Lindsey ThiryESPN
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Uncertainty looms regarding the health of the Los Angeles Rams as they begin preparation for a divisional-round playoff game at the Green Bay Packers.
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald has a rib injury, wide receiver Cooper Kupp has bursitis in his knee, quarterback John Wolford has a stinger and quarterback Jared Goff is continuing to recover from thumb surgery that he underwent on Dec. 28.
Rams coach Sean McVay expressed optimism Sunday evening that Donald and Kupp can return for next Saturday’s contest, but the quarterback situation remains unclear.
“I want to be able to just see their health,” McVay said Wolford and Goff. “That’s the first thing, and we’ll just kind of go from there.”
McVay said he has not determined who will start against the Packers, and he did not indicate if he was leaning in any direction.
Wolford started a second consecutive game on Saturday in a 30-20 wild-card playoff win at the Seattle Seahawks, but he exited with 5:40 to play in the first quarter after suffering a stinger.
Goff entered the game — 12 days removed from surgery to repair a broken thumb on his throwing hand — and passed for 155 yards and a touchdown. Afterward, Goff said he did not feel pain in his thumb and that he was “very capable with what I have going on right now,” despite being less than 100 percent healthy.
However, McVay said Sunday it was apparent that Goff’s injured thumb affected his play, and the coach declined to speculate about who would start against the Packers if Goff’s recovery continued to progress without any setback.
“I’m going to take it a day at a time. It affected him yesterday; you watch the game, it did,” McVay said of Goff. “And so it might not have been painful, but it was something that he did a great job battling, being ready to go; and there were some things that he typically is able to execute that it seemed like they were a factor.”
Wolford and Goff were the Rams’ only active quarterbacks against the Seahawks, but McVay said that because of the circumstances, he would possibly keep a third quarterback active against the Packers.
As for Donald, who recorded 13.5 sacks in the regular season and added two more against the Seahawks, McVay declined to provide specifics when asked about the severity of his rib injury.
“We’ll be smart with him throughout the week,” McVay said. “But I do think that if there’s anything that he’s gonna do, he’s gonna do everything in his power to be ready to go.”
Donald suffered the injury in the third quarter in Seattle when he hit quarterback Russell Wilson, who appeared to land on Donald’s ribs. Donald left the game and did not return.
Kupp exited the game in the fourth quarter, though McVay said his injury did not occur on any specific play.
“We’ll kind of just monitor that day to day for him and hopefully get that swelling and inflammation down with the anticipation and hope to have him ready to go,” McVay said.
McVay also said that left guard David Edwards, who exited Saturday’s tilt in the second quarter, has Achilles tendinitis and will be day-to-day. If he is unable to play, Bobby Evans will start at left guard.
