Running back Cam Akers has been put through his paces through four weeks of the Los Angeles Rams’ regular season, but his head coach has his back. Once considered a sure-fire lock to be one of the league’s premier ball carriers in 2022, he has taken a step back from his exceptional play last year.
Sean McVay told reporters that he is “pleased” with the former second-round pick, and implied that his limited role against the San Francisco 49ers was nothing more than a one-off game plan decision. He did well to avoid referencing Akers’ unimpressive stat line and took the blame for the decreased production on himself.
“I’ve liked the way that he’s responded,” McVay said. “The opportunities were a little bit more minimized yesterday for a lot of different reasons, but I thought he did a really good job against Arizona. Had some good runs that are in alignment with the kind of guy that we expect. And there’ll always be things that we can clean up, but I’ve been pleased with Cam [Akers]. It all goes back to opportunities and there’s a lot of things that go into that and it’s not exclusively what that player can control. That’s why football’s the greatest team sport and we’ve all got to be a little bit better, and it starts with me.”
The Rams have the benefit of McVay taking the bullet in comments to the media on a regular basis, but if losses start to pile up, eventually fingers will start to point at the talent on the field. Akers is still a viable option in Los Angeles’ backfield, but he will need to average more than a yard and a half per carry to justify an expanded role.
Even more difficult challenges are on the horizon for the Rams in the coming weeks, and the team will need to re-evaluate their approach to ensure that they do not fall too far behind in the NFC West standings.
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