Taylor Rapp has battled through multiple knee injuries this season, setting him back in his second year as an NFL safety. After missing time in training camp, he injured his knee again in Week 10 against the Seattle Seahawks and landed on injured reserve.
He’s eligible to be activated this week, having missed the last three games, but it doesn’t sound like that’s in the cards for the Rams. Sean McVay said on Monday that no players on short-term injured reserve are expected to be activated in time for Thursday’s game against the Patriots.
That list includes Kai Forbath and Andrew Whitworth, too, but Matt Gay is firmly entrenched as the team’s kicker and Whitworth isn’t expected to return until the end of the season, best-case scenario. Micah Kiser is also on injured reserve, but he has to wait at least one more week before he can be activated.
To add onto this, McVay said he does not expect any players currently on the short-term IR to return this week. https://t.co/YLdEYqt6t6
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) December 7, 2020
Nick Scott has stepped into Rapp’s role as the third safety, playing meaningful snaps in recent weeks. His emergence as a solid option on the Rams defense has lessened the urgency for Rapp to return, allowing him to take his time in recovering from this latest knee injury.
Rapp is a quality player who’s one of the better tacklers on defense, but the Rams are surviving without him right now thanks to Scott.
[vertical-gallery id=642144]