WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Rams head coach Sean McVay on Monday said the team expects to get safety Quentin Lake and wide receiver Davante Adams back for Saturday's Wild Card round playoff game against in the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. (1:30 p.m. PT, FOX).
Tight end Terrance Ferguson is also expected to play Saturday after missing the regular season finale because of a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, offensive lineman Kevin Dotson's status for Saturday is still to be determined.
"The anticipation is getting Quentin Lake back, getting Davante Adams back, and then we'll see what it looks like for Kevin Dotson as well," McVay said.
Returning this weekend aligns with what McVay has previously said regarding the expected timeline for Lake, who missed the team's final seven regular season games due to an elbow injury sustained against the Seahawks in Week 11.
Adams re-aggravated a hamstring injury two weeks later that sidelined him for the team's final five regular season games, but McVay said they've been erring on the side of caution with the receiver.
"I know it's pissed him off pretty good because of the competitor that he is, but he's got that look in his eye that I know he's ready to go," McVay said.
McVay said Ferguson being inactive in Week 18 was a precautionary decision made by the team because of a short turnaround coming off a Monday night game last week. He "had accumulated a bunch of volume," McVay said, then "kind of felt" his hamstring Friday. While Ferguson played only 32 of the team's 65 offensive snaps (49.2%) in Week 17 against the Falcons, he played 76.1% of the team's offensive snaps in Week 16 against the Seahawks, 77.8% in Week 15 against the Lions and 64.3% in Week 14 against the Cardinals, all of which marked his three-highest amounts of playing time in the regular season.
"And he's obviously a special player for us and the way that we use him," McVay said. "Felt it on Friday. Came in Saturday, and there wasn't optimism, in terms of, there was a possibility we could set him back, especially just knowing what we had ahead this week, and so erred on the side of caution with him. It worked out, because getting (tight end Tyler) Higbee back didn't leave us so short-handed at that position. And obviously, Higs played a lot more snaps than we had kind of planned, but he's a total stud, and did an excellent job, and we needed everything that he brought yesterday. But I do think we'll get Terrance back."
Ferguson posted 11 catches for 231 and three touchdowns while playing 14 games (three starts) in his rookie regular season season.
Lake posted 61 total tackles, 10 passes defensed and one interception in 10 games played (all starts) prior to his injury, while Adams had 60 receptions for 789 yards and a league-leading 14 touchdowns in 14 games played (all starts) prior to his injury.
As for Rob Havenstein, McVay characterized the veteran offensive lineman's status as week-to-week.
