LOS ANGELES — The Rams’ beleaguered offensive line took another blow Saturday. Veteran right tackle Rob Havenstein is week to week with an ankle injury, head coach Sean McVay said following practice.
Havenstein suffered the injury Thursday and was unable to return that day after being tended to by trainers. He was not on the field with the Rams during Saturday’s session, the last at Loyola Marymount University this preseason.
The nine-year veteran is the latest Rams offensive line to be sidelined for an extended period of time this preseason. Starting left guard Jonah Jackson, the Rams’ big free-agent acquisition in the offseason, is nursing a shoulder injury that also earned him a “week to week” designation from McVay.
And on Saturday, McVay downgraded starting left tackle Alaric Jackson to week to week with his ankle injury. As recently as Thursday, McVay had said the expectation was for Jackson to return to practice Sunday.
“It was a weird deal where he kind of just rolled up his ankle. It’s nothing that we expect to be long term,” McVay said. “It was day to day, now it’s kind of week to week. I thought he was having a great camp, and I think the worst thing we can do is rush him back. In the meantime, we’re going to learn about some guys.”
That learning process will kick into overdrive Sunday during a joint practice with the Chargers. The crosstown rival’s roster looks very different than it did a year ago, but the Chargers still feature edge rushers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, a duo that will challenge the Rams’ makeshift offensive line.
Veteran Joe Noteboom, long valued by McVay for his versatility, has been working at left tackle since Alaric Jackson’s injury. Zach Thomas and Warren McClendon Jr. have filled in at left guard and right tackle, respectively. McClendon played a total of 32 snaps on offense as a rookie last season, while Thomas has played a total of 36 in his two seasons in the NFL.
“There are certain spots right now that based on some of the injuries that we are a little bit – I don’t know that thinner is the right word – but we’re having guys play that we didn’t count on at this point with some of the first groups,” McVay said. “So I’m looking forward to seeing how our team handles it.”
Staying home, for now
The Rams had expected to move into their new Woodland Hills practice facility following training camp at Loyola Marymount, but that move has been delayed until later this month.
With permits for the new facility taking long to acquire than expected, the Rams will spend the next three weeks back at Cal Lutheran, using their old temporary facility one last time.
“They’re doing a great job of being able to expedite that construction,” McVay said. “I think it’s as big a deal as we make it. … I don’t worry about it, but what I do want to make sure is the functionality in terms of everything that we need to be able to prepare.”
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Team president Kevin Demoff said returning to Cal Lutheran had always been the backup plan, so the practice fields have been kept in working order. He added it’s mostly just weight room and training equipment that still needs to be moved, and that will happen when the team travels to Houston for a joint practice and preseason game with the Texans during the last weekend of August.
“We’ll get that process really started this week and, assuming we get the permits, we’ll have some staff start to move in this week,” Demoff said. “It does give us a chance to have it be perfect. It’ll be great to get some of the staff in, personnel wise, and others to go use it to start to troubleshoot it as well.”
