Rams RT Rob Havenstein is excited to have Coleman Shelton back
Shelton, who will be 30 in July, left the Rams in 2024 to play for the Chicago Bears. He returned in 2025 on a two-year, $12 million deal to take back his starting role at center.
And now, no one seemed happy to see Shelton come back to the Rams than Havenstein. He told reporters at the Rams' first day of organized team activities on Monday that Shelton is one of his close friends from when they played together.
'I'm very excited. Coleman's one of my good buddies," Havenstein said. "I know him and his family very well. We had a lot of great times together. Even on top of that, just the way Coleman goes about his business, he's a true professional about the way he studies, the way he practices and the way he pretty much does everything from a football aspect. You add onto it he's a wily veteran. He's been around for a while. I'm very excited to have Coleman Shelton back.'
Havenstein added that Shelton's experience, work ethic and confidence makes him a great fit on the offensive line as a leader despite only re-joining the team.
'Coleman, I would say, is confident and commanding. I think he gets the confidence by the way he goes about his work Monday through Saturday," Havenstein said. "Obviously, the guy we've got standing behind him [quarterback Matthew Stafford] is the captain of everything where he comes up and makes everything right. Even if he's wrong, he gets us all wrong together, which means we're all right. He is not wrong much, let me just say that.
"The amount of work that [Shelton] puts in, the amount of care and effort that he puts in to make sure that he knows exactly what he needs to know, any advantage he can get, any film study, any technique stuff and then the overall resolve to go get it done during practice first and foremost and then out there on Sunday, is kind of how he breeds that confidence to say things with a command. ... That's something you can get behind. Like I said, to have Coleman Shelton back is a lot of fun.'
The Rams now have a veteran-laden offensive line, led by Havenstein on the right side, Alaric Jackson on the left, Kevin Dotson and right guard and Shelton at center. Left guard Steve Avila is heading into his third NFL season.
This is the group that will protect Matthew Stafford as the Rams head into the 2025 season with Super Bowl aspirations on the mind. And they'll need all the help they can get against defensive fronts like on the Philadelphia Eagles.
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