their final eight regular season games to make the playoffs, something very few people expected heading into the year. Even though the Rams went one and done in the playoffs, they gave the Detroit Lions all they could handle in the only close game of the Wild Card Round.
With another season in the books, offensive tackle Rob Havenstein, one of the Rams' longest-tenured players, gave a very clear message to his younger teammates.
"Don't underestimate the work it takes to get to this point," Havenstein told reporters Tuesday. "Obviously when you have success early on, making the playoffs your rookie year, you can almost be clouded with how hard it is to do that. I think the guys put in enough work this season to turn this ship around, and at the end of the day, make the playoffs. But there's a lot of guys that have full careers in this league and don't ever get a chance to do that."
The Rams would not be where they are now without the contributions of their outstanding rookie class. Receiver Puka Nacua is the rookie who got the most attention, as he set NFL records with 105 receptions and 1,486 yards in his debut season.
In addition to Nacua, the Rams also found two sack artists in Kobie Turner and Byron Young, as well as an offensive lineman who started every game in Steve Avila.
Suddenly, a team whose future looked bleak not too long ago now looks set up for a while to come. However, Havenstein knows that complacency can be a team's downfall, and warned the young Rams to avoid that fate at all costs.
"There's never picking up right where you left off just because of the nature of the NFL, there's going to be different players, different coaches, you might do things a little bit differently to adapt to a changing NFL game," Havenstein said. "But it's all experience, and so the more of that you can get in a positive way, I think that's what (head coach) Sean (McVay) created – a culture, this year especially, of just going about things the right way and just working on playing better football, being a better football player, being a better teammate and keeping everything a positive environment around."
More must-reads: