Rams place Kyren Williams on IR, will miss top 2 RBs for next 4 games
The Los Angeles Rams will be digging deep at running back for at least the next month or so.
The team announced Saturday it had placed starting running back Kyren Williams on injured reserve due to an ankle injury, three days after doing the same with his top backup Ronnie Rivers (knee). Both players will now miss at least the next four games.
Those games will be against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7, the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8, the Green Bay Packers in Week 9 and the Seattle Seahawks in Week 11 after a Week 10 bye. The first game for which they'll be eligible is against the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 26 in Week 12.
Williams was previously reported as week-to-week after sustaining his injury in the fourth quarter against the Cardinals, leaving with a cast or something like it around his ankle.
With Williams and Rivers out, the 3-3 Rams are left with a running backs room of Zach Evans, Royce Freeman, Myles Gaskin and Darrell Henderson Jr. Evans has spent the entire season on the team's active roster, but didn't see any action until last week, when he ran for 10 yards on four attempts in garbage time.
Freeman has spent much of the season bouncing in and out of the Rams' practice squad, while Freeman and Henderson, a former Rams starter, were both signed within the last week.
Williams' injury is a rough development amid what was looking like a breakout season for the 2022 fifth-rounder out of Notre Dame. He opened the season as the backup behind Cam Akers, but outperformed Akers in Week 1 enough to take over the starting role in Week 2, while Akers was traded to the Minnesota Vikings.
That game against the Cardinals was Williams' best performance of his career, as he finished the game with 158 rushing yards (55 more than his previous career high in the previous game) and a touchdown. Williams currently ranks fifth in the NFL in rushing yards with 456 and is tied for fourth in rushing touchdowns with six.
Williams was hampered by injuries in his rookie year as well, missing seven games due to a high ankle sprain in Week 1.
