Joe Noteboom has suffered a little bit of a setback as he tries to carve out a role for himself on the offensive line, either at left tackle or right guard. Noteboom was out at practice but didn’t participate in team drills because of an undisclosed issue.
Sean McVay told reporters afterwards that he’s “dealing with a little something right now” and that he won’t practice the rest of the week.
“He was out today. He just did some individual stuff,” McVay said. “He’s dealing with a little something right now and so he won’t be practicing the rest of this week. I don’t have anymore information than that right now but he wasn’t part of the team activities today.”
McVay didn’t elaborate on what the injury is – or if it’s an injury at all – but he did mention how pleased he’s been with the way Noteboom has practiced this summer. He loves his position flexibility between tackle and guard, and he thinks this is just a minor setback for the sixth-year lineman.
“I think the biggest thing is we want to focus on the things we can control,” he said. “I know Joe wants to be able to be out here. He’s had an outstanding camp. I’ve been so pleased with his ability to play tackle and guard for us. But I think he’s putting all the work in. that’s all you can do. There are things that occur sometimes on the field that it’s like, man, that’s an unfortunate thing. It’s just a little bit of a setback. We’ll hopefully get him out here sooner than later. But we don’t want to waste our emotional energy on stuff we can’t control and he’s done a great job of that.”
Alaric Jackson appears to have pulled ahead of Noteboom at left tackle, while Tremayne Anchrum Jr. is his biggest competition at right guard. Noteboom is the Rams’highest-paid offensive lineman but the Rams are going to start their five best players regardless of salary.