{"id":650108,"date":"2026-01-03T07:25:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T07:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/650108\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T07:25:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T07:25:25","slug":"the-good-news-for-the-rams-after-two-losses-their-stars-are-close-to-full-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/650108\/","title":{"rendered":"The good news for the Rams after two losses? Their stars are close to full health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tight end Tyler Higbee<\/a> is on track to return on Sunday for the season finale against the Arizona Cardinals.<\/p>\n

Safety Quentin Lake<\/a> will be back for the playoffs. Star receiver Davante Adams<\/a> also could be held out till then.<\/p>\n

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The Rams<\/a>, coming off consecutive losses to the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> and the Atlanta Falcons<\/a>, might appear to be limping toward their seventh postseason appearance in nine seasons under coach Sean McVay.<\/p>\n

But a team that was regarded by many as the class of the league midway through the season should be at or near full strength when they play an NFC wild-card game next weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting healthy at the right time,\u201d McVay said Friday.<\/p>\n

Lake agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe league and the world kind of knew where we were at when we were at full strength,\u201d Lake said. \u201cWe\u2019re getting guys back at the right time and I feel like we\u2019re going to hit our stride at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Rams, who at one time were seeded No. 1 in the NFC, are currently seeded No. 6.<\/p>\n

If the San Francisco 49ers lose to the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday<\/a>, and the Rams defeat the Cardinals on Sunday at SoFi Stadium, the Rams will climb to No. 5.<\/p>\n

Regardless, McVay reiterated Friday that starters would play against the Cardinals, though how much remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Several starters are questionable because of injuries, including running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum because of ankle injuries and left tackle Alaric Jackson because of a knee injury that kept him out of last Monday\u2019s loss to the Falcons.<\/p>\n

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Right guard Kevin Dotson, who also sat out against the Falcons because of an ankle injury, will not play Sunday, and his status for the wild-card round remains uncertain.<\/p>\n

Read more: Rams sign standout safety Quentin Lake to a three-year contract extension<\/a><\/p>\n

The Rams also at some point will make a decision regarding veteran right tackle Rob Havenstein. The 11th-year pro has been on injured reserve since mid-November. Warren McClendon Jr. has played well in his place, but Havenstein would give McVay flexibility if Jackson were injured and McClendon moved to the left side.<\/p>\n

The Rams\u2019 27-24 loss to the Falcons did not result exclusively because of injuries, but the holes left by missing starters were apparent and in some cases glaring.<\/p>\n

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Veteran tackle D.J. Humphries struggled in Jackson\u2019s place, and guard Justin Dedich is not as big and strong as Dotson. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson ran roughshod through a defense that was missing Lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a reason why those guys that have been missed are starters,\u201d McVay said, speaking generally, \u201cbecause they give us the best chance to play at the optimum levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rams tight ends have played well during Higbee\u2019s absence, but McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford are eager for the 10th-year pro\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

Higbee caught 20 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns in nine games before he was injured during a Nov. 16 victory over the Seahawks.<\/p>\n

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams offensive tackle Alaric Jackson, right, blocks Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson during a Rams win on Dec. 14. (Harry How \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

He is looking forward to getting back into the flow on game day.<\/p>\n

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\u201cJust try to be myself, bring the energy, bring the physicality and try to make some plays when it\u2019s my turn,\u201d Higbee said.<\/p>\n

Stafford has deftly utilized tight ends Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen and Terrance Ferguson. Now he said he will welcome back Higbee, \u201cthe ultimate team player,\u201d who helps bind teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody calls him a glue guy,\u201d Stafford said, \u201cprobably an understatement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lake, a team captain, also brings more than talent to the field, which the Rams formally recognized this week when they awarded him a three-year extension<\/a> that includes more than $25 million in guarantees.<\/p>\n

Lake has been sidelined since suffering a left elbow injury that required surgery. He began practicing this week, and said he would be ready for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe doctor was saying, \u2018You came back pretty fast, but if you feel good and you have all the strength and range of motion, go ahead and cut it loose.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: NFL Week 18 picks: 49ers take NFC’s No. 1 seed; Steelers win AFC North<\/a><\/p>\n

Adams sat out the last two games because of a hamstring injury, but he still leads the NFL with 14 touchdown catches.<\/p>\n

Adams was limited in practices this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that we’re getting everything ready to roll and being smart with him because of the position that he plays and the stress that that hamstring takes with some of the different things that we activate with him,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n

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Star receiver Puka Nacua is among those happy to see Higbee, Lake and Adams on the practice field again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun to have all those guys out there,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d say their presence is definitely missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.<\/a><\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tight end Tyler Higbee is on track to return on Sunday for the season finale against the Arizona…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[1817,6994,29552,390,254,4127,4084,7391,6589,5430,14204,113,7,70995,31474,25023,4076,1014,58,2444,2611,32,55,6,1088,20582,424,6821,252,3307,261,584,3416,7390],"class_list":["post-650108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-rams","tag-aidan-hutchinson","tag-alaric-jackson","tag-ankle-injuries","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-bijan-robinson","tag-blake-corum","tag-colby-parkinson","tag-d-j-humphries","tag-davante-adams","tag-davis-allen","tag-detroit-lions","tag-football","tag-full-strength","tag-justin-dedich","tag-kevin-dotson","tag-kyren-williams","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesrams","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-new-orleans-saints","tag-nfl","tag-puka-nacua","tag-quentin-lake","tag-rams","tag-rob-havenstein","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sean-mcvay","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-terrance-ferguson","tag-the-rams","tag-tyler-higbee"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}