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Lindsey ThiryESPN
THOUSAND OAKS, California. With a royal blue practice shirt no. 14, Sony Michel stood on the sidelines Thursday watching his new team, the Los Angeles Rams, do an intrasquad fight.
Just 31 hours earlier, the New England Patriots informed Michel that he had been traded to Los Angeles
“I was surprised,” Michel said of the trade. “I’d assume most people, when they negotiate, are a little surprised.”
A first-round pick (31st overall) in 2018, the Patriots refused to pick up the fifth-year option for 2022-23 from Michel’s contract; it is expected to earn $ 1.79 million this season. In New England, Michel was one of six runners on the training camp competing for a job.
Despite these circumstances, Michel said a trade was not something he thought “at all.”
“The last two days have been, the best way to say it is the terminology of football, a sudden change,” Michel said. “It’s like something suddenly happens and you just have to get ready to run. You can’t waste a lot of time. You just have to get up, get ready to go and adjust, with the new fit. “
With the Rams, Michel provides much-needed reinforcement to a back body that has suffered multiple injuries as it prepares for the 2021 season.
During the days leading up to training camp, headliner Cam Akers ripped off his right Achilles tendon, leaving him sidelined during the season. Darrell Henderson Jr. he moved on to the starting role, but is now nursing a slight sprain of his thumb as he continues to practice, and Raymond Calais Jr., who was fourth in the depth box, suffered a broken foot in a preseason game and was resigned. with an injury designation.
Seventh-round rookie coach Jake Funk and sophomore professional Xavier Jones, an unrecruited free agent in 2020, have been competing across the field to play behind Henderson.
Rams coach Sean McVay said Thursday that Michel offers a physical presence to the group of positions.
“It was an opportunity to acquire a very good player who was very successful,” McVay said. “We feel good about the setback situation, but part of the volatility of what Darrell has gone through, even throughout the camp, I wanted to make sure you had someone who has played in big games.”
In 28 starts in three seasons, Michel has run for 2,292 yards and 14 touchdowns.
In a 13-3 victory over the Rams in Super Bowl LIII, Michel rushed for 94 yards and got the only touchdown of the game.
When asked what he remembered about his new Super Bowl teammate, defender Aaron Donald smiled. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said.
The role of Michel and how many covers will be distributed between him, Henderson and the rest of the group is yet to be determined. Still, McVay expressed confidence that despite Michel’s late arrival on the training camp, he will be ready for the season opener against the Chicago Bears on September 12th.
“Everything I’ve heard about Sony and its way of connecting mentally and the way it works, I anticipate it to be a quick study,” McVay said. “The goal is to have him ready to start collaborating heavily on the 12th.”
Although Michel’s participation in practice on Thursday was limited to position exercises, he met closely with Rams coach Thomas Brown, who also served as position coach in Georgia, throughout the intrasquad fight in an attempt to start jumping into the offense learning.
“That’s the big goal, that’s the big question,” Michel said when asked how quickly he could pick up the offense and the playbook. “That’s my goal to dive in and learn all I can and try to keep going and keep learning. That’s all I can do right now.”