Early bye week could be blessing for banged-up Rams

The Los Angeles Rams haven’t had their bye scheduled earlier than Week 7 since Sean McVay was hired in 2017, but they’ll break that trend this year. The Rams will have their bye in Week 6, the second-earliest possible bye on the NFL’s schedule.

There’s no doubt McVay and his players prefer a bye closer to the middle of the season but it could actually work in the Rams’ favor this year. With all the injuries they’ve suffered already, it might be a blessing to get a week off early in the year rather than later on in, say, Week 12 or 14.

Los Angeles is dealing with a litany of injuries, most of which don’t have a clear recovery timeline yet.

• Puka Nacua: Knee
• Steve Avila: MCL sprain
• Joe Noteboom: Ankle
• Darious Williams: On IR, can return Week 5
• Rob Havenstein: Ankle, returning soon

With an early-season bye, the Rams can potentially avoid some of their players missing an extra game. For example, if Avila has to go on IR and miss at least four games, he’ll be out for Weeks 2-5 and then will get an extra week of rest in Week 6 before the Rams return from their bye in Week 7.

It’s a similar story for Williams. He can technically return in Week 5, but with it being a soft-tissue injury, the Rams can hold him out of that game, giving him another week to recover in Week 6 when the Rams are off anyway.

We’re waiting for further clarity on Nacua’s knee injury but it wouldn’t be surprising to hear it’s a multi-week recovery timeline and potentially an IR stint. That would put him in a similar situation as Avila, with Week 6 being an extra week of rest.

Los Angeles needs to get healthy as quickly as possible and the Week 6 bye could actually prevent some of the team’s key players from missing an extra game.