Rams Injury Updates: Emmanuel Forbes Jr. & Byron Young Expected To Play In NFC Championship Game

The Los Angeles Rams extended their season by defeating the Chicago Bears in the NFC Divisional Round, but it came at a cost as some key players sustained injuries.

Knee soreness limited Byron Young to only 35 defensive snaps, while a shoulder issue kept Emmanuel Forbes Jr. off the field for 95% of the team’s plays.

Fortunately for the Rams, both players are expected to suit up against the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game, via Wyatt Miller of TheRams.com:

Sean McVay said they came out clean injury-wise yesterday.

Emmanuel Forbes Jr. (shoulder) and Byron Young (knee soreness) fought through some discomfort but McVay said he doesn’t expect that to affect their status for the NFC Championship game.

— Wyatt Miller (@wymill07) January 19, 2026

Josaiah Stewart and Desjuan Johnson received more playing time with Young off the field, while Roger McCreary stepped in for Forbes after he left the game.

While all of those players did an admirable job filling in, the Rams have to be thrilled that Young and Forbes are on track to play against the Seahawks.

L.A. and Seattle are meeting for a third time this season with a trip to Super Bowl LX on the line. The game will be played at Lumen Field on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. PT, with FOX televising the contest.

Sean McVay admits to poor play-calling in Rams’ win over Bears

The Rams struggled against the Bears as they mustered only 340 yards of total offense and looked one-dimensional at times, heavily relying on the pass and largely ignoring the run game.

McVay took the blame for that and vowed to do a better job with his offensive call-playing going forward.

“Offensively, man, I did not do a very good job for our group tonight,” McVay said after Harrison Mevis kicked a 42-yard field goal in overtime to win it. “But I thought our guys were able to overcome it.”

McVay credited the Rams defense for keeping them in the game despite his questionable play-calling:

“I did not like the feel for the flow of the game that I had outside of the first series, where our guys did a great job,” McVay said. “Defensively, it kept us in it in spite of how poor of a job I did for our group. But like I said, I’m really grateful for this group being able to find a way, stick with it and be able to overcome some bad coaching by me tonight.”