LOS ANGELES — In the heat of the moment, in the late stages of a dominant performance by the Rams that carried them to a wild-card playoff victory over Arizona on Monday, running back Cam Akers did something he soon regretted.
The Rams were up by 20 late in the third quarter, on the way to a 34-11 rout of the Cardinals, when Akers took a handoff from quarterback Matthew Stafford and carried the ball around left end. Cardinals safety Budda Baker came up to tackle him, and they collided violently. Baker hit his head on the ground and rolled onto his back in obvious distress. A teammate recognized Baker had been injured and immediately gestured toward the sidelines for medical aid.
Akers, walking back to the line of scrimmage, made a downward motion with his right hand several times, appearing to mock the fallen Baker. The Cardinals took exception to his callous reaction and players jawed at each other, but their concern for Baker outweighed everything else. Players on both teams kneeled as Baker, who managed to weakly wave his right hand toward the hushed crowd at SoFi Stadium, was strapped to a gurney and transported off the field and to a hospital.
