The NFL made significant changes to the practice squad this year in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, allowing teams to not only carry more players all year, but also giving them the chance to protect up to four players each week from being signed by other teams.
The Rams hadn’t taken advantage of the protection rule up to this point, but they’re taking a more guarded approach as the season winds down. The team announced Tuesday that it has protected punter Brandon Wright, kicker Austin MacGinnis and long snapper Colin Holba for Week 15.
Those players cannot be signed by other teams this week as a result of the designation.
#LARams transactions: we’ve signed P Brandon Wright to the practice squad.
We’ve protected the following players on our practice squad:
•P Brandon Wright
•K Austin MacGinnis
•LS Colin Holba— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 15, 2020
As the Rams’ tweet noted, Wright is a newcomer to the practice squad, being signed on Tuesday. Johnny Hekker is healthy and playing well, but the Rams want to have a backup plan in the event that Hekker lands on the COVID-19 list or suffers an injury.
The same goes for MacGinnis and Holba, acting as emergency options in case Matt Gay or Jake McQuaide can’t play due to a COVID-19 outbreak.