With Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua sidelined, Jordan Whittington became a focal point of the Los Angeles Rams’ offense. In Weeks 4 and 5, he played more than 90% of the offensive snaps and totaled 13 receptions for 161 yards, seeing 18 passes thrown his way by Matthew Stafford.
But in Sunday’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders, Whittington was only on the field for nine offensive snaps and wasn’t targeted a single time. In fact, all nine of his snaps came as a blocker in the run game, so he didn’t run a single route.
Whittington was limited all week in practice due to a shoulder injury suffered at the end of Week 5, but Sean McVay never indicated it would affect his availability for Sunday’s game. McVay said all along that Whittington was expected to play, and technically, he did.
On Monday, McVay explained Whittington’s lack of playing time, saying it was because the receiver wasn’t able to practice much throughout the week. He hopes that Whittington can have “a little bit more of a workload” against the Vikings on Thursday night.
Sean McVay said Jordan Whittington’s 9 offensive snaps vs. Raiders was due to Whittington not being able to practice a lot last week because of the limitations with his shoulder injury.
McVay said he hopes Whittington will have “a little bit more of a workload” vs. Vikings
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) October 21, 2024
Cooper Kupp is expected to return and play in his first game since injuring his ankle in Week 2, so there will be fewer snaps at wide receiver available. That alone could limit Whittington’s role, and McVay’s comments don’t exactly indicate the rookie will have a full workload Thursday night.
For now, Whittington can probably be viewed as a backup until he’s 100% healthy.
