The 49ers traded for running back Christian McCaffrey on a Thursday night. He played on Sunday afternoon.
The Rams could be trying something even more ambitious. New quarterback Baker Mayfield, who became a member of the team at 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday night, could play on Thursday night, when the Rams host the Raiders.
“There’s a shot,” an unnamed source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
It could be a long shot, but it’s a shot.
As of 4:25 p.m. ET, the Rams were sending Mayfield a playbook, so that he can study the offense during his flight to Los Angeles.
It would seem to be a very tall task for the Rams and Mayfield. How much can he really learn in two days? How much practicing will be done before kickoff?
On one hand, he only needs to learn the plays to be used on Thursday night. On the other hand, he needs to learn the plays -- the names of them, the assignments, the concepts. For a player like McCaffrey, he needed to know only what he was supposed to do on a given play. Mayfield needs to know what everyone is supposed to do, where everyone is supposed to be.
He has a clear incentive to get it done. There are five games left. Five auditions for Mayfield, as he approaches free agency. Whatever he does that looks good, helps his chances when the time comes to get paid on the open market.
