Aqib Talib is expected to miss around a month of action because of a high ankle sprain suffered in the Rams’ win over the Chargers. However, this process will now include a surgery.
Sean McVay confirmed Talib will have surgery on Thursday (per The Athletic’s Vincent Bonsignore, on Twitter). He’s been declared out for Thursday’s game against the Vikings, and McVay isn’t sure how long it will take Talib to recover from this operation, per Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
An IR stay for the 11th-year defender hasn’t yet been mentioned. The Rams are set to face the Vikings in a key NFC game Thursday and may not have either Talib or Marcus Peters for it. Peters is battling a calf strain and is day-to-day, per McVay.
This will be a blow to a Rams team flush with star talent on defense. Nickell Robey-Coleman and Sam Shields represent the next men up, but Robey-Coleman serves as Los Angeles’ slot corner. Shields missed all but one game during the 2016 and ’17 seasons due to severe concussion trouble. He’s played in 48 snaps across three Rams games this season, however. The former Packers top corner is still just 30.
Talib has not missed more than three games in a season since his 2012 campaign with the Buccaneers and Patriots. He missed three games for the 2016 Broncos but still earned his first-team All-Pro honor. He missed one game last season, but that was for his fight with Michael Crabtree.
Following their home Vikings tilt, the Rams have road trips scheduled for Seattle, Denver and San Francisco. It appears unlikely Talib will be healthy enough to face the Broncos in Week 6.