A little over two weeks since sustaining a painful knee injury, offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth's perspective remains unchanged.
He continues to stay patient, stay connected to his Rams teammates and do everything he can to get back as quickly as possible, because he feels it's his responsibility to have that approach.
Quite simply, anything less is unacceptable to him.
"You sign up to be a leader, a captain, to be somebody who people look up to, man, you've got to have the same attitude in adversity that you do in great moments," Whitworth said during a video conference Tuesday. "I mean, I can't just enjoy when I have a great game as a left tackle, or become an All-Pro or Pro-Bowler or whatever. Those great moments aren't what it's all about, it's these adversity moments that I get a chance to prove I am who I am."
So far he's done a great job of setting that example.
He has invested in the process laid out by the Rams' athletic training staff, so much so that he acquired the equipment they have at the facility to do rehab work on his own at home, filling his garage-turned-home gym with an assortment of medical devices like red light therapies, power dots and an infrared sauna to aid his recovery.
Though Whitworth admitted it's hard to tell whether those devices are working, he figures if he uses them all collectively at least one will work and he'll be pleased. Starting to walk again, to the pleasant surprise of the medical professionals he has been working with, is perhaps a sign one of them is helping.
"Taylor Lewan and I are actually really close, Taylor Lewan with the Titans. (He) tore his ACL and is in the middle of that process, and we've almost been in a little bit of a competition for who can acquire the most medical devices," Whitworth said jokingly.
When he's not growing his collection of medical equipment, Whitworth is in constant contact with the other Rams offensive linemen via their group text chain. He will also text them individually "all the time before every game, throughout the week, just for little things that they may have questions about and stuff."
Whitworth also has plenty of confidence in Joe Noteboom, who is starting at left tackle while he recovers.
"I have no doubt that Joseph Noteboom will step in there, and as these games keep going, his play will continue to go on the upwards direction," Whitworth said. "He's a talented young man. And as I've told him, and he knows, I expect him to go in there and do a fantastic job and own it like it's his job. I wouldn't want anything other than that from him."
However, it's not just those teammates who are inspiring him to keep pushing foward.
Arriving home after getting an MRI and with a cast on, Whitworth texted Rams head coach Sean McVay a picture of his children waiting for him in front of the house with signs made to cheer him up, and told him "I got no choice (but) to be who I am, because I've got all these little faces watching me."
He also received additional support from his children's classmates and friends in the form of "25 different letters" of encouragement.
"To me, it's one of those things (where), what a great opportunity to show these kids toughness and resilience and a positive attitude, and those kind of things," Whitworth said. "That makes it easy for me, an easy why. To do it for all of them is fun for me. Through ups and downs and challenges, I'm excited about it."
