Tight end Hunter Long was placed on injured reserve before the season began, but the Los Angeles Rams have cleared him to resume practice. This gives him a window of 21 days to play in games.
Long arrived in Los Angeles as a part of the transaction that sent Miami Dolphins standout defensive back Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams. This summer, Long was placed on the physically unable to perform list and placed on injured reserve while he tried to recover from a thigh ailment.
He has been battling ailments throughout the preseason and training camp. When the Rams acquired him as part of the Ramsey trade with the Dolphins, they were aware of the thigh and groin issues.
Bringing Long back gives Matthew Stafford another potential weapon for an offense that has shocked many with its effectiveness to start the 2023 season. In terms of yards per game, the Rams’ passing attack ranks seventh in the NFL, while Puka Nacua, a rookie wide receiver, leads the league in receiving yards.
The Rams can add another dimension to an offense that is headlined by Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Nacua, and Tyler Higbee if Long can regain his full strength and become the asset they anticipated when they traded for him from the Dolphins.
Throughout his two seasons with the Dolphins, Long has mostly been used as a pass-blocking tight end; but, being the sole player coming back in the Ramsey trade, it seems likely that Long will have a larger role in Los Angeles than he had in Miami. Of course, that might alter in light of the Rams offense’s early success.
To meet the requirements of the 21-day return window, Long may make his comeback at any point between Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys and Week 11 against the Seattle Seahawks. He will be out for the season if he is not able to make a comeback before then.
Sean McVay has his first kid with wife Veronika.
Jordan John McVay is the Rams’ first child, and the team announced on Tuesday that head coach Sean McVay and his wife Veronika had welcomed their baby into the world.
Since McVay and Veronika revealed during the summer that they were expecting a kid sometime in the 2023 season, this has been a long time coming.
Although he quipped that his kid knew better than to come on a game day, McVay has been informing the public for the last few weeks that the baby was coming soon and that he would be missing a game if his wife went into labor on a Sunday.
Jordan was born on Tuesday, October 24, and the Rams made a funny release declaring it as though it were a roster move, proving he was correct.