As if injuries weren’t bad enough, now a stomach bug is taking a toll on the Los Angeles Rams offense. Cooper Kupp and Austin Blythe were both absent from practice on Friday due to an illness, raising some concern about their availability for Sunday night.
Sean McVay doesn’t seem too worried about it, though, saying he expects both of them to play against the Bears this weekend.
“With Austin and Cooper, they just both got the little stomach bug,” McVay said Friday. “It is contagious, so kept those guys at home. But we’re hopeful that it’ll just be a 24-hour thing and we’ll get them up to speed tomorrow.”
It may not seem like a big deal, but two starters missing practice on Friday is certainly not ideal for a team that’s already struggling on offense – especially on the offensive line. With Brian Allen out for the year and Rob Havenstein sidelined, the Rams have had to mix up their offensive line.
Blythe will be the starting center, but since he missed practice, the Rams had to change things up on the fly.
“Even today with Austin being out, you shuffle some guys around,” McVay said. “So I think those are things that are kind of settling in. Like I said, we’re hopeful that Austin’s going to be able to go and that it is just a 24-hour bug, but there are things that have come up before that you can never truly anticipate and that’s why you have to have all parties on deck ready to go.”
As for the rest of the team, Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett are both “making good progress” and were just banged up coming out of Sunday’s loss. McVay said the team is optimistic that they’ll be able to play against the Bears if they continue to progress the way they have.
On the Bears’ side, David Montgomery will be a game-time decision, while tight ends Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen have been ruled out.
#Bears Friday injury report: pic.twitter.com/NuvG2ezbau
— Chicago Bears (@BearsPR) November 15, 2019
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