The Los Angeles Rams will be without their starting running back Cam Akers for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. The news was confirmed by Rams head coach Sean McVay, who told reporters that the franchise and Akers are “working through some different things right now.”
Akers missed the last two practices of the LA team and has been listed as out due to personal reasons. His absence and limited role in the offense so far in the season got many to assume that Akers might have played his last game in a Rams’ jersey.
“[This is] kind of uncharted territory, and I think the biggest thing is, out of respect for the situation, want to keep it internal,” McVay said when asked to provide more details about Akers’ situation.
With Akers out, the Rams will most likely turn to veteran back Darrell Henderson Jr., who has 138 rushing yards and a touchdown this season. The team might also give third-string back Malcolm Brown and practice squad player Ronnie Rivers more prominent roles against the Panthers as well.
Cam Akers rushed for 151 yards in the first five games of the season but was largely inefficient. He is averaging just 3.0 yards per carry in 2022 and only managed to get 33 yards from 13 carries in Week 5 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Akers was the Rams’ second-round pick in 2020. He had a promising rookie year, in which he had 625 rushing yards in 13 games, before missing most of the 2021 regular season due to torn Achilles.
