I thought Jones was playing some inspired ball and I, too, was concerned about his loss. But after looking at it I think it'll be OK.
Looking at the snap counts ...
Jones actually became a started in week 8 against Houston: "Ernest Jones played the most snaps of any inside linebacker, out-snapping Troy Reeder 54 to 39." [
theramswire.usatoday.com]
The Rams traded former starter Kenny Young the week before the Houston game: Reeder and Jones were the starters from that game forward, including thru that three game losing streak.
Week 9 (Titans): Reeder had 48 snaps, Jones had 36
Week 10 (49ers): Jones had 56 snaps, Reeder had 52
Week 11 - bye
Week 12 (Packers) - Reeder had 63 snaps, Jones had 59
I think what happened in week 13 against the Jags is that Jones took over as the ILB in the nickle instead of Reeder.
In weeks 1 thru 7, Reeder and Young were the starters with Reeder coming off in nickle and dime packages.
In weeks 8 thru 12, Reeder and Jones were the starters with Jones often coming off the field in passing situations.
But in weeks 13 thru 15 Jones hardly came off the field: he played 56 out of 59 snaps against Jacksonville, 68 out of 78 snaps against the Cards, 55 out of 57 snaps against Seattle. Reeder, meanwhile, got 29, 7, and 24 in those three games.
If the Rams are smart (and I think they are) they will keep Howard and Reeder as the starters and take Reeder off the field on passing downs ... just like they did when Young was the starter and just like they did weeks 13 thru 16 with Jones in there.
(Oddly, they didn't do that against the Ravens: Reeder got 68 snaps to Howard's 20. Howard only came off IR on Dec 21, though, so maybe he's still getting up to game speed?)
AlbaNY_Ram
