Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay made an interesting decision to start Justin Dedich at guard instead of Steve Avila in Week 4, despite Avila being active for the game. Dedich played the entire game for the Rams in a game Matthew Stafford was sacked three times.
McVay later explained that he started Dedich because Avila was still recovering from an ankle injury that had forced him to miss the past two weeks. McVay added that the benching wasn’t considered a long-term thing and much more situationable.
This is a prudent decision by McVay, showing that he has confidence in his backup linemen.
Playing Avila wouldn’t have been a bad choice, but it would have put his starting left guard in a position where he could have re-aggravated the injury that could have forced him to miss more time. By keeping Avila active as someone who could step in, it also gave the Rams good insurance if Dedich got hurt or looked overwhelmed. Fortunately, Dedich looked up to the task at hand.
Injury mitigation is hard to manage for coaches, especially with starters. It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see Avila back out there after the team activated him for the game, but keeping him on the bench effectively gave him a free week to get back to full strength.
And considering the Rams are playing the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5 for a chance at first place in the NFC West, it was a worthwhile risk that looks to have paid off.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams HC Sean McVay explains why he didn’t play Steve Avila in Week 4
Reporting by Tyler Greenawalt, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
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