When running back Cam Akers tore his Achilles last July, most people assumed that he would miss the entire 2021 season while recovering from the injury.
Akers was able to defy those expectations, however. He returned for the final game of the regular season and played in all four of the team’s postseason games, including their Super Bowl LVI triumph over the Bengals.
That seems like a storybook ending to a season that was written off before it began, but Akers shared a different view with reporters this week. Akers only averaged 2.3 yards per carry and lost a pair of fumbles in a playoff win over the Rams, so he said “there wasn’t really a lot of celebrating for me” after the February win at SoFi Stadium.
“I don’t feel like I played my best games the five games I returned, but I did what I was supposed to do,” Akers said, via Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. “But obviously that’s not enough. . . . I got a lot to improve on, a lot to polish up on when it comes to my game. So, this offseason I’ve been hitting all of those deficits trying to get better.”
The Rams haven’t re-signed Sony Michel, which leaves Akers and Darrell Henderson as the team’s top two backs. As long as that remains the case, Akers should have plenty of chances for more fulfilling performances.