Davante Adams, Braden Fiske, Tyler Higbee & Rob Havenstein

The Los Angeles Rams are preparing for their biggest game of the regular season on a short week, a first place showdown with the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football.

It is a little unfortunate that this Week 16 matchup is on a Thursday given everything that’s at stake with the two 11-3 teams competing for the division title and No. 1 overall seed in the conference.

The Rams are a bit banged up as both Davante Adams and Braden Fiske left the Week 15 win over the Detroit Lions with hamstring and ankle injuries, respectively.

Given the short turnaround, it seems unlikely that either will be able to suit up in Seattle, although head coach Sean McVay is not yet ruling that out, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:

Rams head coach Sean McVay on Tuesday said he will not rule Davante Adams (hamstring) or anyone else yet for Thursday night’s game against the Seahawks at Lumen Field in Seattle (5:15 p.m. PT, Amazon Prime Video).

McVay indicated they would take the decisions on Adams and defensive end Braden Fiske (ankle) – both of whom will not practice Tuesday – up to gametime.

“The two guys that will be DNPs, we’re going to give them every chance that they’ve got – (that) would be Davante with the hamstring, and Fiske came out of the game with a little bit of soreness in his ankle, kind of got banged up,” McVay said. “So we’ll take it a day at a time with those guys, and because of the (walkthrough) – it’ll just be a practice projection. So they’ll both be DNPs, but we’ll take it all the way up to game time to see where they’re at.”

Meanwhile, some reinforcements are on the way for the Rams as tight end Tyler Higbee and right tackle Rob Havenstein are eligible to be activated off injured reserve after missing the last four games.

With the Week 16 matchup coming up so soon though, McVay doesn’t anticipate either being able to return against the Seahawks:

McVay did, however, say that even though tight end Tyler Higbee and offensive lineman Rob Havenstein are now eligible to come off of IR, they will not return this week given the short turnaround between games and how that impacts preparation.

“We’ll see where they’re at once we get past this one,” McVay said. “… These guys, they’re just so steady and they’re so consistent. I mean, it’s why they have such respect from their teammates. And nobody wants to be out there more than those guys do, but they’re still impacting and influence in this team in a tremendous way. I think you look at the way that the tight ends are, the way that some of the guys up front have played. I mean, it’s a tremendous credit to the leadership that comes from both those guys that have been here long before I was even fortunate enough to get here in ’17, and so these are legacy guys. These are guys that impact and influence positive change with people they’re around in situations they’re a part of, and I know they want to be out there, but even if they’re not, they’re still doing a tremendous job of impacting this team in a positive way because of who they are and how they lead and communicate to their teammates, but especially the guys that are playing their positions.”

With Higbee and Havenstein expected to miss one more week, the earliest they could return is in Week 17 against the Atlanta Falcons.

Rams have clinched playoff berth

The Rams are fortunate enough to be in a spot where they can be cautious with their injured players as they have already clinched a postseason berth.

They, of course, want to beat the Seahawks to wrap up the division and potentially earn a first-round bye, but regardless of what happens the rest of the regular season, Sean McVay’s team will be playing meaningful football in January once again.