For four seasons, Jalen Ramsey was a critical part of the Rams’ defense, helping the club defeat the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.
But after the 2022 season, Los Angeles traded him to Miami. On Monday night, Ramsey will be back at SoFi Stadium facing his old team as the Dolphins take on the Rams.
While Ramsey’s a couple of years older, Rams head coach Sean McVay said in his Thursday news conference that he’s seeing the same guy he’s familiar with on tape.
“Physical player, position flex-versatility, and he has that edge,” McVay said. “He’s one of those guys that’s so disruptive. He can make plays as a blitzer and if he gets his hands on the ball, demonstrated by last week, he’s usually going to catch it.
“Great player. You see a lot of the same things that made him such a fun guy to watch do his thing here. Hopefully, that won’t be the case on Monday night.”
The Rams sent Ramsey to Miami in the 2023 offseason after finishing 5-12 in 2022, as part of a roster reset. But that didn’t change how McVay feels about the defensive back, who was a critical piece in the Los Angeles’ championship run.
“I love Jalen. We have a cool relationship and he knows the respect and the admiration that I have for him as a player and what he meant to this team,” McVay said. “There were a lot of tough decisions that were on the horizon for us as a football team and it didn’t have anything to do with us not wanting him here. There were a lot of things that we had to do as a result of some previous years and things of that nature. He understood that.
“It was important for us based on what he had done for us to try to be able to find a situation that suited both parties. Miami was somebody that was interested. … I think Jalen was excited about that while also appreciative of a lot of great memories that we were able to have together.”
Ramsey was a two-time, first-team All-Pro with the Rams and was selected to three Pro Bowls. In 57 games, he recorded 10 interceptions, 47 passes defensed, four forced fumbles, 15 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks.
The Rams are officially getting two key offensive linemen back on the practice field.
Los Angeles has designated Steve Avila and Jonah Jackson to return, opening their respective 21-day practice windows.
Avila has been sidelined by a knee injury and Jackson by a shoulder injury. Avila was injured in the Week 1 loss to the Lions and Jackson in the Week 2 loss to the Cardinals.
Head coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that Jackson appears closer to returning to play, though both linemen have a chance to be active in Week 10.
Right tackle Rob Havenstein, however, is unlikely to play this weekend after suffering an ankle injury in Sunday’s overtime win over the Seahawks.
The Rams will face the Dolphins on Monday night.
Parity shamarity.
Pete Rozelle’s vision of the NFL included no consistently dominant franchises and every team having a chance to win, as long as possible into every season. This year, that’s not the case.
Nine of 32 teams have two wins or fewer, through nine weeks. Seven of those teams have played nine games.
The nine two-win teams are Miami, New England, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Las Vegas, the Giants, Carolina, and New Orleans.
While none are eliminated yet, most will have to run the table or come close to it, since 9-8 has been the minimum to earn a wild-card berth, since the playoff field expanded to 14.
It’s bad for the league. Fan bases will check out by Thanksgiving. Seats will be empty. Overpriced (except in Atlanta) food and beer won’t be sold. Kids won’t have jerseys of their favorite player from their favorite NFL team on their Christmas list, right behind Fraggle Stick Car.
The Rams will likely be missing one key piece of their offensive line in Week 10 but reinforcements are on the way for the unit.
Via multiple reporters, head coach Sean McVay said in his Monday news conference that right tackle Rob Havenstein is likely to miss the upcoming Monday night contest against the Dolphins.
Havenstein suffered a sprained ankle during Sunday’s victory over the Seahawks. But Havenstein could potentially return for Week 11, so placing him on injured reserve is not under consideration.
The Rams will also open the 21-day practice windows for interior linemen Steve Avila and Jonah Jackson this week. Both Avila and Jackson have a chance to play on Monday night, though Jackson appears to be closer to playing.
While Warren McClendon replaced Havenstein on Sunday, the Rams could also start Joe Noteboom in Havenstein’s place at right tackle.
The final score was closer than some of the Dolphins’ past games with the Bills, but the result was still the same.
Bills kicker Tyler Bass’s 61-yard field goal at the buzzer gave Buffalo a 30-27 home win that moved them to 6-1 against their divisional foes since Mike McDaniel was hired as the head coach in Miami. The Dolphins had battled back to tie the game twice in the second half before Bass hit the game-winning kick and McDaniel tried to focus on the positives that can come out of the effort.
“There’s no moral victories,” McDaniel said, via a transcript from the team. “We lost as a team, and you want all three phases to look at it like they could have been the reason that we won. But there is growth and you do make sure you emphasize that, because you want that to continue. You don’t want it to take a step back. . . . This will hurt, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing in the big picture. It just depends on what you do with it. I think the guys are motivated.”
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, that he thought the game showed “we are taking a step in the right direction,” but slow progress isn’t going to get it done at this point. The Dolphins are 2-6, which leaves them with a lot of ground to make up and no margin for error as they embark on the back half of their schedule.
