Things fell apart along the Rams’ offensive line in Week 3 after left tackle Alaric Jackson suffered a thigh injury and was unable to return. The pass protection broke down after that, with Zach Thomas struggling to hold up against the Bengals’ pass rushers at left tackle.
Some fans were surprised by Thomas being the first guy up on the left side, expecting Joe Noteboom to move out from guard to tackle in that situation. And as Thomas kept struggling, fans kept calling for Sean McVay to give Noteboom a shot outside.
In hindsight, McVay wishes he would’ve moved Noteboom to left tackle and plugged Tremayne Anchrum Jr. in at right guard instead.
“The main thing is, we had eight offensive linemen up,” McVay explained Wednesday. “Brian Allen, if something were to happen to Coleman Shelton. There had already been a situation a little bit later on where Joe (Noteboom) did get banged up. Tremayne Anchrum had to come in for an extended period of time and then you’ve got Zach Thomas. And so, if you did do that, you’re talking about a two-man switch where you moved Joe out, then you put Tremayne in. There was a lot of levels to that and so I think in hindsight, you’d say maybe would you give Joe an opportunity to go out there? Yes, but he also got banged up and there had been some things that we had seen and there was a lot of things that had gone on quickly. I’m not going to pretend to be perfect, but I will learn from those things and we’ll make better decisions if we feel like those are applicable.”
Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like Jackson’s injury will be a long-term one, with McVay saying the Rams are taking it a “day at a time” as they prepare to face the Colts on Sunday afternoon. His status is still unclear for that game, but the hope is that he can go.
If not, the Rams might have to seriously consider playing Noteboom at left tackle and Anchrum at guard because Thomas had a rough time on Monday night, earning a pass-blocking grade of 8.6 from Pro Football Focus.
Even McVay admitted it was a tough night for Thomas.
“I think it was tough,” McVay said of Thomas’ play. “I think it was a challenging situation. It was a tough atmosphere and environment. There was a lot of different things. He came in and competed the best that he could, but there were certainly some challenges as I think we all saw.”
Jackson is a key piece of this offensive line and we saw just how important he is on Monday night.