Cam Akers didn’t expect that he would have a little workload in the Rams’ 31-10 loss against the Buffalo Bills last Thursday night.
Las Vegas head coach Sean McVay said to reporters that he had discussed playing with more urgency with Akers. According to Akers, the conversation took place during training camp, but he didn’t expect a limited workload in the season opener.
In the last game, Akers only recorded 12 snaps and 3 carries without any yards. Akers acknowledged that the last game was frustrating, but he won’t think about it furthermore because they still have 16 games remaining.
“If Coach doesn’t think I’m being urgent enough, I’ll just be more urgent,” The Rams’ running back said Wednesday. “That’s what it came down to. Whatever Coach says, man, I’m going to take it in and learn from it. Whatever you want to say, I’m going to take it and learn from it and go from there, whether I think it’s right or not. Maybe I’m not always right, you know?”
Akers was also asked about what the head coach meant when he mentioned a need for increased urgency. He said that it meant doing more practice. He said that his performance on Thursday was decent but there’s always room to improve, and he wants to improve because he is not perfect. However, Akers took in stride McVay’s statement.
Urgency has been Akers’ middle name. He came back from his Achilles injury in less than six months because he aimed to win the Super Bowl. During this time, he had watched the Rams’ offense from the sideline and saw a lot of areas that needed immediate improvement.
Akers wasn’t very effective upon his return. The start of a new season provided him with an opportunity to start fresh, but that didn’t happen in the previous season opener.
“I don’t want to get into details or specifics, but we’ve got a lot to work on offensively as a team, and defensively, too,” Akers said. “We’re not there yet. We’re trying to get there.”
Other players’ lack of action
Along with Akers, receiver Allen Robinson isn’t too concerned about his lack of action against the Bills. Robinson caught only one pass on two targets from Matthew Stafford.
“Everybody wants to get opportunities,” Robinson said. “At the same time, some of the ways (Buffalo) played us and all that, it’s tough to (be involved). I just tried to do what I can do and maximize my opportunities.”
Robinson knows why it happened and expects it will be better ahead. “In some games, that’s how it goes sometimes,” Robinson said. “This week, we just need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how we can get better.”
The Rams can’t get much worse than 243 yards on 66 plays in their first game since winning the Super Bowl. The inability to get the ball into the hands of Akers or Robinson was particularly noticeable.
They currently record 0-1. Los Angeles has plenty of time to figure out how to get two of their best offensive players more involved, starting with the game against the Atlanta Falcons on September 18.