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INGLEWOOD — There aren’t many spots left on the Rams roster that are up for contention, and of the few that are, two Rams made pretty compelling cases for themselves in Saturday’s 13-9 preseason win over the Chargers.
Safety Jaylen McCollough and linebacker Jake Hummel continued their strong preseasons, each getting involved in first-half turnovers and making plays across the field.
After leading the Rams in solo tackles last week, McCollough put a stop to the Chargers’ opening drive with a strong pass breakup, hitting Brenden Rice at the point of the catch to lodge the ball loose and force a field goal. Later, after losing Simi Fehoko in coverage and allowing a big game, McCollough made up for it a play later by picking off an errant pass by Easton Stick.
“I wasn’t going to let them take this,” McCollough said, the interception ball firmly in his grasp after the game. “Just to see all the hard work coming to fruition is a blessing, man, and I feel great.”
Hummel wasn’t necessarily flashy on Saturday so much as he was solid. He did what you want a linebacker to do: Meet the ball handler and not allow him to get any extra yards after contact. This included a goal line stuff of Kimani Vidal. A play later, Stick fumbled the snap and, though he ultimately wasn’t credited for the recovery, Hummel was the first Ram to hit the turf to recover it.
At linebacker, the Rams need a fourth man behind Ernest Jones IV, Christian Rozeboom and Troy Reeder. Hummel entered camp as the favorite for that job and seems to have it locked down.
Defensive back, the Rams have some options to play around with how they shape the roster. Moving safeties Quentin Lake and Russ Yeast to star cornerback could lead the Rams to add more true cornerbacks to the stable. The decision to keep veteran Jerry Jacobs in street clothes on Saturday indicates he has a pretty solid grasp on the fourth corner job behind Tre’Davious White, Darious Williams and Cobie Durant.
With some struggles elsewhere in the secondary — more on that later — the Rams could opt to keep McCollough around as a depth piece and special teamer.
STILL MORE TO PROVE
For most of Saturday, quarterback Stetson Bennett IV avoided the kinds of mistakes that plagued his preseason opener. He still struggled with some accuracy issues, notably throwing the ball behind tight end Hunter Long on a fourth-down attempt. But he largely managed to protect the ball.
Until he had the Rams inside the red zone for the first time all day in the third quarter. Xavier Smith was in the corner of the end zone with a defensive back standing in front of him. Instead of trying to put some air on the ball to give Smith a chance to jump up for it, or even looking for another target, Bennett tried to blow a strike past the defender. Instead, he was intercepted for the fifth time this preseason.
It was one of two turnovers for Bennett, who didn’t secure the ball as he took off for a scramble and lost a fumble as a result.
Bennett still found some fourth-quarter magic, finding undrafted free agent JJ Laap in the end zone for a 47-yard touchdown on a post route.
“They went quarters and we’d been running the ball so the safety kind of bit up and JJ was basically one-on-one out there on the corner,” Bennett said. “Just put it up and he made a good play.”
Overall, Bennett finished 17 of 31 for 213 yards.
DOWN DAY
A year ago, cornerback Tre Tomlinson was one of the stars of the preseason. Impressive pass breakups against Davante Adams and Quentin Johnston raised the possibility that the Rams had found a diamond in the rough with their sixth-round pick of Tomlinson.
But the second-year corner hasn’t been able to carry that success over to 2024. For the second straight week, he committed a major penalty. This week, it was an illegal contact penalty that turned a third-and-19 stop into an automatic first down for the Chargers. Pleasant was demonstrably frustrated with Tomlinson after the miscue.
But it wasn’t just mental mistakes for Tomlinson on Saturday. At 5-foot-9, he was simply overwhelmed by blockers while in run defense and in punt coverage. It will be an uphill climb for Tomlinson to make the final roster over the next week.
CAN YOU KICK IT
Rookie kicker Josh Karty was 2-for-3 on field goals on Saturday. He made his first two attempts from 48 and 43 yards out, respectively, before kicking wide right on a 52-yard attempt in the fourth quarter. Karty was 2-for-2 on field goals in the preseason opener.
NEW GUY
Defensive lineman Carlos Watkins, signed this week as depth along the front, had a strip sack in the third quarter and finished with three tackles.
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