Chat » Los Angeles Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals: What we learn

ed It appears that the 2018 edition of the Arizona Cardinals might not be the best measuring stick to see where the Los Angeles Rams stand. Still Ndamukong Suh Jersey , for the Rams, who mostly opted-out of the preseason, it was nice to see things rounding into form.So far so good. Here are a few observations from Sunday’s game:The linebacker-crisis many feared entering the season, may be a non-issue.They’ve been fine. More so than last season, tackling has been pretty good. It’s apparent the defensive line and secondary have freed up the linebackers to make plays, and the linebackers have obliged, and actually looked fast and capable while doing so. That includes Cory Littleton, Ramik Wilson, and of course blossoming EDGE Samson Ebukam. Check out this play, courtesy ofTST’s Sosa Kremenjas’ chop shop:You can clearly see Arizona’s left tackle D.J. Humphries, glancing toward Aaron Donald as Samson Ebukam blasts by him with some fancy footwork, untouched on his way to Sam Bradford. The group has also blended into much of the work being done near the line and intermediate areas by safeties John Johnson and Marqui Christian. It will be interesting to see inside linebacker Mark Barron back in the group shortly. Backup-turned-starting guard Austin Blythe is good, so the Rams depth on the offensive line seems sufficient.Now that Jamon Brown is eligible to return from his two-game suspension Dante Fowler Jersey , it will be decision time regarding the right guard position, where Blythe has played magnificently. Playing at such a high clip, it may be impossible to pull Blythe from the starting lineup, especially considering Brown may have a degree of rust from his downtime. Whatever the Rams end up doing, they will end up having a more than capable backup waiting to get back out on the field, should they be tapped. This sort of dilemma is a very good thing. While the Goff/Cooks connection seems potent, the tight ends have yet to make a real impact.The bad news: Rams tight ends combined for only two catches on Sunday. The good news: One catch was a 17-yard reception by Gerald Everett, and the other was touchdown by Tyler Higbee. With such an abundance of talent on offense the wealth must be spread, and guys like Cooper Kupp and Todd Gurley often end up occupying similar areas of the field to the tight ends. It makes it sort of hard to know whether Higbee and Everett deserve any heat for being somewhat low impact players so far this season. They haven’t actually fallen short when called upon, they just seem to be last in the pecking order in a really busy offense. McVay’s tight end–heavy approach in Washington may just be more of a contingency plan in case defenses seem to be catching up the current plan of attack down the line. With the Los Angeles Chargers and the Minnesota Vikings stepping into the Mausoleum this week, things should get interesting fast. We’ll see what McVay has up his sleeve this Sunday, and then on a short week of practice before the Thursday night game against Minnesota. Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay is hopeful wide receivers Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp will pass the league's concussion protocol and be available to play at the Denver Broncos on Sunday, but he also knows he has solid contingency plans if they're sidelined.McVay said Monday that Cooks and Kupp did not display any concussion symptoms the day after both were hurt in a 33-31 comeback win at Seattle."We're hopeful to get good positive results with how Cooper and Brandin come back C.J. Anderson Jersey , and if we get them back, then we know that would be a big boost to our offense," McVay said.Cooks was evaluated for a concussion after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit from Seahawks safety Tedric Thompson late in the second quarter, a play McVay said he did not believe was made with any malicious intent.Kupp hit his head on the artificial turf at CenturyLink Field after making a catch later in the same drive. McVay said Kupp communicated his discomfort at halftime, which led to him being placed in the concussion protocol."And both of those guys, their symptoms, they didn't really have any symptoms a couple hours after the game. Brandin actually did a great job responding immediately, but you can never be too safe and too cautious with those kind of things. Those were the first two guys waiting for us when we got back into the locker room," McVay said.McVay was impressed with how reserve receivers Josh Reynolds and KhaDarel Hodge stepped in against the Seahawks.Reynolds had 22- and 17-yard receptions and ran for 10 yards on a jet sweep on three consecutive plays on the first possession of the second half, a drive that ended with a short touchdown run by Todd Gurley.Hodge made his first career reception, a 14-yard catch in the fourth quarter, to start a drive that ended with Cairo Santos kicking the go-ahead field goal for the Rams (5-0).Reynolds, in his second season out of Texas A&M Eric Weddle Jersey , and Hodge, an undrafted free agent from Prairie View A&M, were in those roles because of injuries to backup receivers Pharoh Cooper and Mike Thomas."It's tough because there was a lot of different things specifically that maybe we wanted to do, and to (wide receivers coach Eric) Yarber's credit and really to those players' credit, they did an excellent job stepping in on short notice," McVay said. "Didn't really get a whole lot of reps throughout the course of the week, and when their number was dialed they did a great job delivering."McVay said starting receiver Robert Woods was instrumental in allowing Los Angeles to continue to operate its base offense. Not only did Woods move into Kupp's position, it was his communication that helped the inexperienced Reynolds and Hodge process calls, routes and formations.Woods, who also took over returning punts with Kupp out, finished with five receptions for 92 yards and two carries for 53 yards. It was his third straight game with more than 100 yards from scrimmage."What he did for us yesterday, delivered every opportunity that he had whether it was running the football, whether it was catching it Austin Blythe Jersey , and then you watch some of the key blocks he had at the point of attack, some of our touchdown runs, he was a guy that was very deserving of a game ball yesterday," McVay said.NOTES: CB Sam Shields sustained a shoulder injury against Seattle, but McVay said it was not serious. ... K Greg Zuerlein (groin) "hasn't had any setbacks," McVay said. The Rams will have a better sense of whether Zuerlein will be available for the first time since sustaining the injury during pregame warmups in Week 3 on Wednesday. ... The Rams claimed CB Darious Williams off waivers Monday. Williams, an undrafted rookie from UAB, appeared in three games for the Baltimore Ravens.