Tennessee Titans may face Los Angeles Rams without Von Miller
By Will Lomas
All week the conversation about this game has been about how the Tennessee Titans offense (without Derrick Henry) will stand up to the Los Angeles Rams defense now that they have added potential Hall of Fame EDGE Von Miller.
While the Tennessee Titans will definitely be without Derrick Henry, the Rams defense might be without their newest weapon on defense.
Week 8 would have been Von Miller’s final game with the Denver Broncos if not for an ankle injury that he suffered the week before.
Early in the week, it looked like the injury might have been an excuse to keep him out of harm’s way while a deal was quietly being worked out behind the scenes. However, Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Rams might sit him an extra week to make sure he is ready for the last half of the season and the playoffs.
#Rams pass-rusher Von Miller, who recently arrived via trade, may not end up playing his first game. Listed as questionable because of an ankle injury, there is pessimism that he goes, source said. The team wants him for the stretch run. Meanwhile, WR Robert Woods (foot) is good.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 7, 2021
This would be welcome news for the Tennessee Titans because it means that the offense would have one less thing to worry about.
Right now the Rams are doing a great job on defense and they already have elite defensive players like Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey. The addition of Von Miller will only make sleeper star Leonard Floyd, even more dangerous.
People only talk about the offensive line when they do poorly, but Taylor Lewan is bouncing back well after a bumpy start to the season and David Quessenberry has settled into the right tackle role nicely. Now more than ever the Titans need consistency on the offensive line so avoiding Miller should allow them to do that.
The focus from here should shift inside, where starting right guard Nate Davis will miss this game. This year Davis has been the Titans’ worst offensive lineman by a wide margin, but it could be worse for the Titans.
For some reason Mike Vrabel insists on putting Dillon Radunz at right guard, which is about as far away from his natural position (left tackle) as you can get. To put it in perspective, imagine if the Titans asked Kristian Fulton to play middle linebacker.
Quick side note, but why does Mike Vrabel hate rookies? Is he just confused why new players show up every year and he forgets to watch them before or after the draft so he just puts them in a position to fail so that he can justify playing veterans that he knows?
Luckily, Aaron Brewer has come off of injured reserve and if the Titans are smart they will let Brewer or Corey Levin start at right guard tonight. Neither is going to shut down Aaron Donald, but they will need less help and at the very least they are natural guards.
For the first time all season, injury luck might be leaning towards the Tennessee Titans…except for the part where they lost their MVP running backs for a few months but forget about that for now.