Rams CB Kendrick expects to play despite arrest

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — After being arrested on Monday and remaining in police custody until Wednesday, Los Angeles Rams cornerback Derion Kendrick said he expects to play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Kendrick, who was arrested in Hollywood early Monday after a traffic stop, was charged with two misdemeanor gun offenses — carrying a concealed firearm and carrying a loaded firearm — according to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.

The arrest came just hours after Kendrick played all but eight defensive snaps for the Rams against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Kendrick returned to practice on Friday and was listed on the team’s injury report as limited and questionable to play against the Steelers. He said he could not disclose specifics about what happened, as it is an ongoing legal matter.

Kendrick said he “lost a couple of pounds” while in police custody and is working on getting his conditioning and hydration levels back up.

Rams head coach Sean McVay said Friday that based on the information he has received and his conversation with Kendrick on Thursday, he believes this can be used “as a learning opportunity” for the cornerback.

“I think there’s certain circumstances and situations that arise that you always use your values and principles to be able to make decisions,” McVay said. “I trust this kid’s heart. I believe in him. I also believe in forgiveness and understanding and there’s certain things that we can use to be able to learn from and then there’s certain mistakes that people make that maybe it’s a little bit different conversation. But based on my understanding of what occurred, I feel like this is something that we can move forward with.”

Kendrick said he has had the chance to apologize for being a distraction for the team and said Friday that the incident was “definitely” a learning experience for him.

“Just teaching me how to move and just how to move out here anyways,” Kendrick said. “To get my own security or get a driver to drive me around or stuff like that, just so I won’t be followed or whatever the case may be.”

On Monday, McVay said the Rams had been in communication with the NFL regarding Kendrick’s arrest, but said Friday that he doesn’t expect there to be an immediate punishment with the league, if there is at all.

Kendrick was previously arrested in March 2021 in his hometown of Rock Hill, South Carolina, after police said they found him asleep in his car with a gun and marijuana. When asked about Kendrick’s past arrest and whether that went into the decision about his future with the team, McVay said, “I think you want to understand exactly what were the circumstances behind each individual situation.”

“It was a similar type of situation, but there were some different dynamics that existed in this one,” McVay said. “And so those are things that are important to us. But I always believe you guys hear me talk about the football character and different things like that. I think some of these things, when you look at it as a whole and you say, do I think this makes him a bad person? No, I do not.”

“…I feel totally different based on our values and principles, but based on the information that I have, we definitely weigh the backgrounds and all that kind of stuff heavily. But it’s also getting to know the person and then when certain situations arise, how do you help them navigate through it? How do you make sure that there’s an empathy, but there’s also an understanding of, all right, what are our standards and how can we move forward the right way? And then where are we at in regard to let’s make sure things like this don’t occur again. And if they do, then maybe there’s a different conversation and a dialogue that I’m having with you guys as well.”

Kendrick, a 2022 sixth-round pick, has started every game this season for the Rams.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.