Rams running back Cam Akers tore his Achilles while training for the 2021 season in July.
Now as the calendar flips to January, he’s going to be on the field.
On the Rams’ in-house weekly show with Sean McVay, the head coach said that Akers is set to play after the team activated him off of injured reserve on Dec. 25.
“I think you let him go. He did a great job these last couple weeks,” McVay said. “To say that he’s not ready, I don’t know that I’d be accurate — I think that he’s ready. I think he probably would’ve been ready to go last week. But we’re operating with the expectation and anticipation that Cam Akers is going to make his Rams debut in the [2021] season after Achilles surgery this week. I think he’s going to be able to contribute. And this is a pretty cool story.”
Akers had 748 yards from scrimmage — 625 rushing, 123 receiving — and three total touchdowns in 13 games as a rookie last season. He moved into a starting role late in the season and rushed for 131 yards in the playoff win over the Seahawks.
McVay noted Akers has “earned the right to come out and help us as a team.”
“This is a special guy who’s a special player,” McVay said. “And having him back will definitely give us a boost. What that workload looks like and how it works, I can’t answer that quite yet. But I do expect him to contribute in some form or fashion on Sunday against the Niners.”
The Rams have clinched a playoff berth but need to defeat San Francisco to clinch the NFC West and the conference’s No. 2 seed. Having a running back with fresh legs could certainly help L.A. in Week 18 and beyond.