Most Los Angeles Rams starters will not travel with team to Hawaii to play Dallas Cowboys

Los Angeles Rams HC Sean McVay confirmed today that RB Todd Gurley, QB Jared Goff and other starters will stay in LA while the team travels to Hawaii to play the Dallas Cowboys in Honolulu on Saturday for Week 2 of the 2019 preseason.

We’ll have the full list when/if made available. All we know right now is that Goff and Gurley are staying with others though DL Aaron Donald and CB Marcus Peters will make the trip.

It’s an interesting albeit confusing decision.

If the idea is that the flights would be draining for veterans who aren’t even going to play, why would Donald and Peters go? McVay didn’t clarify much citing “the best interest of the players” and “layers” and “being in alignment with doing things the right way.” I don’t know what any of that actually means.

It also calls into question the nature of holding games in neutral sites like this. If the physical toll of the travel is so severe that “the best interest of the players” is to not even have them make the trip, is it worth it for teams to do this kind of thing on behalf of the NFL? It’s going to be a great scene in Honolulu to give Hawaiians a chance to see NFL football in their home, but is the cost perhaps a bit too high especially for preseason football?

Ultimately, this shouldn’t matter much. The Rams being held back will practice on their own on Friday and Sunday and then we’ll be gearing up for Week 3 against the Denver Broncos in the only 2019 preseason game at the newly renovated Coliseum and the final one there (perhaps?) with the Rams set to move into their new home in Inglewood in 2020.