The Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams have a crucial “Thursday Night Football” game in Week 16.
Both teams enter the showdown with an 11-3 record and are jockeying for position in a top-heavy NFC West with a 10-4 San Francisco 49ers team right behind them.
Whoever wins this game will take the top spot in the division, and for the Seahawks, if they win, they’ll clinch a coveted playoff spot. The Rams, according to NFL research, are already in the playoffs.
So the stakes for this game are high, even though both teams are expected to make the postseason. But hours before kickoff on Thursday, both teams had to make last-minute changes to their rosters.
The Rams have announced that they’ve activated edge-rusher Nick Hampton from the practice squad for Thursday’s game. This is just a temporary elevation for Hampton, according to the team, and he’ll go back to the practice squad on Friday following the game.
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Teams are allowed to promote two players per week from the practice squad, but Los Angeles has decided to only use one of its available elevations for Week 16. The Rams picked Hampton in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft, and he’s appeared in 12 games this season. Los Angeles also waived him Dec. 9 but re-signed to the practice squad the very next day.
As for the Seahawks, according to the team’s official website, they’ve activated receiver Dareke Young from injured reserve for Thursday’s game, “clearing the way for Young to return from the quadricep injury that has caused him to miss the past eight games.”
The Seahawks didn’t need to make a corresponding move, because the team opened a roster spot earlier this week when it waived safety D’Anthony Bell, who is now on the practice squad. Also, before Thursday’s game, the Seahawks elevated running back Cam Akers and tackle Amari Kight from their practice squad.
Akers has yet to appear in a Seahawks game, so if he plays on Thursday, it will mark his debut. Akers was with the Rams when they won the big game in 2021, and since then, he’s played for the Vikings and Texans, and he’s back with the Seahawks this year.
