Kyren Williams has missed the last four games due to an ankle injury, which he suffered during his 158-yard performance against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6. He’s returning on Sunday for the Los Angeles Rams’ game against those same Cardinals on Sunday, hoping to pick up right where he left off six weeks ago.
Before getting injured, Williams was playing upwards of 90% of the snaps on offense, which is an unsustainable rate for any running back. Sean McVay said during his media session on Friday that the Rams will be mindful of Williams’ workload and plan to take some snaps off his plate in his return.
“I think we want to be able to give him a good workload, but I think that was something we had identified (previously),” McVay said. “It was unfortunate that he got hurt, but you do want to be cognizant of, that’s a lot of snaps, especially with what that position entails and the physical nature at which he plays, some of the things that we were asking of him. Exactly what that balance looks like, you want to be able to ride the hot hand, you want to make sure that you’re able to get him in the flow of the game, but 95% is something that we definitely want to be mindful of taking some snaps off him.”
Ronnie Rivers had been backing up Williams, but he’s still out with a knee injury. As a result, it’ll likely be Royce Freeman backing up Williams and getting some snaps in as the No. 2 option in the backfield. McVay said he’s been pleased with the way Freeman has played, particularly after his 73-yard performance against the Seahawks last week.
The Rams are excited to have Williams back but expect to see him subbing out more than he was before getting hurt in Week 6.
