The Rams will likely be without one of their team captains on Sunday as tight end Tyler Higbee is listed as doubtful to play against the Baltimore Ravens with a stinger in his neck.
Higbee, who suffered the injury last weekend against the Cleveland Browns, has not practiced in any fashion this week.
Should Higbee be unable to play, the Rams will turn to some combination of Brycen Hopkins, Davis Allen and Hunter Long to replace him at tight end.
“It doesn’t change much for us in terms of the things that we would do and the way that we would want to operate,” head coach Sean McVay said on Friday. “They’ve had a really good week of practice. If Higbee is able to go, I know that there’s nobody that’s going to work harder over these next 48 hours to put himself in position to be ready.”
Otherwise, the Rams have a pretty clean bill of health as they prepare to travel to Baltimore. Outside linebackers Michael Hoecht (knee) and Byron Young (knee) are both listed as questionable, but McVay expects them to play. Receiver Puka Nacua (AC sprain) carries no designation into the game after logging two full practices the past two days.
Safety Quentin Lake is the lone question remaining. The second-year player out of UCLA has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, and is truly “questionable” for Sunday.
“Quentin is the only one that we’ve really got to still be smart with, with the soft tissue,” McVay said.
Status quo likely at kicker
The Rams signed veteran kicker Mason Crosby to their practice squad this week and kept open the possibility of elevating him to the active roster to take over place-kicking duties from Lucas Havrisik.
But on Friday, McVay pumped the brakes on that idea for at least this weekend.
“We haven’t decided that yet,” McVay said. “More than likely we probably will not go that direction, but we’ll see.”