Rams possibly getting Clay Matthews back after bye week would be huge for defense

Clay Matthews has been missing in action for the Los Angeles Rams over the last couple of weeks due to a broken jaw.

Back in the offseason when the Los Angeles Rams made the decision to bring Clay Matthews on board to help add depth at the linebacker position, there were some fans that questioned the decision by the organization, mainly because the veteran appeared to be on the decline.

For a linebacker that previously recorded double-digit sacks in four of his first six NFL seasons, it’s easy to understand why there was some concern surrounding the Rams signing Mathews since he only recorded 11 sacks in 30 games during his final two years with the Green Bay Packers.

This may not seem like the biggest deal of the world when looking at some of the other linebackers across the league with their lack of sacks.

However, when taking into consideration that a team in need of help at linebacker was willing to move on from someone like Matthews after 10 seasons, this led to some Los Angeles fans questioning the decision by the organization.

But after watching Matthews start the 2019 season off on one of the hottest notes possible by recording six sacks in five games, it became clear right away this was a great addition for Los Angeles on the defensive side of the football.

Unfortunately for Matthews, the veteran linebacker suffered a broken jaw in Week 5 against the Seattle Seahawks, resulting in the Rams having to adjust without the defender over the last couple of games.

Even if Los Angeles has seen other players step up during the absence of Matthews, it’s still difficult not to wonder what could have been on the defensive side of the football since the beginning of October, but hopefully this could change soon.

Clearly, Matthews has proven to still have plenty of gas left in the old tank when looking at the results of the first five games for the Rams, and if the rumors about a potential return following the bye week turn out to be true, this will obviously help the defense in a big way.

Plenty could change from now until Week 10, but just hearing Sean McVay recently discuss this possibility of Matthews returning gives Los Angeles fans plenty of reasons to be excited before Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Matthews certainly isn’t going to fix all of the problems the Rams have been dealing with over the last month or so, but his presence alone when healthy will make a huge difference on the defensive side of the football for Los Angeles.