NFL Week 18 Overreactions
USAT’s Prince Grimes breaks down the NFL playoff picture after closing out the regular season.
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The Los Angeles Rams finished the regular season on a strong note with a 37-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals after floundering the previous two weeks. Now, reinforcements are on the way ahead of Saturday’s wild-card matchup with the Carolina Panthers.
Head coach Sean McVay told reporters on Monday, Jan. 5 that the Rams expect wide receiver Davante Adams (hamstring), safety Quentin Lake (elbow) and tight end Terrance Ferguson (hamstring) to play on Saturday, while offensive lineman Kevin Dotson‘s status remains up in the air.
Here are the latest Rams injury updates heading into wild-card weekend:
Davante Adams
Adams has been out since aggravating his left hamstring injury in Week 15. The Rams have felt his absence in the meantime; they had a 66.2% red-zone conversion percentage through Week 15 but converted just 46.15% of their opportunities over the last three weeks.
Adams returned to practice as a light participant last Thursday and was questionable for the regular season finale but ultimately did not play. McVay later said that the Rams’ cautious approach “pissed (Adams) off pretty good.”
“He’s got that look in his eye that I know he’s ready to go,” McVay told reporters.
Despite missing the final three weeks, Adams finished 2025 as the league leader in receiving touchdowns (14). He’s the first player in NFL history to lead the league in touchdowns with three different teams — he also led in 2020 with the Green Bay Packers and 2022 with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Quentin Lake
Lake is set to return from an elbow injury that has kept him on injured reserve since Week 11. Through the first 10 games of the season, the versatile defensive back posted 61 total tackles, 10 passes defended and one interception.
Lake signed a three-year contract extension with the Rams on Thursday, keeping him in LA through 2028.
Terrance Ferguson
McVay said Ferguson was held out of Sunday’s game as a precaution due to the team coming off a “Monday Night Football” game the week before. According to McVay, Ferguson “had accumulated a bunch of volume” after taking over 60% of the Rams’ offensive snaps in Weeks 14, 15 and 16 and felt some discomfort in his hamstring on Friday.