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Sean McVay No Longer NFL's Youngest Coach
© Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

JAN 12 PATS HIRE MAYO The New England Patriots have hired former linebacker and assistant coach Jared Mayo as the next head coach of the franchise to replace the legendary Bill Belichick after 24 seasons at the helm.

And with the hiring of Mayo, he has taken the title of the NFL's youngest head coach from Rams leader Sean McVay - who had held the distinction for the last seven years. 

The Rams originally hired McVay when he was 30 years old back in 2017, following a three-season stint as the Washington Commanders offensive coordinator.

Mayo, who was born February 23, 1986, sits just one month younger than McVay, who was born January 24 of the same year.

JAN 8 RAMS WAIVE DEFENSIVE END The Los Angeles Rams made one small roster move on Monday, waiving defensive end Earnest Brown IV.

Brown, who turns 25 on Monday (he's probably had better birthdays), joined the Rams as a fifth-round pick out of Northwestern in 2021.

After not appearing at all in his rookie season, Brown started three of the five games he played in 2022, racking up nine total tackles. This season, he's appeared in seven games and totaled five total tackles, three of them coming in Sunday's win over the San Francisco 49ers.

The Rams will likely make more roster moves ahead of Sunday's playoff opener against the Detroit Lions.

JAN 6 WILLIAMS IN While there will be players missing from the lineup for the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday's season finale against the Rams, veteran left tackle Trent Williams won't be one of them.

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan announced on Friday that Williams will play, but it's not known how many snaps he'll see.

“I don’t think it’s good for anybody to take two weeks off,” Shanahan said earlier in the week. “You should see how Trent was when he came back after a month off or three weeks. It’s not good, but we’ll see how the game goes and everything. His mindset this week’s got to be that he is getting ready to play.”

JAN 3 KUPP AND DONALD OUT With a playoff berth already secured, the Los Angeles Rams are set to rest multiple starters on Sunday ahead of their Week 18 matchup vs. the San Francisco 49ers.

First, the team announced that quarterback Matthew Stafford would rest and backup Carson Wentz would start on Sunday. 

And now, it appears that other starters are set to follow suit with running back Kyren Williams, receiver Cooper Kupp, and defensive lineman Aaron Donald all reportedly scheduled to miss the game on Sunday as well. 

Williams and Kupp have missed four games with injuries this season, with Sunday set to be the fifth. 

Donald, meanwhile, has played in all 16 games this season for Los Angeles, making 53 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 23 quarterback hits, and eight sacks. 

DEC 31 WILLIAMS TIMES 2 Kyren Williams had already gotten in the end zone for the Rams in the first quarter vs. the Giants, giving him his tenth touchdown of the season on Sunday. 

And early in the second half, he was at it again, rushing from two yards out for his second score of the game, putting the Rams up 20-10.

Williams now has 12 rushes for 44 yards and two touchdowns in the game, to go along with two catches for 14 yards.

DEC 12 RAMS CUT CROSBY The Los Angeles Rams have cut veteran kicker Mason Crosby from their practice squad, less than a week after his signing, the team announced. 

The Rams also made three other roster moves on Tuesday, moving tight end Hunter Long and long snapper Alex Ward to injured reserve, and signing long snapper Carson Tinker. 

Long was lost for the season with a knee injury in the Rams Sunday loss to the Baltimore Ravens. 

DEC 10 RAMS LEAD The Los Angeles Rams have taken a late lead against the Baltimore Ravens on a clutch touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to DeMarcus Robinson with just under five minutes to go in the game. 

The touchdown gave the Rams a 28-23 lead, after the failed two-point conversion.

It was Stafford's third touchdown pass of the day. 

DEC 9 CROSBY ACTIVATED The Los Angeles Rams are making another change at the kicking position.

According to NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, the Rams are elevating former Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby from the practice squad.

Crosby played with the Packers in every game from 2007-22. He then signed with the Rams practice squad earlier this week and will look to make his debut with his new team on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Kickoff is set for 10 a.m. PT.

DEC 3 HIGBEE CONCUSSED The Rams could be down one of their top offensive weapons for the remainder of their Sunday matchup with the Browns. 

Late in the third quarter, Rams tight end Tyler Higbee was knocked out of the game with an apparent head injury and is now being evaluated for a concussion. 

Higbee, who had two catches for 35 yards at the time of the injury, is currently questionable to return.

NOV 19 WALKER OUT? The Seattle Seahawks have suffered a major setback vs. the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. 

On their first drive of the game, Seahawks star running back Kenneth Walker was knocked out of the game with an apparent lower-body injury during a carry up the middle.

Walker came up limping in the middle of the run, and dropped to the ground immediately. 

After being taken to the injury tent, it was determined that Walker suffered an oblique injury, and would be doubtful to return. 

Walker has been replaced in the lineup by backup running back Zach Charbonnet.

OCT 19 INTERNATIONAL FLAGS You'll see some changes to some NFL helmets around the league for Weeks 7 and 8. Hundreds of players will add flag decals to their helmets representing the countries of their heritage.

The league has announced more than 330 players have committed to participate, representing 72 nations, with Nigeria being the most-represented foreign country, with 80 players committing to wear the Nigerian flag.

AUG 6 BAKER BOMBING It is early August and it is training camp and it is possibly unfair …

But they are adding up the Baker Mayfield interceptions in Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp … and they are adding up.

Mayfield’s NFL career has been a relative disappointment, though he finished last season with the Los Angeles Rams well enough to get a shot in Tampa Bay when Tom Brady retired.

Baker signed a one-year deal worth up to $8.5 million - maybe a bargain except for the fact that thus far in training camp he has thrown seven interceptions over the course of nine practices.

SCHEDULE NOTES After a 5-12 2022 season, the Los Angeles Rams may not be the draw that they were a season ago as the defending Super Bowl Champions. Still, it seems they'll be in a prime location, if nothing else, on one of the more intriguing days on the 2023 NFL calendar. 

UPDATE: Rams vs. Giants on New Years Even

According to NorthJersey.com, the Rams will have a New Year's Eve game just outside of New York City: 

"The New York Giants won't have to travel far if they want to go to Times Square on New Year's Eve," the report said. "I'm hearing they'll be playing at home at MetLife against the Los Angeles Rams." 

New Year's Eve falls on a Sunday in 2023, so this won't necessarily be a prime-time game, but simply one of the final games on the regular season slate for the Rams. 

It will come against a Giants team that was one of the biggest surprises in the NFL a season ago. After sneaking into the playoffs with a 9-7-1 record in head coach Brian Daboll's first season at the helm, the Giants upset the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Wild Card Round before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles a week later. 

This offseason, the Giants re-signed quarterback Daniel Jones to a four-year/$160 million deal, franchise-tagged running back Saquon Barkley, traded for tight end Darren Waller, and used their first-round pick on cornerback Deonte Banks out of Maryland. 

The Rams will learn their full schedule this evening at 8 p.m. ET when the NFL will release its entire slate of games for the 2023 campaign. 

This article first appeared on FanNation Ram Digest and was syndicated with permission.

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