Los Angeles Rams Receive Brutal Injury Update on Key Defender

The Los Angeles Rams have a huge void to fill defensively in 2024. With future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald announcing his retirement, their defensive front will be vastly different this upcoming season.

Replacing a player of Donald’s caliber is not easy. It will take a total team effort to come close to replicating what he was able to do on the football field.

Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Rams, Donald may not be the only key defender that needs to be replaced in 2024. According to NFL insider Adam Schefter of ESPN , the team is fearing that cornerback Derion Kendrick has suffered a torn ACL during practice.

A 2022 sixth-round pick out of Georgia, Kendrick was projected to start for the team at cornerback this season. More testing will be done to see if the initial diagnosis of a torn ACL was correct.

Last season, Kendrick played in all 17 games for the Los Angeles Rams, starting 12 of them. He recorded one interception and 10 passes defended.

Despite the team adding two veteran cornerbacks in free agency, Tre’Davious White and Darious Williams, Kendrick was expected to play a big role. He was playing the star position Jalen Ramsey occupied previously, and defensive coordinator Chris Shula liked what he saw.

Head coach Sean McVay was complimentary of the team’s secondary in the early going of practices as well.

“We have some guys that can really stay sticky … can really move,” McVay said . “Whether that’s from the safety position [or] from the corner position, it’s great to get Tre’Davious White out here. I thought that Cobie Durant [and] Darious Williams had great springs from the corner spot, and then to be able to see Tre’Davious White get out here … his résumé is well-documented, but he looked good.

“I thought we saw a lot from our safeties. Quentin Lake, [Kamren] Curl showed up, and then it was good to be able to have John Johnson back. He looked very comfortable today.”

Injuries are brutal to deal with at any time. But, the only consolation for the Los Angeles Rams is that they have a lot of depth in the secondary to turn to if Kendrick does end up being sidelined.

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