Jared Goff's injured hand clearly affected his play in the second half of the Los Angeles Rams' blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, but with their playoff hopes dangling by a micrometer it won't keep the quarterback out of Saturday's game versus the San Francisco 49ers.
"It's good. It's a little contusion, it's a little stiff, but I'll be good in a day or two," Goff said of his injury, via the L.A. Daily News.
The quarterback banged his throwing hand on a helmet during Sunday's crushing loss in Dallas.
Goff didn't even appear on Tuesday's estimated practice report, indicating that had the Rams ran a session, he would have been a full participant. Coach Sean McVay said the QB will be good to go when L.A. does hit the practice field Wednesday.
"He'll be able to do everything," McVay said. "Fortunately, it's like one of those deals where you get it banged and it's like anything else -- probably scares you more than anything at first because it is such an irritating thing when you're trying to grip the ball."
Goff's throwing was clearly hindered by the injury during the second half Sunday, as some of his passes were badly off the mark. But the Rams' offense was an issue well before the quarterback's hand clanged off a helmet.
With the Rams' run-game stymied, there was no rhythm to the offense, and Goff generated just 117 first-half passing yards with a TD and an INT as L.A. got down big. We've seen time and time again this season, when opponents stop Todd Gurley and make Goff beat them, he's either magic or tragic. Far too often, he's been tragic.
In Sunday's matchup with the 49ers, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan wants his defense to make Goff beat them.
"I think when the team's on, I think Goff plays as good as anyone in this league," Shanahan said. "Hopefully you can make it so he has to do a lot of stuff by himself and hopefully you can get after him, put some pressure on him."
The Rams' razor-thin playoff hopes sit in the balance Saturday night on NFL Network. McVay's team needs to win out, and the Minnesota Vikings must lose two for the reigning NFC Champions to sneak into the postseason.
Catch all three Saturday games -- Houston Texans at Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 1 p.m. ET; Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots at 4:30 p.m.; Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers at 8:15 p.m. -- only on NFL Network.
