Similar to their last Super Bowl trip, the Los Angeles Rams are missing one of their top two receivers. It was Cooper Kupp who missed Super Bowl LIII due to a knee injury, and this year, Robert Woods is the one sidelined with a torn ACL.
Woods injured his knee in practice in November, one day after Odell Beckham Jr. agreed to terms with the Rams. Beckham has done an excellent job filling in, but the Rams will need Woods back on the field next season with Beckham being a pending free agent.
Woods spoke with reporters Tuesday and shared an update on his timetable to return, saying he should be back for minicamp but wants to take his time and be able to train the way he likes before really stepping on the gas.
“Should be good by minicamp, for sure,” he said. “But I just want to be able to take my time and I just want to be able to train how I like before I get into it full-go. I know they’re going to be like, ‘all right, you’re cleared.’ But I feel like I have a certain training method I like to get in before I really get going.”
Woods caught 45 passes for 556 yards and four touchdowns in nine games this season after posting at least 930 yards in each of his previous three years – including two 1,000-yard seasons. With the way the Rams offense is playing right now, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how important Woods has been to Los Angeles.
He’ll rejoin Cooper Kupp at wide receiver next season and the Rams would like to bring Beckham back on a new contract, which would give Los Angeles arguably the best receiving corps in the NFL.
If they can make that happen, Matthew Stafford would certainly be a happy man.
