Rams name 9 players on opening Super Bowl injury report, who is in danger of missing the game?

A total of nine players showed up the Los Angeles Rams weekly injury list for their Super Bowl matchup with Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Is this something to worry about, or is it gamesmanship on the part of LA’s coaching staff?

According to the Rams official website, these are the players on the roll call for injuries as of last Friday. All these players would would be considered questionable to play and game time decisions if there was a regular Sunday game.

Joe Noteboom - Did not practice all week. He was injured late in the divisional round win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was inactive in the NFC Championship win over the San Francisco 49ers. Against the Bucs, he played all 72 offensive snaps but was diagnosed with a reported “pectoral strain” after the win. He played well in that game as a replacement for another injury list member, Andrew Whitworth.

Andrew Whitworth - Whit was injured on the first series of the NFC Wild Card round win over the Arizona Cardinals, he soon returned and played out the first half. The Rams domination of the Cards allowed him to let Noteboom take over for 55 percent of offensive snaps. The ankle/knee injury was bad enough to have Whitworth ruled out of the divisional round. Whit got back into the lineup against San Francisco and there was no report of whether it was because he was healed or if he bit the bullet and played because Noteboom was ruled out.

Cam Akers - His Herculean return from a ruptured tendon invigorated Rams fans for the playoffs. He reclaimed his RB1 status and has carried the ball 44 times in the post season. A shoulder injury versus the 49ers limited him to 39 percent of snaps. He did not practice all last week.

Tyler Higbee - Watching the replay of his injury, it looks more like a turn of bad luck than a real physical altercation. Any way you see it, the result was an MCL sprain. Recovery time for this type of injury all depends on the severity and can run the gamut from a week to multiple months. Higbee was unable practice all last week.

According to injuryhealthblog.com,

MCL sprain symptoms of recovery

As mentioned above, it is tough to figure out just how long recovery will take by just looking at MCL sprain symptoms. Your best bet is to measure how quickly you’re MCL sprain is improving. here are some general estimations…

• Improves significantly in 7-10 days = 2-3 week recovery
• Slight improvements in first 1-2 weeks = 3-4 week recovery
• Slow improvements in first 3-4 weeks = 6-8 week recovery
• Hard to see week to week improvements = 8+ week recovery

Van Jefferson - Last Friday, in Head Coach Sean McVay’s press conference, he stated that Jefferson was “questionable” for Super Bowl LVI. Bad news for the second year wide receiver who has been a regular addition to playoff injury lists and whose been battling a nagging knee injury since nicking it in week eight vs. the Houston Texans.

Jalen Ramsey - The cornerback was a full participant in early practices last week but sat out Friday with what was reported by the Rams, as a shoulder injury. Hopefully it is not serious and just a reason to take a day off. Maybe he felt a twinge reaching for his wallet, after being fined $15,000 by the NFL for jawing with San Francisco 49er kicker Robbie Gould and throwing his helmet as the first half ended in championship game.

Taylor Rapp - Rapp is good to go for the Super Bowl after clearing concussion protocols and being a full participant in Friday’s workout.

Christian Rozeboom and Grant Haley - A pair of valuable special teams contributors. After sitting out early in the week, Rozeboom’s elbow healed up enough to be a full participant on Friday. Haley missed out all week with a quadricep injury.

Should you worry?

In the first week of pre-Super Bowl practice, getting the team healed up is an NFL teams top priority, so these injury reports may well be taken with a grain of salt. But circumstances don’t look good for Noteboom, Higbee, and Jefferson. As the big game nears and with every detail of a teams moves under the media microscope, the upcoming injury logs will be garner the most attention.