Rams quarterback Sean Mannion has one job on Saturday

Los Angeles Rams backup quarterback Sean Mannion gets another chance to show he is capable of being a backup to Jared Goff.

Los Angeles Rams would-be backup quarterback Sean Mannion gets a second go-round as a starter on Saturday afternoon, when he faces the Oakland Raiders in a perhaps career defining kind of game.

Yes, career defining even for an exhibition game.

Mannion, coming off of a 3 for 13 passing debacle that included an interception against the Baltimore Ravens, will be looking for and needing a better performance if he is to retain any form of confidence as the backup to starter Jared Goff.

That could be a tall order.

Give him credit for having the proper mindset heading into the second week of exhibition play, where he knows he will need to show tangible progress and not just potential.

"“Good game or bad game you can’t totally alter the way you prepare, the way you study, the way you go from week to week based on your performance,” Mannion said. “That has to be steady.”"

Sounds good, but the proof will be what happens on the field.

One has to believe that Rams head coach Sean McVay will have a game plan, garden variety as it is expected to be, that gives Mannion some opportunities to succeed against Oakland.

One thing the game against the Ravens exposed is depth at the quarterback position, an area that is seldom talked about with Los Angeles, but has become a potential issue in 2018, and perhaps moving forward.

Does another bad outing, or one with little improvement mean the Rams need to go looking for another option?

That’s a hard question to answer, and would be another headache LA doesn’t need as it continues to grapple with Aaron Donald and his holdout.

One thing for fans to remember is that it’s McVay who is pulling the levers, meaning that after a week of preparation, Mannion is bound to look better, even if it’s only marginal.

That may be enough to put some minds at ease.

But in an offseason where this team has been touted as being “all in” on a championship run, and after a season where a backup quarterback in Philadelphia was the MVP of a Super Bowl, the situation in Los Angeles is worth keeping a wary eye on.

Simply put, Mannion has one job against the Raiders, and that is to show he can be relied upon to not necessarily win a game, but to not be a factor in the the Los Angeles Rams losing one.