Sean McVay knows Rams are ‘very thin’ on offense: ‘We’ve got to try to figure it out’
Sean McVay has never been one to rotate his players on offense very much. He likes to have the same three receivers on the field at a time, typically with one tight end and a running back. But in the past, he’s at least mixed things up a little bit with either two-tight end sets or by deploying four receivers.
But in the last month or so, the Rams have gotten dangerously thin on the offensive side of the ball. After cutting DeSean Jackson, losing Robert Woods to a torn ACL, seeing Johnny Mundt go down with a knee injury and also being without Jacob Harris and Tutu Atwell the rest of the way, the Rams have very few options left behind their starters on offense.
On the “Coach McVay Show” Monday, McVay admitted the Rams are thin on that side of the ball and it’s something they’re working to solve because having 10 of their 11 starters play 98% or more of the snaps is not sustainable.
“Yeah, we’ve got to try to figure it out. We’ve got to be able to have a little bit more mixture, no doubt about it,” McVay said. “What that looks like is something we’re working through. I think that’s asking a lot for those guys to play as many snaps. We’re very thin. We haven’t carried a lot of bodies up just on game day from the offensive side of the ball in general, but those are things that I’ve got to do a better job of taking advantage of the 48 guys that we get up and however many that we put up on offense.”
Injuries are obviously out of the Rams’ control, and they’ve lost several key players – both starters and backups – at different points this season. But McVay isn’t going to use that as an excuse for the team’s inability to get contributions out of backups and others besides the starters.
“That’s very true, but I think to your point, you’ve got to make sure that we don’t use that as a crutch,” he said. “I think it’s a good opportunity for some guys maybe to get some chances and to see how they deliver. We’ll see if that’s something that’s reflected in the game plan this week.”
At wide receiver, the Rams had J.J. Koski and Landen Akers backing up Cooper Kupp, Odell Beckham Jr. and Van Jefferson on Sunday. Ben Skowronek had back spasms, so he was unable to play.
At tight end, Kendall Blanton is Tyler Higbee’s backup but his only snap played against Green Bay was on kneel down.
With it being a 17-game season and the Rams likely making the playoffs, keeping guys fresh and healthy is critical, but that’s tough to do when their backups began the year as fourth- and fifth-string players.
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Rams Week 12 snap counts: Backups barely play vs. Packers
