Rams hold out 2 starters from practice on Wednesday, including Darrell Henderson

Leonard Floyd was also held out due to an ankle injury

The Los Angeles Rams held running back Darrell Henderson out of practice on Wednesday due to a rib cartilage injury suffered in Week 2, as well as starting outside linebacker Leonard Floyd because of an issue with his ankle. Should Henderson miss this weekend’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, backup Sony Michel would likely take over his snaps, but LA might not be leaning much on the running back position anyhow.

The ran the ball 20 times against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their 2020 meeting in Florida, but two of those went to Robert Woods, one to Jared Goff, and even Tyler Higbee had a rushing attempt.

The acquisition of Matthew Stafford means that the Rams won’t have to lean as heavily on a strong rushing attack, but also Tampa Bay’s top-ranked run defense signals that an inordinate number of passes will be thrown this Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

So it could be that Sean McVay doesn’t feel to pressed about the running back position against the Bucs right now, but LA will still want to have Darrell Henderson and as many resources as possible this weekend. Unsurprisingly, Henderson missed practice on Wednesday as he recovers from a rib cartilage injury that is almost certainly still painful three days after it happened against the Colts.

Leonard Floyd was also held out of practice due to an ankle injury, while Aaron Donald took a rest day. Head coach Sean McVay missed practice due to illness, but he has not tested positive for Covid and isn’t expected to land on the Covid Reserve list on this time for any reason.

Henderson suffered the injury almost exactly one year after Cam Akers suffered a rib cartilage injury that cost the rookie running back two games. Whether Henderson is active or inactive, it would make sense to assume that Sony Michel gets the bulk of the running back snaps against the Bucs, but it might behoove McVay to let Stafford run the show as much as possible.

The Buccaneers are relatively healthy but receiver Antonio Brown tested positive for Covid on Wednesday and will need two negative tests that are 24 hours apart if he wants to be active on Sunday. Meanwhile, pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul was also held out due to a shoulder injury and he could miss the game this weekend as well.