Jimmy Garoppolo and Alaric Jackson returned to practice on Wednesday with the Los Angeles Rams after serving two-game suspensions at the start of the season.
While Garoppolo is a more well-known player, the Rams (0-2) felt Jackson’s absence more because he is their starting left tackle.
When asked about the reason for his suspension, Jackson did not provide any details. Rams coach Sean McVay also kept quiet about the matter, which the NFL stated was related to a violation of its personal conduct policy.
“That’s behind us now,” Jackson said. “I’m keeping it in-house right now. I was definitely selfish, but it’s behind me now, and we’re going to move forward with it.”
Jackson, who was not drafted, has been the Rams’ starting left tackle when he is healthy for most of the past two seasons after Andrew Whitworth retired. He missed half of the 2023 season due to blood clots but came back to start 15 regular season games and played in the team’s playoff game last year.
“It was definitely tough,” Jackson said about missing the first two games of the new season. “I felt bad about it, but it’s behind us now.”
Jackson’s replacements struggled in the first two games. Joe Noteboom, who lost the starting position to Jackson in 2023, suffered a high ankle sprain during the season opener. Backups A.J. Arcuri and Warren McClendon had difficulty keeping up in the Rams’ losses to Detroit and Arizona.
The Rams already have four offensive linemen on injured reserve: Noteboom, starting center Jonah Jackson, starting left guard Steve Avila, and veteran tackle Conor McDermott.
Starting right guard Kevin Dotson is dealing with a foot injury that is keeping him from practicing, while starting right tackle Rob Havenstein missed the season opener with an ankle injury but returned in Week 2.
