Cam Akers struggled in the season opener, rushing for just 29 yards on 22 carries against the Seahawks in Week 1. He didn’t have a chance to bounce back on Sunday against the 49ers because the Rams surprisingly made him a healthy scratch.
With Akers inactive, the Rams leaned on Kyren Williams as their starting running back, who turned his 20 touches into 100 total yards and two touchdowns. After the Rams’ 30-23 loss to San Francisco, Sean McVay explained the decision to bench Akers and make him inactive.
Buy Rams Tickets“Coach’s decision. Felt like that was the best for our football team,” McVay said. “Felt like Kyren gave us the best opportunity and what Ronnie and Royce have done, so that was a decision that I made.”
When pressed for more and asked about whether this was the same as Akers’ dispute with the team last year, McVay said it’s unrelated. He says it’s more about fielding the best football team, and in McVay’s mind, Akers didn’t do enough to earn a spot on the game day roster Sunday.
It doesn’t sound like this is going to be a one-week thing, either. McVay said he feels that’s what was best in this game “and as we move forward.”
“This is different,” he said. “It’s more about, I’m always going to make decisions that I think are in the best interest of our football team. I have tremendous respect for Cam Akers, but I felt like for our football team today and in this game and as we move forward, that was going to be the best decision for us.”
As for Akers’ future with the team, which is once again up in the air, McVay was non-committal. He wouldn’t say for sure that Akers will be with the Rams moving forward, saying he’ll see what happens in the coming days.
“I think there’s going to be an opportunity to see what that looks like moving forward,” McVay said. “But it’s not going to be a back and forth thing. He and I have had great dialogue and we’ll see what happens over the next couple of days.”
McVay may believe he and Akers have had some good conversations, but Akers’ post on social media after his demotion says otherwise. He seems confused by the decision, making it sound like he was shocked about being inactive.
Ultimately, this could be the final week for Akers in a Rams uniform because it wouldn’t be surprising if they cut or traded him soon.
