Rams To Place DL Bobby Brown On IR

Sporting a retooled defense around Aaron Donald this season, the Rams will need to look deeper into their young nucleus. Bobby Brown‘s season will hit pause soon.

The Rams are expected to place Brown on IR, Sean McVay said Monday (via The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue). The third-year defensive lineman suffered a grade 3 MCL sprain. This actually represents one of the best possible scenarios for Brown, who will be a candidate to come off IR when eligible.

Last season, the Rams used IR to the point they ran out of activations late in the season. Of course, the season was lost by that point. McVay’s latest Rams team has authored an interesting first quarter this season, going 2-3 and submitting quality efforts against the unbeaten 49ers and Eagles.

After seeing the Rams let multiyear starters Greg Gaines and A’Shawn Robinson walk in free agency (to the Buccaneers and Giants, respectively), Brown moved into a regular starting role for the first time as a pro. The former fourth-round pick has lined up alongside Donald as a first-stringer in all five Los Angeles games, coming after he started one contest over his first two seasons. Brown has already topped his season-high tackles number, registering 13 in five games, and Pro Football Focus rates him as a top-35 interior D-lineman.

Brown is one of several rookie-contract players making his debut as a Rams starter this year. In addition to Puka Nacua on offense, L.A.’s defense is rookie-deal-laden to the point it only trots out only two vested veterans — Donald and Ahkello Witherspoon — as starters. The team has third-round rookie Kobie Turner looming as a backup D-lineman. Former Titans draftee Larrell Murchison and 2021 Rams fifth-rounder Earnest Brown are also in place as D-line reserves.

The Rams have already used two of their eight allotted activations, bringing Cooper Kupp and rookie outside linebacker Ochaun Mathis off IR on Saturday. Brown will be eligible to return in Week 11, as the Rams’ bye arrives in Week 10.