Los Angeles Rams Tight End Tyler Higbee Expected to Return vs. Washington Commanders

Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay gave a positive update on tight end Tyler Higbee on Monday

The Los Angeles Rams were without their top tight end, Tyler Higbee, in their critical loss to the Baltimore Ravens, after he missed an entire week of practice with a neck injury. 

Higbee was injured in the Rams' 36-19 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 13, forcing L.A. to go with Hunter Long and rookie Davis Allen vs. the Ravens. 

However, according to coach Sean McVay, 'the expectation' is that Higbee will indeed return to the lineup for Los Angeles in their Week 15 tilt with the Washington Commanders at SoFi Stadium.

“Hopefully we’ll get Tyler back this week. That’s the expectation. That’s the goal,” McVay said. “Still have Brycen Hopkins who has done a lot of good things for us as well. We’ll take it a day at a time. We’re kind of just now in the last couple hours just getting all this information and then you start to sort through your plans accordingly.”

Tyler Higbee / USA Today Sports

Despite missing two games, Higbee is fourth on the team and leads all Rams tight ends with 34 catches for 367 yards and two touchdowns.

And his loss was certainly felt in the Rams' loss to Baltimore, with just four players catching passes for positive yardage in the game. 

That said, there was a slight silver lining in the absence of Higbee, with the Rams possibly finding another weapon in the passing game, in rookie tight end, Davis Allen, who caught four passes for 50 yards and a score on Sunday.

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"(Davis Allen) hadn't even played 40 total snaps the whole season and plays over 50 yesterday so I thought he did a great job stepping up," McVay said. "I thought he did a nice job in the run game, some things we can learn from, and also competed well in protection when that was asked of him. He's a guy that's played in a lot of big-time games. It wasn't too big for him yesterday, clearly, we could all see that."

Now, with Higbee likely returning, and Allen making his presence felt in Week 14, the Rams could have a new dynamic tandem to join Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp in the passing game for their playoff push.