On Thursday night, against the Buffalo Bills, the Los Angeles Rams had a rough game across the board. It was especially bad for running back Cam Akers, who was all but invisible the entire game.
Akers only played 18% of the Rams’ offensive snaps and had three carries for a grand total of…zero yards. Needless to say, the lack of production and opportunities left his fantasy football owners frustrated.
Head coach Sean McVay was direct in saying what he from Akers and that is to have an “increased level of urgency” and to “maximize his opportunities.”
From ESPN:
“No matter who you’re talking about, you want to see guys do the little things the right way, compete with and without the ball,” McVay said. “There were some instances where there were some positive things and some things that [Akers] can do better, but we want to see just an increased level of urgency and accountability snap in and snap out from him.”
“We’ve all seen how talented and what a special player this guy’s capable of being. And I want to see him reach his highest potential. And that’s really all there is to it. It’s not about anything other than when he and Darrell [Henderson] are playing at a high level, I feel really good about those two guys at running back for us.”
“And the opportunities were minimal. There were some things that within each of those individual plays that I think that we can be better collectively, starting with me, then to the players around him, but also with Cam. And so it’s more of a reflection of the confidence that I know what he can be and I’m confident that he’ll be that guy that we’ve all seen at the right moments as this season continues to progress. And that’s our job to help get it out of him.”
In fairness, the Rams weren’t really playing at a level where they could get into a rhythm but it’s also difficult for someone to maximize their opportunities when they didn’t play for most of the game and just carried the ball three times. McVay’s comments at least indicate that Akers will be involved more in the offense. Just for Akers’ sake and the sake of his fantasy owners, hopefully that increased involvement is sooner rather than later.
[ESPN]
