Sean McVay carried a heavy burden into the 2026 season. The Rams had a busy offseason, and the arrivals of Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie raised expectations that the team would go further than last season’s NFC Championship Game loss. McVay knew it wouldn’t be easy.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“There’s going to be adversity that inevitably we hit. How we handle that will be key,” he said. Little did he know that halfway through the season, that adversity would have him wishing he could break the rules just this once, if only it meant pulling the Rams out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves.
With his receiver room taking one brutal hit after another, McVay cheekily admitted he’d like to put assistant wide receivers coach Robert Woods back on the field, even though it would violate the CBA, when one reporter jokingly asked about Woods.
“I’ve looked at him and the way that he looks out there, I’ve definitely been tempted [to see if he can play],” McVay told reporters on Wednesday. “I think that’d be a violation of the CBA, or I don’t know what he’d have to do, but he looks damn good. He still is smooth out there, so very tempting.”
It’s easy to see why McVay is tempted. On top of the losses this season, the Rams have been hit hard by injuries, especially at receiver. Star wideout Puka Nacua is sidelined for a significant stretch with an MCL sprain, a PCL sprain and turf toe, while Davante Adams (ruptured hamstring) and Jordan Whittington (back sprain) are both on injured reserve.
The Rams also didn’t acquire a wide receiver before the trade deadline. That leaves the offense relying heavily on Tutu Atwell, Konata Mumpfield, Xavier Smith and rookie CJ Daniels. Some of them have meaningful experience, but none of them compare to Woods.
After all, McVay has seen firsthand just how good Woods was as a receiver. In 2018, Woods racked up 1,219 receiving yards and six touchdowns, and he followed it up with another 1,000-yard season in 2019. He was at the heart of the offense Jared Goff ran alongside Cooper Kupp. Woods called it quits earlier this year, signing a one-day contract with the Rams before announcing his retirement, then returning a week later to join the coaching staff.
After 12 years as a receiver, Woods knows the best way to help his players is by showing them. And at 34, the receiver-turned-coach still looks as good as ever. Unfortunately, beyond coaching from the sideline and making catches in practice, there’s not much else Woods can do.
Because Woods filed his retirement paperwork in February 2026, he is on the reserve/retired list. Under league rules, if Woods wanted to return, he would have to formally apply for reinstatement and go through waivers, giving all 31 other teams a chance to claim him before the Rams could sign him to a standard player contract.
Even then, the NFL has historically not allowed this kind of move.
In 2020, when all of the Broncos’ quarterbacks were sidelined under COVID protocols, the team asked the NFL whether it could play one of its offensive quality control coaches, Justin Rascati or Rob Calabrese, at quarterback. The league denied the request, and the Broncos were forced to play practice squad receiver Kendall Hinton at quarterback.
It wasn’t the first time, either. In 2009, Andy Reid asked the league whether Matt Nagy, then a coaching intern with the Eagles, could play quarterback in a preseason game. The league denied that request, too.
McVay isn’t making a serious attempt to bring Woods back, but the team’s situation is dire. The Rams have the league’s seventh-best passing offense, averaging 254.4 passing yards per game. But with both Adams and Nacua out and the team sitting at 5-4, the challenge now falls to Woods. How he develops the receivers stepping into bigger roles could determine whether the Rams make the playoffs.
As for McVay, he isn’t pressuring his players to rush back from injury.
“I think the biggest thing is, are you putting them out there when they could further risk injury? And we always would say no on those. But if you’re saying, ‘I’m not feeling great and is 80% better than something else?’ As long as there’s no risk for further injury or you’re not having to do something that could leave them susceptible to unnecessary injuries, we always talk about those things.”
“I do think the guys that have accumulated a bunch of experience, they’re able to better articulate and understand themselves based on the knowledge that’s gained through the experience, understanding your body, and what do you need to be able to perform at a certain level.”
The Rams’ next test comes this weekend against the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale.