Rams energizer Tyler Higbee on track to play against Eagles
LOS ANGELES — After undergoing the first surgery of his life, Rams left guard Steve Avila found himself in an unfamiliar setting. Not on the practice field, but in the training room, going about the small tedious tasks of rehabbing a knee injury.
But there was a role model. Veteran tight end Tyler Higbee, seven months removed from surgery to repair a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus in his knee, went about his routine with the same intensity as if he were preparing for the coming game on Sunday, providing the example Avila needed in that moment.
“The way he carries himself, he didn’t allow any of this stuff to stop who he was. He attacked rehab the same way he attacks practice,” Avila said in late November, as Higbee was returning to practice. “I feel like he definitely sets the standard of how you’re supposed to be, whether that’s mentally or physically out there. … When you talk about cornerstones to this team, obviously Matthew [Stafford], [Cooper Kupp is] one, Big Rob [Havenstein], and I would also put him there, too. You need one of those guys like him to hold the team together. He’s been here a long time, he holds the standard.”
Higbee suffered that injury a year ago, in the Rams’ wild-card playoff loss to the Detroit Lions. Now, as the fourth-seeded Rams prepare for Sunday’s divisional round game against the second-seeded Philadelphia Eagles, Higbee is doing his best not to allow a different injury stand in his way of contributing to another playoff run.
The nine-year veteran left Monday’s 27-9 playoff victory over the Minnesota Vikings with a chest contusion that, after spitting up blood, required a trip to an Arizona hospital. But he was discharged that night, flew home with the team and told head coach Sean McVay that he expected to play against the Eagles.
On Thursday, after Higbee took part in practice in a limited fashion, McVay confirmed that the tight end is on track to play against Philadelphia.
McVay also said he expects cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon (thigh, no practice Thursday), defensive tackle Bobby Brown III (shoulder, no practice Thursday) and left tackle Alaric Jackson (chest, full practice Thursday) to all play against the Eagles.
All four played critical roles against the Vikings, and all figure to be big parts of the game plan in the divisional round, too. But Higbee set a tone for the entire Rams team on Monday, with five catches in the first quarter to ignite two scoring drives for a team that has found first-quarter points hard to come by this year.
“Whether it’s catching a seam early or a flat route late and making somebody miss, he did a nice job with his opportunities on Monday,” Stafford said, “and hopefully he’s feeling great and can go.”
The on-field impact from Higbee has been evident. His size and after-the-catch ability make him a reliable red-zone option for a team that struggled to close out drives early in the season. The Rams capitalized on that in his first game back this season with a designed play to him for a red-zone touchdown.
But still, his greatest impact is felt behind the scenes, in those moments when he shows a young player like Avila how to move forward.
“I don’t know if there’s many people that embody what we want, what [McVay] has talked about being a Rams football player is, I don’t know if there’s a better example than Tyler Higbee,” Kupp said. “Battling through things, but also just the teammate that he is, the work horse that he is on the field, the energy he brings. He’s a special football player.”
BRIEFLY
The Rams opened the practice windows for linebacker Troy Reeder and defensive tackle Larrell Murchison to return from injured reserve. Both were full participants in Thursday’s practice.