Sean McVay Explains Why Blake Corum Didn’t Play Against Lions

One of the biggest surprises of Week 1 for the Los Angeles Rams was the lack of offensive involvement from Blake Corum. He was healthy early in the season and played on special teams, but never stepped foot on the field with the Rams offense.

For all the hype he generated this offseason by looking like the No. 2 behind Kyren Williams, Corum was third on the depth chart in the opener. It was Rivers who came in for Williams on seven plays, not Corum.

On Monday afternoon, Sean McVay was asked about the bizarre quarterback rotation — if you can even call it that — and explained why Williams played in 71 of 78 snaps and Corum none.

“I think each game is going to have its own character,” he said. “It was a very unique set of circumstances because when so many of our linemen got banged up, it limited some of the different — we basically didn’t execute our game plan. We just had to change it in the middle of the game plan. When unforeseen things happen, you pick guys that you trust and guys that you know. I think the way some of the plays unfolded, where there were long gaps between them — I think that’s why you saw our rotation of running back and tight end reflect that. Colby Parkinson played 69 plays. I think Kyren played 71, when you look at it. I want Ronnie to be involved a little bit more. I want Blake to be involved as well. Davis (Allen) and Hunter (Long) made some plays, but given the way the game unfolded, it was very unique for a lot of different reasons, none of which were probably what you’re really looking for, but that’s not how we envisioned the rotation going.”

The Rams knew Alaric Jackson and Rob Havenstein wouldn’t be in the game. They didn’t know Joe Noteboom and Steve Avila would get hurt. But it’s not like they were both hurt in the first or second series. Avila played almost half the snaps (47%), while Noteboom played 35%.

McVay had time to give Corum a few opportunities before the line collapsed, but he trusted Williams and Rivers more than the starting running back. While he didn’t mention pass protection, that was likely a major reason for Corum’s lack of playing time.

The Rams were playing a pass-heavy scenario against the Lions and needed someone they could trust to catch the blitz, an area where Williams is one of the NFL’s best. Corum, as a rookie, is probably a little worse in pass protection.

Still, that’s not a good reason to give Corum zero chances to run in a game where Williams didn’t shine (18 carries, 50 yards), but McVay felt more comfortable with the veteran behind him than the rookie.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Sean McVay explains why Blake Corum didn’t play in Lions game