WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — Dislocating his shoulder is nothing new for safety Jaylen Watson. During the 2021 season at Washington State, he suffered the same injury that he did five years later — this season with the Rams in the first half of their Week 3 game against the Broncos.
Watson missed Week 4 against the Eagles before returning on Monday Night Football in Week 5 against the Bills. As a result of his injury in 2021, however, he didn't miss a single game — and Watson felt the repercussions of that in the weeks prior.
"I knew I was going to be out for a little bit of time," Watson told therams.com. "I didn't actually miss any games in college, and I just didn't feel like myself for the first couple weeks playing."
After his previous experience, Watson knew it would be better and the training staff decided that he would not to play in Philadelphia to recover and build strength back in his shoulder. And in the week leading up to and during the game against the Bills, head coach Sean McVay said the Rams would be putting Watson's shoulder in a harness.
Watson said he's still gaining back strength in that shoulder, but you wouldn't be able to tell based on his performance against the Bills.
With 37 second left in the first half, the Rams sent cornerback Trent McDuffie on a blitz from the secondary. Quarterback Josh Allen escaped the pocket and unloaded a pass down field, intended for wide receiver Keon Coleman.
The pass, underthrown into double coverage, fell into the hands of Watson for an interception. After hauling it in, Watson danced around for what ended up being a 3-yard return.
"We were in a zone and I seen Keon Coleman going deep, so I just ran to the other side of the field, and he threw the ball up, gave me opportunity, just made a play on it," Watson said.
Watson and the entire secondary then ran down into the end zone and danced some more, celebrating Watson's first interception as a Ram — something that safety Quentin Lake had prepared.
"Q actually planned that," Watson said with a smile. "It was like a little 'Stomp the Yard.' We ran to the end zone and had fun with it."
In those moments during his interception and in ensuing celebration, Watson looked completely unfazed by the injury. His shining moment and overall performance on Monday night, adding two total passes defended to bring his season tally to five, was a testament to the toughness McVay and his teammates notice.
"He's tough, mentally and physically, and he's a great teammate," McVay said on Thursday of Watson. "It was big. He played really well. He was into it, and looking forward for him to be able to build on that."
Watson at SoFi Stadium is also only about 70 miles away from where he played at Ventura College at the junior college level. When he moved back to Los Angeles, Watson reached out to some of his former teammates still in the area.
"I actually did have a couple come to the games so far, so yeah, I still keep up with a lot of them," Watson said. "... They weren't at this game, but they always show love and support in a success I have, so I appreciate them for that."
Watson was off the injury report this week heading into Sunday's game against the Cardinals. So just like last week with the interception against Buffalo, he's ready to get back out there and play hopefully have a reason to dance with his teammates.
"It's football, everybody's gonna get banged up, get hurt, stuff's gonna happen," Watson said. "Just shout out to the training stuff, helping me get healthy enough to play football again. I just missed being out there with the guys."
