The biggest concern with Terrell Lewis as a draft prospect was his durability. He was limited to four games in 2017 with an elbow injury and missed the entire 2018 season at Alabama after tearing his ACL, playing just 14 total games in his college career.
Those concerns haven’t subsided in his first five months as an NFL player, either.
Lewis has been out for the last week due to a knee injury, and the severity of it is still not known. That’s because it’s not something the Rams have ever experienced before, making it difficult to diagnose the condition.
Sean McVay is “hopeful and optimistic” that the Rams will get good news back on their rookie pass rusher, but the sheer unknown nature of this injury is troubling.
“We’re still waiting on those results,” McVay said Monday. “Like I said, this is a unique situation and we are waiting on some of the results back from the test that we’ve run. We have not gotten that back. That’s why I have not shared that information with you guys. So, to explain it, we’re hopeful and optimistic that it’ll be positive reports back, but it’s something that we have never experienced before and that’s why it’s taken so long to get some clarity.”
Lewis hasn’t practiced in over a week, with the injury first popping up on Sept. 1. He won’t practice this week, either, and has already been ruled out for the season opener against the Cowboys.
McVay is going to give more clarity on Wednesday and he isn’t yet sure if Lewis will be out longer than just this week.
“Like I said, it is a complicated situation,” McVay said Saturday after final cuts were made. “You’ll see when I am able to articulate what it is, we’re still waiting on some possible results that come back to truly give it clarity. But what I will tell you is, unfortunately he will not be available for the Dallas game.”
It’s possible Lewis could land on injured reserve, which has been altered by the NFL this season to allow players to return after just three weeks. That would open up the needed roster spot for Raymond Calais, and also give Lewis some time to get healthy before returning to the field.