Rams tight finish Tyler Higbee suffered a sprained knee ligament within the NFC championship sport victory over the San Francisco 49ers, and his standing for the Tremendous Bowl is unsure, coach Sean McVay indicated Monday.
“We’re working by way of some totally different avenues,” McVay stated throughout a videoconference with reporters. “He’s such a troublesome man, we’re going to do all the things in our energy to attempt to get this man again and able to go.
“However we're working by way of some issues.”
Higbee, one in every of quarterback Matthew Stafford’s most important targets, was injured Sunday through the first quarter of the Rams’ 20-17 victory at SoFi Stadium. The victory put the Rams within the Tremendous Bowl for the primary time since 2018.
Cooper Kupp stated Monday that “it didn’t look good” when he noticed Higbee go away the sphere, however he didn't rule out that he may return to the sport.
“Higbee’s so powerful, he’s performed by way of so many issues, you by no means know when you’re going to see Large-Rig Higs trotting again onto the sphere once more,” Kupp stated.
Kendall Blanton stepped into Higbee’s position and caught 5 passes for 57 yards. His reception on what performed out as a flea-flicker display move produced 20 yards. On the subsequent play, he had a nine-yard reception that helped arrange a landing.
“Kendall may not have gotten as many reps as Higbee did this final week, however mentally he was dialed into the appropriate stuff, he knew what he wanted to do,” Kupp stated. “So, when his alternative did come, he was capable of go in there and execute. He did an amazing job for us.”
It was the second time in as many video games that Blanton performed properly.
Within the Rams’ 30-27 divisional-round victory over the defending Tremendous Bowl-champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Blanton caught his first landing move.
Blanton, 6 foot 6 and 265 kilos, is the son of former Kansas Metropolis Chiefs linebacker Jerry Blanton. Signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2019 after enjoying at Missouri, Blanton spent most of his first three seasons on the observe squad however received a possibility to play after Johnny Mundt suffered a season-ending knee harm in October.
“I’ve all the time dreamed of and labored to be on this place, prayed to be on this place, so I hoped that guys like me throughout the league would get alternative and get a shot,” Blanton stated final week. “I’m not going to want harm on anyone. Johnny Mundt is my man — that’s my man by way of thick and skinny.
“However I hoped for an opportunity and I received one. Identical to each different individual whether or not you’re drafted or not. I really feel like all of us simply need an opportunity and a possibility. So, I all the time hoped that I might get one and hoped that I might make massive performs on the most important of levels.”
Now, if Higbee is sidelined or restricted for Tremendous Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium on Feb. 13, Blanton may once more play a significant position rather than a participant who's a “tone-setter and energy-giver” for the offense, offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth stated.
“When he went out, it was positively a blow,” Whitworth stated of Higbee, “nevertheless it’s a type of issues the place you’re additionally happy with a younger man, in Kendall standing in there and to take it on and understand what an enormous second he was in, and step up massive in that second and be productive for us.
“So, I believe that makes you're feeling actually good to see a man progress that method.”
And so forth.
Security Taylor Rapp, who has been sidelined for the reason that begin of the playoffs due to a concussion, “is trying like he’s turning the nook in a constructive method,” McVay stated. No choice has been made on the standing of operating again Darrell Henderson, defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day and cornerback Robert Rochell, however “there’s positively a chance” that they may very well be activated to the roster, McVay stated. All are being evaluated after spending time on injured reserve.
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