The injury-plagued defending champion Los Angeles Rams head into Week 14’s outing against the Las Vegas Raiders at 3-9 on the season and losers of six consecutive games.
Los Angeles will be without quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson as well as star defender Aaron Donald, among others, for this somewhat meaningless game on Thursday Night Football.
But the game itself is not meaningless from the perspective of head coach Sean McVay and Co. Sure Los Angeles has no reason to tank with its first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft headed to Detroit. But it will want to see what young players can do in this one. There’s also a certain former No. 1 pick the team added this week that could make his debut.
Below, we look at three players to watch when Los Angeles hosts Vegas Thursday night on Amazon Prime.
Baker Mayfield could be active for Los Angeles Rams
McVay noted one day after Los Angeles picked up Baker Mayfield off waivers from the Carolina Panthers that he could very well make his debut Thursday evening. “I’ll lean toward him being active,” McVay told reporters on Wednesday.
With Stafford on injured reserve and John Wolford questionable to go, Mayfield could actually be in line to start. There’s absolutely no reason for Los Angeles not to play Mayfield in this one. The team needs a true QB2 behind Stafford in 2023 and beyond. At the very least, Mayfield could potentially provide that. After all, McVay has a high opinion of the former No. 1 pick.
“He’s a really sharp, smart, cerebral player that has a great competitiveness to him that you can’t help but like,” McVay on Mayfield.
Mayfield gets an opportunity to show his stuff on the actual field of play over the next month while the Rams get a first-hand look at a potential backup. This could be a win-win.
Derion Kendrick gets a chance to prove himself
The only real popcorn-worthy matchup of this Thursday Night Football game is going to see Davante Adams go up against Jalen Ramsey. At the very least, that should provide some fireworks.
But the Rams already know what they have in Ramsey. Instead, the coaching staff and their fans want to see what Kendrick can bring to the table. The rookie sixth-round pick from Georgia was highly-touted in college. He just never really lived up to expectations, leading to a fall to the latter stages of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Most recently, Kendrick has seen a major uptick in playing time at cornerback. He played in 100% of the Rams’ defensive snaps during a Week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, recording 10 tackles. However, the youngster has struggled in coverage as a rookie (105.2 QB rating allowed). Can he flip the script against a surprising receiver in Mack Hollins Thursday night?
Los Angeles Rams will get another look at Tutu Atwell
When Los Angeles selected Atwell in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, opposing teams had to be concerned about how they’d unleash the 5-foot-9 dynamo. He was coming off a brilliant career at Louisville and just seemed to be another weapon for Sean McVay.
Then, 2021 happened. Atwell played in eight games and did not record a single catch. Over the course of his first six appearances as a sophomore, Atwell saw action on 30 offensive snaps with all of two catches.
Injuries have forced him to play a larger role over the past two games with a combined 58 snaps on offense. To an extent, Atwell has showed us why the Rams were so high on him. He caught a 62-yard touchdown against the Saints in Week 11 and has followed that up with four receptions for 71 yards in two games since. As we noted above, the Rams want to get a first-hand view of their youngsters. There’s no better game than Thursday to unleash Mr. Atwell.
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