Scouting the Rams: A Preseason Super Bowl Favorite Starts 0-1, With Injuries Mounting Ahead of Week 2

The Rams entered the season as the Super Bowl favorite at plus-500, according to FOX Sports, with a win total of 11.5 at DraftKings. They are 0-1 after a 27-7 loss to San Francisco on Sept. 10 at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia, and they host the Giants on Monday night with their best receiver, a starting safety and their backup receiver all held out of Friday's practice.

The Rams went 12-5 last season, finished second in the NFC West and reached the NFC Championship Game as the No. 5 seed, beating Carolina 34-31 and Chicago 20-17 in overtime before losing 31-27 at Seattle, which went on to win Super Bowl LX. Matthew Stafford was the NFL MVP, throwing for 4,707 yards and a career-high 46 touchdowns against eight interceptions, according to ESPN. The Rams scored 518 points, the only team in the league above 500, and their plus-172 point differential ranked second.

Coaching staff

Sean McVay is in his 10th season and entered it with a 92-57 regular-season record, according to the team. He and general manager Les Snead signed multiyear contract extensions on Feb. 2. McVay still calls the offensive plays. Nate Scheelhaase, 35, was promoted to offensive coordinator in February after Mike LaFleur left to become head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, according to FOX Sports. Kliff Kingsbury joined from Washington as assistant head coach. Chris Shula is in his third season as defensive coordinator, running a 3-4 base. Bubba Ventrone, hired from Cleveland, replaced Chase Blackburn as special teams coordinator.

Quarterback

Stafford is 38 and in his 18th season. He signed a one-year, $55 million extension on May 21 that runs through 2027, with $50 million guaranteed at the start of the 2027 league year, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported. The Rams also drafted Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson 13th overall in April; ESPN described him as Stafford's eventual successor. Stafford entered the season sixth in career passing yards with 64,516, according to ESPN.

In Week 1 he completed 15 of 25 passes for 155 yards with an interception, a 61.2 passer rating that SI/OnSI called his lowest in a game since 2018. He was 4 of 11 under pressure, according to SI/OnSI. Renardo Green intercepted a deep pass intended for Nacua that set up a 49ers touchdown drive. McVay pulled Stafford with 3:05 left and the Rams trailing 27-7; Stetson Bennett finished the game, CBS Sports reported.

Receivers and tight ends

Nacua led the NFL with 129 catches in 2025, for 1,715 yards and 10 touchdowns, and was a unanimous first-team All-Pro. He caught five passes for 74 yards on nine targets in Week 1. On Friday he did not practice because of a hip injury, ESPN's Sarah Barshop reported, and was added to the injury report for the first time this season, according to Pro Football Talk. Nacua left an Aug. 11 joint practice with Dallas with a psoas injury, the team said at the time; he was never listed on an injury report for it and played in Week 1, according to Pro Football Talk. The Athletic's Nate Atkins wrote Friday that it was unclear whether the hip issue is related and that McVay would address it Saturday.

Davante Adams, 33, is in the second year of a two-year, $44 million contract and led the NFL with 14 touchdown catches in 2025 on 60 receptions for 789 yards. He caught three passes for 26 yards on six targets in Week 1. His absence from Thursday's practice was listed as a rest day, and he practiced in full Friday.

Jordan Whittington is the third receiver, Nacua's direct backup and the primary kick returner. He did not practice Friday because of a quadriceps injury, according to the team's report. The Rams reacquired Tutu Atwell from Miami on Aug. 27 in exchange for running back Jarquez Hunter, according to the team. Atwell, a 2021 second-round pick, caught six passes in 10 games for the Rams in 2025; the team attributed his low usage to a shift toward three-tight-end personnel.

Tyler Higbee, 33, is the longest-tenured Ram after Rob Havenstein's retirement and re-signed on March 5. He is joined by Colby Parkinson, 2025 second-round pick Terrance Ferguson, Davis Allen and rookie Max Klare, the 61st pick out of Ohio State. The group combined for four catches and 31 yards in Week 1, and Higbee lost a fumble in Rams territory in the fourth quarter, according to the CBS Sports box score.

Backfield

Kyren Williams, 26, ran for 1,252 yards and 10 touchdowns on 259 carries in 2025 and signed a three-year, $33 million extension last August. Blake Corum split work nearly evenly with him in Week 1: Corum had 10 carries for 54 yards, Williams 11 for 41 and a touchdown plus three catches for 24 yards, according to the CBS Sports box score. SI/OnSI graded the running backs an A-minus, the offense's best mark.

Offensive line

The starters are left tackle Alaric Jackson, left guard Steve Avila, center Coleman Shelton, right guard Kevin Dotson and right tackle Warren McClendon Jr. The only change from 2025 is at right tackle, where Havenstein retired on Feb. 10 after 11 seasons and 148 starts, according to NFL.com; McClendon, a 2023 fifth-round pick, had already started in his place for most of 2025.

SI/OnSI charged Dotson with five pressures allowed in Week 1 and graded the unit a C. Trailing 17-7 in the third quarter, the Rams failed on a fourth-and-goal quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line, and the 49ers answered with a 99-yard touchdown drive. "The game flipped from there," McVay said afterward, according to the team's website.

Defense

The Rams allowed 346 points in 2025, 10th-fewest in the NFL, with 47 sacks and 16 interceptions, according to FOX Sports' team statistics. The Rams spent the offseason adding to that defense: they traded edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-round pick to Cleveland in June for Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who set the single-season sack record with 23 in 2025. They traded four picks, including their own first-rounder at No. 29, to Kansas City in March for cornerback Trent McDuffie and signed him to a four-year, $124 million extension. Aaron Donald signed a one-year, $20 million contract on Aug. 30, ending a two-year retirement.

Garrett played in Week 1 with a knee injury, had surgery on Sept. 14 and is on injured reserve, GiantsGator has reported; the earliest he can return is Week 6. Donald did not play in Week 1 and has not appeared on this week's injury report. Byron Young, who had 12 sacks and made the Pro Bowl in 2025, and Josaiah Stewart start on the edge in Garrett's absence. Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske and nose tackle Poona Ford anchor the interior.

The line graded an F in Week 1 from SI/OnSI, the lowest grade the outlet gave any Rams unit, and the Rams recorded no sacks, according to the CBS Sports box score. San Francisco ran for 174 yards, converted 7 of 12 third downs and held the ball for 33:50, according to the same box score.

Inside linebackers Nate Landman and Omar Speights return as starters. Landman, a captain who wears the communication helmet, had 132 tackles and four forced fumbles in 2025, according to the team; SI/OnSI charged him with seven catches allowed on eight targets in Week 1. The secondary was rebuilt at corner: McDuffie starts alongside Jaylen Watson, who signed a three-year, $51 million deal from Kansas City on March 9, NBC Sports' Mike Florio reported. Safety Quentin Lake had a team-high 10 tackles, according to the CBS Sports box score, and intercepted Brock Purdy. Kam Curl re-signed on a three-year, $36 million deal in March, NFL Network first reported, and Kamren Kinchens is the other starter.

Roster and cap

The Rams have $3.27 million in cap space with $12.23 million in dead money, according to Over the Cap, which lists Stafford ($48.27 million), Adams ($28 million) and Jackson ($25.38 million) as the three largest 2026 cap hits. Their 2026 draft class was Simpson, Klare, third-round tackle Keagen Trost, sixth-round receiver CJ Daniels and seventh-round defensive tackle Tim Keenan III. The No. 13 pick used on Simpson came from Atlanta in a 2025 draft-day trade; the Rams' own first-rounder, No. 29, went to Kansas City for McDuffie. Trost is on injured reserve. The Rams brought 18 undrafted rookies to camp, and outside linebacker Wesley Bailey made the 53-man roster.

Week 1 in Australia

San Francisco outgained the Rams 379-290 and led 23-15 in first downs, according to the CBS Sports box score. The Rams converted 2 of 9 third downs, went 1 for 3 in the red zone and committed four penalties. Deebo Samuel opened the second half with a 45-yard kickoff return that set up a touchdown.

The Rams arrived in Melbourne about 24 hours before kickoff, according to NFL.com, a decision McVay defended at the time; the 49ers arrived a week earlier. "We're not playing in Australia ever again, I hope," McVay said Thursday, according to CBS Sports. "Not because it wasn't a great atmosphere, that'll get taken out of context."

Outlook

The Rams play at Denver on Sept. 27 and at Philadelphia on Oct. 4 after the Giants, then host Buffalo on Monday night, Oct. 12. The Rams lead the regular-season series with the Giants 29-16, according to Giants.com; the teams last met in Week 17 of the 2023 season, a 26-25 Rams win at MetLife Stadium.

Injury report

As of Friday's practice, the Rams listed Nacua (hip) and Whittington (quadriceps) as did not participate, Kinchens (hamstring) as did not participate both Thursday and Friday, and Curl (ankle), Landman (shoulder) and Speights (hip) as limited both days. Saturday's practice designations had not been posted as of this story's reporting. Donald is not on the report and said he took part in team drills both days.

"That's the plan," Donald said Friday when asked whether he would play Monday, according to ESPN. "Practice today, have another practice tomorrow and then we'll see, but feeling good."

"He's got some swelling there, but we'll manage him throughout the week," McVay said of Speights, according to SI/OnSI. "He's feeling better than what we had anticipated."

The Rams promoted safety Tanner Ingle to the active roster on Sept. 18 and signed defensive tackle Jaxson Moi to the practice squad, Pro Football Talk reported, filling the spot opened by Garrett's move to injured reserve.

Betting line

The Rams opened as 8.5-point favorites, according to VegasInsider, and were at minus-7 at DraftKings and minus-7.5 at FanDuel late Friday night, with totals of 48.5 at DraftKings and 47.5 at FanDuel. The spread had not moved after Friday's Nacua and Whittington news. The Giants are 6-2 against the spread in the last eight meetings, according to SI.

Kickoff is 8:15 p.m. ET Monday at SoFi Stadium, on ESPN and ABC.