Time’s up on LA Rams decision about NT A’Shawn Robinson

As the LA Rams head towards trimming the roster, time is up to decide NT A’Shawn Robinson’s future

The LA Rams have enjoyed the luxury of walking the fence of which way to go with NT A’Shawn Robinson. He is part of their 80-man roster, but he isn’t. Confused? Let me explain. You see, the LA Rams determined during A’Shawn Robinson’s onboarding physical that he suffered from a medical condition that would not permit them to medically approve him for full participation at practices.

The medical condition was later reported to be a previously undetected cardiovascular condition. While not life-threatening, the Rams have taken every precaution. What that means is that the Rams have assigned Robinson to the Active/NFI (non-football injury) list. For a full recap, you can check out the article on The Athletic.com by Jourdan Rodrigue (subscription required). But the quick recap is that Robinson is out for the foreseeable future.

Decision time

Why have the Rams placed Robinson on the Active/NFI list? Well, he is a new free agent to the team, and as long as he remains on the active list, he can participate in team meetings. In that way, he can keep up with the defensive line group through training camp. It’s a new defense, and when he comes back, he will be critical for the Rams  So allowing him the opportunity to keep up with his ‘classmates’ is a good strategy.

But in less than a week, the team will be pruning the roster to reach the 53-man limit.  The Rams will be forced to choose: keep him on the active roster and cut another player? Or place him on injured reserve and free up a roster spot for a younger player. The Rams will have the option to place Robinson on the Reserve IR/PUP  with the designation to return in eight weeks if the team is confident that he will be back.

So far, reports continue to confirm that Robinson should return to the Rams this season. That likely translates into the decision to park Robinson on the temporary injured reserve list. But that decision will need to be made this week.  After all, time’s up.