THOUSAND OAKS — The Rams’ special-teams unit, a huge part of the team’s overall success this season, took a big hit Wednesday when kicker Greg Zuerlein was placed on injured reserve with a herniated disc in his back.
Zuerlein, who had been on pace to have one of the best seasons of any NFL kicker in history, was named to the Pro Bowl team on Tuesday, but now his year is done.
It’s not clear when Zuerlein suffered the injury, and Coach Sean McVay did not disclose its severity during his Wednesday news conference, which came before ESPN first reported the news.
The Rams signed kicker Sam Ficken, a Penn State product, and Ficken now will take over for Zuerlein.
Zuerlein has made 38 of 40 field-goal attempts and 44 of 46 extra-point attempts this season and regularly turned his kickoffs into touchbacks.
PRO BOWL SNUB
The Rams’ linemen might not be respected enough, but they still have Jared Goff.
The big guys arrived at their lockers this week to discover gifts provided by a thin, blond Santa Claus: their quarterback. The haul for the starting offensive linemen included a high-end bag and cooler and a bottle of cognac, total retail price of more than $700 each. Even the backups each got a stylish bag.
Goff couldn’t deliver what a couple linemen truly deserved: a trip to the Pro Bowl.
Left tackle Andrew Whitworth is a first alternate on the NFC all-star team, but didn’t make the first cut, and guard Rodger Saffold didn’t even make the backup list, even though offensive line play is a significant reason why the Rams have gone from the lowest-scoring team in the NFL in 2016 to the highest-scoring.
Rams running back Todd Gurley, an MVP candidate, made the NFC team and quarterback Jared Goff went from rookie laughingstock to Pro Bowl alternate, but the love didn’t extend to the players who support them. It’s sort of like giving an Oscar to a movie but not giving credit to the director.
“It’s rough,” Saffold said Wednesday. “This is still a new team and we’re just getting started. We’re trying to grow the fan base out here in L.A., and I think a lot of people thought of us as more of a sleeper team. To see us do well, people are probably wondering if we can sustain it. I think people are looking at us more like, yeah, they’re good players, but are they good enough to go to the Pro Bowl.
“That’s something you wish would have went the other way, but you can tell that we’re doing our thing, because we’ve got Todd going off and Jared going off. We have the respect of our coaches and teammates. That’s basically all we’re looking for.”
The judgment of offensive linemen can be subjective, but there’s no ignoring the statistical improvements the Rams have made. They average 4.3 yards per rushing play, a full yard more than in 2016, and they have allowed only 24 sacks in 14 games. Last season, the Rams allowed 49 sacks in 16 games.
Goff and Gurley, in particular, deserve credit for their individual improvement, and certainly Coach Sean McVay and his staff have implemented an offense that has made all of the Rams look better. Clearly, though, this offensive line has exceeded expectations, which were low at the start of the season.
The Rams had signed Whitworth, at age 35, and imported center John Sullivan, who had a recent history of back problems. They tried Greg Robinson at right tackle, then released him, then tried Jamon Brown there, then finally went with Rob Havenstein during training camp and stayed with it.
All along, McVay expressed confidence that first-year line coach Aaron Kromer would sort things out, and that the Rams wouldn’t regret passing on an offensive lineman in the draft. McVay was proven correct, and perhaps even the coach didn’t anticipate the improvement of Saffold.
Saffold, the longest-tenured Rams player, had been a utility player along the line since 2010 and had been asked, at various times, to play both tackle spots and both guard spots. Saffold was a capable player but rarely outstanding, perhaps because he never got a chance to feel comfortable anywhere.
Now, Saffold is a beast, particularly in run-blocking. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 325 pounds, he has the agility to get into the second level of defenders. During Gurley’s 57-yard touchdown against Seattle last Sunday, it was Saffold, 10 yards downfield, clearing out the last defender in Gurley’s path.
“You don’t have any of that success without a great offensive line,” McVay said. “That offensive line, as a whole, has done such a great job. … We talk about, ‘Those who know, know,’ and they know how much they’re appreciated and what they mean to our football team, which is what it’s all about.”
The highest compliment to Saffold (and Whitworth) might be that, in clutch situations, the Rams run left.
The NFL keeps a statistic called “rush power.” It tracks where the ball goes on running plays on third-and-short and fourth-and-short, plus goal-to-go plays inside the 3-yard line.
In those situations, when the Rams run the ball to the left, they pick up a first down (or score a touchdown) on 71 percent of their plays. To the right, it’s 25 percent. Up the middle, it’s 50 percent.
The Rams also have had 29 rushing plays of 10-plus yards that have gone to the left side, compared to 18 to the right side and eight up the middle. The left side of the line typically is more important in pass protection, to guard the quarterback’s blind side, but the Rams also succeed running the ball that way.
INJURIES, ROSTER MOVE
The Rams, as planned, did not hold a full practice Wednesday at Cal Lutheran and opted only for a walk-thru session for the third consecutive week in advance of Sunday’s game at Tennessee.
The team was still required to submit an injury report and estimate which players would have participated. McVay said that, other than Zuerlein, linebacker Matt Longacre would have missed practice with a back injury and that Whitworth, Sullivan and linebackers Mark Barron and Connor Barwin would have been rested.
The Rams placed third-string quarterback Brandon Allen on injured reserve with a back injury and signed free-agent linebacker Kasim Edebali to their 53-man roster. Edebali, who was released by Detroit last week, has been in the NFL since 2014 and has recorded eight sacks in 61 game.