Rams RB Cam Akers ready for more after scoring first NFL TD
Asked how he felt after scoring his first NFL touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams rookie running back Cam Akers offered a quick retort.
“Just getting that first one, it’s blood in the water,” he said.
What do you mean by that, Cam?
“We’ll see,” he said, smiling. “I can show you better than I can tell you.”
Akers said he kept the ball from his first NFL touchdown and intends to frame it. That play was the high-point so far in an up-and-down year for L.A.’s second-round selection in this year’s draft.
After a promising training camp, Akers had to deal with a nagging rib injury suffered early in a Week 2 contest against the Philadelphia Eagles that forced him to miss two games.
Akers said he struggled with the unique obstacles of his rookie season, which including no offseason practices and no preseason games to rep the offense, along with COVID-19 protocols creating a disjointed first year in the NFL.
However, Akers has not used any of those things as an excuse and has continued to get better as a player.
“Just coming in and doing it every day, and not getting bored with it,” Akers said. “I think as a young player, it’s easy to get bored with the process. But just understanding it is a process that you’ve got to go through and taking it forward with your feet in the ground, 10 toes down.
“I think that’s what I did from the first half of the season to the second half of the season. And I think it’s paying off.”
Akers said one of the things that’s been helpful for his maturation is working with running backs coach Thomas Brown every day, who holds him and the rest of the running backs accountable.
“Even though it might not be perfect sometimes, he demands perfection,” Akers said about Brown. “And as a player you’ve got to live up to that if you want to play.”
For the season, Akers has 201 rushing yards on 50 carries with a long of 46 yards. Akers is averaging 4 yards per carry.
Heading into the 11th game of the year, Akers would be almost done for the season at Florida state. But the Rams still have six more games left, along with a potential playoff run.
Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell said he’s not concerned about Akers and fellow second round selection rookie receiver Van Jefferson -- who also scored his first NFL touchdown against the Bucs -- hitting a rookie wall.
“Two real reasons, they both do a tremendous job keeping themselves in great shape and the recovery process of learning that NFL routine,” O’Connell said. “We’ve got great veteran leadership to teach those guys how to do that. Then our strength staff, our training staff, those guys, our sports performance, we’ve got those guys a lot of different aspects that they can rely on to help them throughout their rookie year.
“On top of that, we’ve got real depth at both those positions. So, it’s not like from a volume of repetition standpoint, they should really be fatigued at this point. If anything, they should be starting to feel more comfortable with what we’re doing and being excited when their number gets called, they’re going to make the play. That’s really how we all can feel about those things.”
