LA Rams losing Dir. Sports Science, Tyler Williams may hurt team success
By Bret Stuter
Ranking the LA Rams’ ability to recover from injury
The LA Rams Sport Medicine efforts have remained one of the best in the NFL over the past five seasons. If you like to investigate the raw data or the NFL analysts that compare and contrast the data, you can check out a solid article on the topic for yourself at Football Outsiders.com.
You will note that the LA Rams improved from tenth-ranked in the NFL in 2019, to second-ranked in the NFL in 2020. Conversely, the Minnesota Vikings plummeted from first-ranked in 2019 to 16th-ranked in 2020.
While their 2021 rankings are not yet available, Spotrac.com offers injured reserve data for 2021. While the Rams are eighth-ranked in terms of players on injured reserve for 2021, the Vikings are the 23rd-ranked team in the NFL.
Rams recover from injuries
The organization has been one of the harder hit teams in terms of injuries in recent years. In 2018, the LA Rams struggled with injuries to WR Cooper Kupp and RB Todd Gurley. In 2019, the LA Rams lost DB Aqib Talib to a rib injury, an injury that he would not recover from. The team also lost a number of offensive linemen and struggled to recover in time to earn a playoff berth.
In 2020, the LA Rams lost OT Andrew Whitworth for half the season due to an ACL injury, an injury that he recovered from in time to compete in the playoffs. In 2021, the LA Rams lost RB Cam Akers before the season began, and then lost WR Robert Woods at mid-season. On almost all occasions, the Rams continued to win, and players returned to the active roster ahead of schedule.