With an explosive offense to defend, the Rams will have one of their key defenders back from injury on Sunday.
Cornerback Kayvon Webster has cleared the concussion protocol and is expected to play against the Saints on Sunday.
"He was a full participant [in Friday's practice] and he'll be good to go," head coach Sean McVay said of Webster.
"Everything's good — back to regularly scheduled programming," Webster said after Friday's practice. "It's football at the end of the day. Just had to get my reactions back up. Started on Monday, came in, watched the film, did some reaction drills and continued on to the end of the week."
"It's huge. He's our guy, he's our starter and we're going to need him," safety John Johnson III said of having Webster back. "I trust the guys behind him, but he's our starter and when we have him out there, we play a lot better."
Cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, however, is listed as doubtful for the contest. He did not participate in any practice session this week. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said on Thursday that defensive backs Lamarcus Joyner and Blake Countess are likely to fill in for Robey-Coleman in the slot. It's a position Joyner has manned before, and both Phillips and McVay are comfortable with Joyner doing it again.
"Yeah, I mean Lamarcus can play," Phillips said. "Robey does such a great job there, but Lamarcus is a great player there too. So, it just depends on where we want to put Lamarcus. He's a tremendous player wherever we play him, it's just where we need to play him in this game, so we've worked some things out there. You may see him at both."
Plus, the Rams will have cornerback Troy Hill back this week, having recovered from his hamstring injury.
"Those are some things that feeling like you've got a handful of guys that can both play the safety, the nickel spot, both corners — it gives you some flexibility," McVay said. "Being able to get Troy back, obviously with Blake being able to play a variety of spots, I think that will help us out, and then [we're] anticipating on having Kayvon if Nickell isn't able to go."
But going against the league's No. 3 scoring team, the Rams know it will be critical for all the defensive backs to be sharp when on the field Sunday.
"We are going to need everybody. Everybody is going to have to step up and make plays," Johnson said. "I feel like it always comes down to the DBs at the end of the day. If we play terrible, we lose, so we're going to need everyone in this game."
On the other side, the Saints will without two of their starting defensive backs, as both Marshon Lattimore (ankle) and Ken Crawley (abdomen) have been declared out for Sunday's game. That's a significant development, as Lattimore in particular has been though of as a potential defensive rookie of the year.
Kickoff is at 1:25 pacific on Sunday. The game will be televised on CBS.
