Practice Report 12/27: Rams Tinkering with Offensive Line

Practice Report 12/27: Rams Tinkering with Offensive Line

By Myles Simmons

There are likely more changes coming to the Rams’ offensive line for Week 17 against the Cardinals.

With right tackle Rob Havenstein day-to-day with an ankle injury, Los Angeles is looking at the possibility of moving around offensive lineman Rodger Saffold once again. Saffold started his second game of the 2016 season at left tackle on Saturday, having spent the year primarily at left guard.

For Tuesday’s light practice — which interim head coach John Fassel characterized as more of a walk-through — L.A. had Saffold working at both left and right tackle. When Saffold was at left tackle, rookie Pace Murphyworked opposite him. With Saffold on the right, Greg Robinson worked as the left tackle.


“That’s kind of the lineups we’re tinkering with,” Fassel said. “Very likely, by tomorrow, we’ll have something pretty determined because that’s our big practice. But they’ll be ready.”

Saffold did work at right tackle for much of the Rams’ offseason program and training camp, with Havenstein recovering from offseason surgery at that time. And so the veteran lineman said after Tuesday’s practice that he’s embracing the challenge of getting prepared for wherever the coaches decide to place him for Sunday’s game.

“It’s basically like telling you to go from being left handed to just, hey, just start being right handed — which is not the easiest,” Saffold said. “Makes this last week pretty eventful. I already watched a lot of film, so I’m on the right track to get it done.”

As for Robinson, the third-year tackle was deactivated for the second time this season against the 49ers. Fassel said after the game that decision was not made to make Robinson a kind of scapegoat, but with the thinking that Saffold at tackle and Jamon Brown at left guard could help spark the run game.

“It probably caught me off guard at the beginning of the week,” Robinson said. “It was a decision they made as a staff and I just took it on the chest and tried my best to be positive about it.”

“My mindset hasn’t changed all season,” Robinson continued. “All I can do is just focus on me personally getting better and trying my best to perform at the best of my ability week-in and week-out. I don’t think, as a competitor, that I would let it get to me because then it would hinder me a little bit. So I think the best thing is just, go out to practice each week and try my best to get better.”

While Fassel mentioned on Monday there had been some discussion among the coaching staff regarding moving Robinson to guard. But that will not come to fruition this week.


“Greg — benched last week — I talked to him about being ready to go this week, he took to it and I would imagine that he would perform at the highest of his ability,” Fassel said.

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