The surging Los Angeles Rams have suffered a blow.
Per NFL Network, starting safety Quentin Lake underwent elbow surgery this week. Lake injured his elbow in Sunday's win over the Seattle Seahawks. The precise nature of the injury was not reported. Per the report, Lake could return before or during the playoffs, but that is not clear.
A fourth-year pro, Lake is in the midst of his best season in the NFL. In 10 starts, Lake has a career-high 10 passes defended in addition to 61 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.
The Rams, meanwhile, took over sole possession of first place in the NFC West with Sunday's win and are tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for the best record in the NFC at 8-2. Their schedule includes three remaining games against NFC playoff contenders as they face the Buccaneers, Panthers, Cardinals, Lions, Seahawks, Falcons and the Cardinals again in the stretch run of their season.
The Rams will seek to close their season with the the NFC's best record to secure the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and a first-round bye. It appears that they'll do so for most if not all of those games without a key defender in the secondary.
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