THOUSAND OAKS — Brett Rypien knows there’s a good chance he starts at quarterback for the Rams this week. But there’s also a chance he won’t know for certain that he’s the man until 90 minutes before kickoff.
That’s when the Rams (3-5) will have to decide upon their active and inactive players for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers (2-5), and whether Matthew Stafford will be in a jersey and a helmet or a heavy jacket and beanie with a sprained UCL in his right thumb.
But for Rypien, it makes no difference.
“I’m going to prepare like I’m the starter either way this week,” he said. “That’s what you do all the time, but especially when a guy is dealing with an injury and he is not practicing, it definitely heightens that level of awareness and you’re getting ready to go.”
By all accounts, Rypien has done the work necessary before this week and in the last three practices to be ready if Stafford can’t play. From coaches to receivers to offensive linemen, the Rams have spoken positively about Rypien’s preparation and attention to detail.
“Brett’s a smart guy,” receiver Tutu Atwell said. “It’s his time to step up and I think he’ll do a helluva job.”
But there’s still plenty of ground to make up, mostly in Rypien’s chemistry with receivers – understanding how they run their routes, how their interpret defenses, where they like to catch their targets.
As he’s spent so much time through the first eight weeks of the season with the scout team, Rypien hasn’t gotten many snaps with the first-team offense since training camp. So that chemistry has been a chief focus of practices this week.
“I think it’s just understanding each other,” receiver Cooper Kupp said. “Him getting a feel for my body language and me getting a feel for how he’s seeing the field, what kind of things he likes and how he wants these routes to play out. A lot of it is in conversation and being able to talk those things through. It’s something that we obviously have some attention to detail on and hopefully be able make that come to life this week.”
Rypien’s role and comfort level Sunday aren’t the only questions the Rams need answering.
The defense is coming off a season-worst performance against the Cowboys. After weeks of bemoaning individual plays or drives or quarters that undid otherwise-strong performances, the Rams allowed things to get out of hand quickly against Dallas, resulting in a season-high 43 points allowed.
“Just a bad day in the office, obviously. Moved on from that game,” defensive tackle Aaron Donald said. “I don’t really don’t want to talk about that, but we just didn’t play good. We got to play better and we’ll do that this week.”
That bounce-back task becomes a little more difficult without middle linebacker Ernest Jones. The Rams’ leading tackler and quarterback of the defense will be sidelined with a knee injury, one that has nagged him for several weeks but is finally keeping him out of a game for the first time this season.
Inside backer is one of the Rams’ shallowest spots, with only four players on the active roster. Troy Reeder and Jacob Hummel will likely take on a bigger role, while defensive coordinator Raheem Morris could opt to use Quentin Lake at dime backer more.
But in football, all thing revolve around the quarterback. And if it proves to be Rypien on Sunday, he’ll look to find his footing and rhythm from the jump.
“It feels good to get hit to be honest with you,” Rypien said. “Like the first couple hits you take, I think kind of get you back into the rhythm of feeling the pocket a little bit better and knowing when guys are getting really close to you versus when they’re maybe not that close and you might get rid of it a little too quick.”
RAMS (3-5) at PACKERS (2-5)
When: 10 a.m. Sunday
Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis.
TV/Radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/710 AM; 93.1 FM; 1330 AM (Spanish); Sirius 387, 230
