THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – OL Austin Blythe (ankle) and TE Tyler Higbee (chest) remain day-to-day as the Rams get ready for their Week 4 home game against the Buccaneers, but Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay is hopeful that both of them will return this week.
"They're both making good progress," McVay said during his Monday evening press conference. "They'll still be day-to-day, but the anticipation and hope is they'll be able to play this week."
Blythe missed last Sunday's game at Cleveland after not participating in Wednesday and Thursday's practices, followed by limited participation on Friday. Higbee did not practice last week and was ruled out in the final injury report for week.
Jamil Demby started in Blythe's place at right guard against the Browns, while Gerald Everett assumed No. 1 tight end duties for Higbee.
McVay at the beginning of last week mentioned tackle Bobby Evans and center Coleman Shelton as potential next men up candidates for the 46-man active roster if Blythe wound up missing Sunday's game at Cleveland. While Shelton was active and Evans was not, Evans being inactive was not an indictment of anything he did wrong.
"It was really more along the lines of, because Austin also fills the backup center role, (we were) just looking for more of an interior presence," McVay said. "Bobby is a guy that is has continued to do a good job, and really Jamil did a nice job stepping in Austin's absence."
Those decisions are ones McVay said the coaching staff will continue to evaluate. At the same time, he reiterated his desire to get Blythe back in the fold.
"Hopefully we'll get Austin back and be able to go back to what was our consistent seven (active offensive linemen) that we had in those first couple of weeks, but those are things that we're always looking at," McVay said.
Beyond the update on Blythe and Higbee, McVay had no additional injuries to report from L.A.'s most recent contest.
"We came away pretty clean," McVay said. "Nothing different than just the typical bumps and bruises, but guys are feeling good."
