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Brady HendersonESPN
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee has an MCL sprain that puts his status for Super Bowl LVI in question, coach Sean McVay said Monday.
Higbee, the Rams’ No. 1 tight end, left the NFC Championship Game in the first half Sunday with what was announced as a knee injury. He didn’t return.
“We’re working through some different avenues,” McVay said of the injury. “He got an MCL sprain there. He’s such a tough guy. We’re going to do everything in our power to try to get this guy back and ready to go. But we are working some things.”
Higbee caught 61 passes (second on the team) for 560 yards (third) and 5 touchdowns (tied for third) in 15 regular-season games. He played 14 snaps Sunday, catching two passes for 18 yards, before leaving the game.
Backup Kendall Blanton caught five passes for 57 yards in the Rams’ 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Blanton scored a touchdown in the Rams’ divisional-round win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
McVay expressed optimism that starting safety Taylor Rapp could be available when the Rams face the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium on Feb. 13. Rapp has missed all three playoff games after suffering a concussion in Week 18, but is “looking like he’s turned the corner in a positive way,” per McVay.
Higbee’s was the only injury from Sunday that could affect any Rams player’s status for the Super Bowl, McVay said.
“It’ll be good to kind of figure out how we want to utilize these next couple weeks to try to get some guys that have played a lot of football, that are banged up, as healthy as possible for the 13th,” he said. “But the only guy from yesterday’s game that his game status could be in doubt for the Super Bowl would be Higs, but we’re taking that a day at a time.”
McVay said it’s “definitely a possibility” that running back Darrell Henderson, cornerback Robert Rochell and defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day return from injured reserve in time for the Super Bowl.