In the last two weeks, the Los Angeles Rams backfield has been decimated by injuries. Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson both suffered high ankle sprains, which are never easy injuries to battle through.
Akers missed Week 16 as a result of his injury, and Henderson has been placed on injured reserve, so he’ll miss the season finale. Sean McVay said “there’s a possibility” Akers will be able to play against the Cardinals this week, but given the nature of the injury, he shouldn’t be expected to.
That opens the door for not only Malcolm Brown to step up, but also rookie Xavier Jones.
Jones went undrafted this year and quickly became one of the most intriguing rookies on offense for L.A. He made it onto the 53-man roster and although he hasn’t carried the ball once this year, he will have a role on Sunday.
“Xavier Jones will be asked to step up and potentially Raymond Calais. So we’ve got some other guys that (RBs coach) Thomas Brown has really been developing behind the scenes that I know will be excited if their number’s called,” McVay said Monday.
Jones was a prolific runner in college, rushing for 1,276 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior in 2019. He stood out in camp and scrimmages for being an explosive playmaker, and he may finally get a chance to show that on game day this week.
McVay likes his fit in the Rams’ zone blocking scheme, possessing the traits of a one-cut runner for L.A.
“I think he’s a slash-type runner,” he said of Jones. “He’s a bigger body than what you think, but he’s got the speed to be able to finish and naturally can work edges on guys. I think he is built for a lot of the things that we do specific to the zone-running scheme and really be able to press it outside in one gap at a time and put your foot in the ground. So, he did a nice job with the opportunities that we had to evaluate him throughout the course of camp. I think he’s done a good job on the look teams. This week he’ll get a chance to make some plays for the offense.”
Brown was asked Monday how Jones could do if asked to step up, and he left no doubt about the rookie’s skill set. In one-on-one situations in the open field, Brown says Jones is going to win most times.
Rams RB Malcolm Brown on the possibility of rookie Xavier Jones entering the mix: "Oh man, Xavier, he'll be ready, man. He's a guy that's real shifty one-on-one. If it's one-on-one, you can bet on him making a guy a miss. That's the type of (skillset) that he brings to table."
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) December 28, 2020
Assuming Akers won’t be able to play, Brown will likely get the bulk of the carries. But he doesn’t have as much juice as Jones does, which makes the rookie an intriguing player for the final game of the season.