Sean McVay should feel disappointed over Rams not facing Antonio Brown

Facing Antonio Brown in joint practices and Saturday’s preseason game would have been a great test for the Los Angeles Rams.

With the Los Angeles Rams participating in joint practices with the Oakland Raiders this week leading up to Saturday’s preseason game, Sean McVay is smart enough to know just how much of a difference a healthy Antonio Brown could have made.

During the offseason, the Raiders were considered one of the big winners thanks to numerous key moves, but the argument can be made that nothing was bigger than acquiring the speedy wideout from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite how frustrating things were surrounding Brown before the Steelers agreed to the trade, deep down the Raiders know this could be well worth the risk since this is a receiver who led the league in 2018 with 15 touchdown catches.

Embarrassing doesn’t even begin to describe how bad things were in Oakland last year since the hiring of Jon Gruden was supposed to help the team return to the level of being a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

And while Brown’s presence will certainly play a major role, the Raiders did end up making a few other big moves as well to put the team in better position to live up to the hype this time around.

But keeping the focus on Brown, the wideout has unfortunately been missing from action as of late due to a frostbite injury on his feet, meaning the Oakland star hasn’t been able to participate in joint practices with Los Angeles.

Facing Brown in practices would have been one thing, but McVay and the Rams have plenty of reasons to be disappointed over the fact that he won’t be suiting up on Saturday.

Since it’s preseason, and Los Angeles still has a few questions in need of answering, Brown could have provided the defense with a much-needed test to see where the unit currently stands at this point in August.

As a coach, McVay realizes how much going against a talented player like Brown could help a defense improve. And while there will certainly be plenty of more chances over the next few weeks before September arrives, Brown is considered one of the best for a reason.

Depending on how things play out during the regular season, the only chance the Rams will see Brown again will be if the two teams happen to reach the Super Bowl in the winter time.

Los Angeles may seem to have the best chance in comparison of the two teams, but if Oakland lives up to the high expectations from this offseason, and see Brown eventually get healthy, anything seems possible.