McVay: Rams ‘working through’ things with Akers

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay said Wednesday he wouldn’t rule out the possibility that running back Cam Akers practices this week and plays against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Akers did not play in the Rams’ last two games as the team explored trade options for their 2020 second-round pick. McVay has declined to go into details on why Akers was absent, but the running back was listed on the injury report as out for personal reasons during that time.

McVay said Wednesday, the day after the NFL’s trade deadline, that he met with Akers and was “very encouraged with the dialogue that we had.” McVay said he, Akers and Akers’ representatives are “working through a couple of different options.”

“As far as playing on Sunday, I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but we’re working through some different things,” McVay said. “After we had that conversation, got a couple different things that are some options that we can potentially do moving forward. And we’ll have clarity on that as far as getting him back working with this group, or if that means exploring other avenues.”

McVay said Akers expressed to him that he would like to be a part of the Rams going forward.

“The one thing that I think is good about some of these discussions that can take place is when you get a chance to reflect on it, you can be honest about [what] you could do differently, talking about myself, some of the expectations,” McVay said. “And there’s a lot of confidence, there’s a lot of belief in the human being and the player Cam Akers, based on the experiences.

“And you don’t want to jump to conclusions just based on a couple things that, nobody was necessarily at fault, but it could have been handled better. And I always look at myself first and foremost.”

After the Rams’ season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills, McVay told reporters that he had a conversation with Akers about needing to play with more urgency, noting the reason the pair had that discussion is “a result of my confidence in him and the expectations we have and what we need him to be, which isn’t anything more than what he’s capable of.” Akers later said that conversation occurred during training camp.

Akers has 151 rushing yards and a touchdown on 51 carries in five games this season.

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