CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rams running back Kyren Williams said he expects to play next week after briefly leaving Sunday’s 31-28 loss to the Carolina Panthers with an ankle injury.
Late in the second quarter, Williams took a goal-line carry. After he was tackled, he checked himself out of the game and sat down on a bench as VP of sports medicine Reggie Scott examined his right leg. The pair looked at a monitor to see how the injury occurred, then Williams walked to the locker room during the two-minute warning with a pair of trainers.
Williams came out of the locker room after halftime and did a quick test run. Seeming satisfied after a couple of cuts, he sat again on the bench before returning to the game on the Rams’ next offensive series.
“I just got rolled up on, classic just big guys laying on top of you,” Williams said. “Thank goodness that I went through something last year, two years ago that has scar tissue in that ankle so it’s not really that big of a deal. So thank goodness for that and I’ll be ready to go next week.”
Williams finished the game with 13 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Atwell not activated
The Rams opted not to activate wide receiver Tutu Atwell off of injured reserve for the game against the Panthers after he returned to practice this week.
Asked about the decision after the game, head coach Sean McVay implied that it was not related to Atwell’s recovery from his hamstring strain.
“It goes all into your 48,” McVay said, referring to the 48-man game day roster, “and special teams and all those different things kind of have factors in that.”
Record books
With 243 passing yards against the Panthers, quarterback Matthew Stafford reached 62,882 career passing yards, passing Matt Ryan for eighth on the all-time list.
With two receiving touchdowns, Davante Adams reached 117 in his career, passing Antonio Gates for seventh all-time. His 28th career multi-receiving touchdown game moved him into a tie with Don Hutson for sixth-most all-time.