Rams Team Headlines: Goff Named NFC Offensive Player of the Week
By Cedric Williams
After playing what could easily be considered the best single game of his career in last Sunday's 51-17 win over the New York Giants, Los Angles Rams quarterback Jared Goff was rewarded on Wednesday by being named NFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Goff, who was making just his 15th career start after being selected No. 1 overall by the Rams in the 2016 NFL Draft, threw for a career-high 311 yards and a career-best four touchdown passes to lead Los Angeles to one of its best wins of the season. The Rams are now 6-2 on the season and own sole possession of first place in the NFC West.
"In this league, it's so week-to-week," Goff said to a contingent of local media on Wednesday. "You're good one week and then you're bad another week. We were the worst team ever last year and now everyone loves us. It doesn't make a difference to us. We're 6-2 at the halfway point and (we're) happy about a lot of things we've done so far. But (there's still) a lot of work to do."
Backup RB Brown will miss some time
Not all of the news coming out of the Rams' Thousand Oaks practice facility on Wednesday was good. Head coach Sean McVay said after practice that backup running back Malcolm Brown is "going to be out for a little bit of time."
Brown, who has been a quality second-option back and special teams player for LA this season, suffered an MCL injury during the second half of last Sunday's game and might even need surgery to repair the damage. The Rams have yet to decide which route is best for Brown's recovery.
What they do know is that the second-year man out of Texas is going to be out for awhile, and that the team will need to quickly identify someone capable of replacing him.
One possible option for the Rams could be to turn to veteran Lance Dunbar, who recently returned to practice after dealing with his own injuries this past offseason. Another is to turn to rookie and former USC standout Justin Davis, who has played in two games this season but hasn't received any significant carries or action in the backfield of any type since the preseason.
The Rams could also use more of speedy WR Tavon Austin, who McVay likes to use often on short passes and/or quick run plays out of the backfield.