Rams Placed Jaylen Watson on Season-Ending IR for Serious Reason

The Los Angeles Rams continue to get hit by significant injuries, and now cornerback Jaylen Watson is out for the rest of the season due to needing shoulder surgery. 

Watson dislocated his shoulder in Week 3, leading to him missing Week 4. That injury was then aggravated again against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Now, Rams head coach Sean McVay confirmed the serious nature of the injury and why the defender has been shut down for the season.

One thing the Rams are known for doing is ensuring the health of their players, and McVay has been adamant through his time as the organization's leader in not allowing players to further damage themselves on the field.

That was the case when defensive end Myles Garrett underwent knee surgery to correct a nagging issue, and when wide receiver Puka Nacua missed time to heal from his psoas injury as well.

That also is the case with Watson. Despite McVay understanding that Watson has wanted to play through the injury, he said team doctors revealed that he could further damage his shoulder if he continued on in the manner that he has through the 2026 season. 

"I would say though is is the likelihood of it coming out and doing further damage to it is a very high probability. And so that's where, you know, you could really strap it, but it would restrict his movement and, you know, just some of the different things that we've received from our doctors. You know, it's the right thing to do by him, even though it sucks because he's been such a bright spot for us," McVay said.

McVay indicated that Watson could play with a brace of some kind, but the likelihood of the corner suffering further damage is very high. Considering the money that the cornerback was paid to be a leader in the secondary, further damage would not be the smartest move. 

Watson was signed to a three-year, $51 million contract in March, which ties him to the Rams through the 2028 season. Fellow cornerback Trent McDuffie was also signed to a four-year, $124 million contract, signing him through the 2029 season.

The Rams have two lockdown corners, both of whom are going through some injury issues. Their being healthy moving forward is paramount for the defense.

Watson is currently the seventh-ranked corner on Pro Football Focus, with an overall grade of 80.7. His coverage grade of 80.3 also ranks sixth. 

As McVay said, Watson has been a bright spot for the Los Angeles defense, but he is now just dealing with an injury that cannot be ignored.

The future of the defense and secondary needs to be considered, so McVay chose to shut down one of the best corners in the league. Watson will heal up, but he could suffer further damage should he play through the pain of what he is currently going through.