Rookie sensation Steve Avila’s sophomore campaign got off to an awful start after suffering a knee injury in the season opener against Detroit. Having been placed on injured reserve, Avila has spent the majority of this season in rehab.
The same goes for Jonah Jackson, who injured his shoulder in Week 2 and has been on injured reserve ever since.
The Rams opened Avila and Jackson’s 21-day practice window this week as both players returned to the field, and “there’s a good chance” they’ll be in the starting lineup on Monday night, Sean McVay said Saturday.
With Avila and Jackson’s return, it poses a strategic good problem for Sean McVay and his staff for the rest of the season. Avila’s injury, alongside the injury suffered by Jackson, paved the way for Beaux Limmer to become the Rams’ starting center.
Limmer has been another rookie sensation but at the risk of hurting Avila’s development and/or Jackson’s play time, are the Rams going to bench their current, consistent starting center?
Another point of intrigue is where the two starters fit into the lineup. Kevin Dotson has his guard position locked down so it looks likely that Avila and Jackson would take the other guard and center spot over Limmer.
If that is the case, who plays center? Avila was reported to have been taking the first-team center snaps throughout training camp but at the last minute, Jackson was named the starting center. If the Rams had trust in either man, wouldn’t they have practiced with the intended Week 1 starter throughout camp? If Avila was intended to be the starter, isn’t that an indication that he couldn’t do the job?
It remains to be seen where each player will line up.
“You’ll see on Monday,” McVay said when asked where Avila and Jackson will play. “Honestly, we’re working through it. There are a lot of different moving parts, especially as it relates to the offensive line but it is good to be able to have those guys back in the mix.”
It will be interesting to see how this folds out but unless something happens within the next 24 hours, Avila and Jackson should be on the field for the Rams.