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The LA Rams have ruled running back Cam Akers as OUT on their final Friday injury report ahead of Sunday’s 10 AM PT game against the Bills in Buffalo. The Rams rookie back, the 54th overall pick in this year’s draft, opened Week 2 as the starter against the Philadelphia Eagles and was heavily involved on the first drive which resulted in a touchdown.
But Akers was removed from the game at the end of the drive with a ribs injury and never returned. Akers missed practice all week so ruling him out is no surprise.
Rams HC Sean McVay says RB Cam Akers (ribs) is OUT for Sunday’s game at Bills. Akers will stay back in LA and not travel to Buffalo.
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) September 25, 2020
CB Darious Williams (ankle) is questionable, but McVay expects him to play.
Rams head coach Sean McVay turned to second year back Darrell Henderson for the bulk of LA’s yards on the ground, gaining a career-high 81 on only 12 attempts with one touchdown. Henderson also caught two passes for 40 yards. But he played in 42-percent of the snaps as opposed to 54-percent for Malcolm Brown, the offense’s unquestioned top back in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys.
Brown had 18 carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns against the Cowboys, adding three receptions for 31 yards and playing in 60-percent of the snaps.
With Akers unavailable in Buffalo, we can expect the split for McVay to be similar, if not the same: Brown could get the majority of the snaps because of his value as a pass blocker and his experience with the team, including six years in the organization and four in McVay’s system. But we should also expect more production from Henderson, all other things being equal. His performance in Week 2 is a notch above what we’ve come to see from Brown.
The Bills defense has faced the fewest number of rushing attempts of any team in 2020, so their success or lack thereof in that area remains to be seen. As I wrote on Friday, much of the Rams offensive effectiveness could be built around how potent Henderson is as a runner, including in the outside zone run.
On the other side, Buffalo has ruled out tight end Dawson Knox and running back Zack Moss, while linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano are questionable. Milano was a full participant in practice on Friday, while Edmunds was limited.