Jaylen McCollough

Rams S Quentin Lake To Miss Time After Elbow Surgery

1:10pm: Lake underwent surgery on his elbow, per Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The Rams are hoping their versatile safety is back for the postseason, if not sooner.

10:19am: Rams safety Quentin Lake is expected to miss multiple games due to an elbow injury, per Adam Grosbard of the Los Angeles Daily News.

Head caoch Sean McVay said on Monday that the team is waiting for MRI results to determine a plan for Lake moving forward. McVay left the door open to surgery and/or a stint on injured reserve.

Lake injured his elbow in the Rams’ win over the Seahawks on Sunday. The fourth-year safety has been playing the ‘Star’ role in Los Angeles once held by Jalen Ramsey. Most of Lake’s snaps have come out of the slot with a healthy dose of work as a free safety and a dimebacker in the box, plus a handful of snaps off the edge.

After emerging as a full-time starter in 2024, Lake has grown into an impact player this season. His 61 tackles rank third on the Rams defense and he leads the unit with 10 passes defended, which is a career-high through just 10 games. His two tackles for loss are a career-high, too, and Lake also notched his first-ever interception in Week 6 against the Ravens.

It will be hard for one player to replace Lake given his variety of roles in the defense. Second-year defensive back Josh Wallace stepped up in the slot on Sunday and will likely handle most of those snaps moving forward. Jaylen McCollough – also a second-year DB – can pick up Lake’s work in the box, while Kamren Curl and Kamren Kinchens have been starting at free safety. Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula also likes to move his safeties around and will have a few options to mix-and-match players with different roles during Lake’s absence.

Rams Sign 16 UDFAs

The Rams had a number of late-round picks last weekend, with the organization adding six rookies on the final day of the draft. The team has added even more young depth to the roster, as the organization announced the signing of 16 undrafted free agents:

After adding one wide receiver in the draft (Jordan Whittington in the sixth), the Rams have added three more rookies at the position. JJ Laap had a standout career at DIII Cortland, finishing with more than 3,000 receiving yards and 32 touchdowns. Drake Stoops didn’t truly break out until this past season at Oklahoma, when he basically doubled his career stats by finishing with 84 catches for 962 yards and 10 touchdowns. Sam Wiglusz put himself on the NFL radar after transferring from Ohio State to Ohio in 2022. In two seasons with the Bobcats, Wiglusz hauled in 129 catches for 1,537 yards and 14 touchdowns.

After drafting one defensive back in the draft (Kamren Kinchens in the third round), the team added five more rookies to the secondary via free agency. Jaylen McCollough had a strong five-year career at Tennessee, including a 2023 campaign where he 58 tackles and three interceptions. Kenny Logan Jr. also spent his entire college career at one school, collecting 383 tackles and six interceptions in 59 games at Kansas.