Rams Sign Shaun Jolly & Zachary Thomas; Place Duke Shelley On Injured Reserve

The Los Angeles Rams announced a series of moves on Monday afternoon, signing defensive back Shaun Jolly to the active roster, signing offensive tackle Zachary Thomas to the practice squad and placing defensive back Duke Shelley on Injured Reserve.

Jolly played two games for the Rams in 2022 after being signed off of the Cleveland Browns practice squad. He was then re-signed by the team in April before an injury led him to be placed on IR and later waived with an injury settlement. Once he recovered, he signed back with the Rams on the practice squad on Oct. 19.

Jolly has yet to take a defensive snap in the NFL, playing solely with the special teams unit, but may get a chance now that he’s returned to the active roster in replacement of Shelley.

Shelley, 27, had played all 11 games for the Rams this season, collecting two pass deflections and a fumble recovery despite only playing in 10% of defensive snaps. He’s done much of his work on special teams, playing in 65% of the Rams’ special teams snaps this season.

He is in his fifth NFL campaign but is being placed on IR with a hamstring injury suffered in the Rams’ blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals. Shelley was taken in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, playing three seasons in Chicago before moving to the Minnesota Vikings last season and Rams this year.

Taking Jolly’s place on the practice squad is tackle Zachary Thomas. Thomas was taken by the Bears in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft but was waived and signed to the practice squad before the season began. With the Rams offensive line troubles last season, they signed Thomas off of Chicago’s practice squad and played him in one game. He stuck around in the offseason and has been in two games so far this season.

He was waived on Saturday before being picked back up for the practice squad on Monday.

Kyren Williams feeling 200%

The Rams saw the return of starting running back Kyren Williams on Sunday and watched him march to the tune of 204 all-purpose yards in a massive victory. After the game, Williams said that a 200-yard effort meant he was feeling 200% in his return from injury.