Injuries on their offensive line have come to define the Los Angeles Rams’ season through five weeks. With a favorable matchup against the Carolina Panthers looming on Sunday’s schedule, it would appear that the team is positioning itself to do everything it can to mitigate the effect of its starters’ absence.
Head coach Sean McVay addressed what he has seen from one offensive lineman in particular on Wednesday, telling reporters that tackle Joe Noteboom is progressing well in the Rams’ system. Asked how he would assess the lineman’s performance through five games, he explained that Noteboom is on track with what the team expected of him heading into the season.
“I think it’s been some things that are in alignment with what we expect from Joe,” McVay said. “Then there’s some things that he could do at a higher level. I think he’d be the first to be able to tell you that. The consistency is something that we’re hunting up from all of our players. But the good thing is that you’ve seen enough positives over the course of Joe’s career to really be able to build on it. Let’s learn from those things. He still is a young developing player, but we want to be able to see that growth and maturation occur a little bit more quickly. I do have a lot of confidence in Joe that that will get done.”
A third-round pick by Los Angeles in the 2018 draft, Noteboom has started in almost 20 games for the Rams over the course of his young career. He is still just 27 years old, so it isn’t out of the question that he might continue to get better as he hones his technique and understanding of McVay’s offensive schemes.
As injuries to the front five are a key talking point ahead of the Rams’ Week 6 matchup, Noteboom may be thrust into a key role this week as one of the team’s most-tenured linemen. His performance is likely to make or break Los Angeles’ chances of getting back above the .500 mark.
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