Rams star receiver Davante Adams admired former Arizona Cardinals great Larry Fitzgerald from afar — and eventually embraced him as a mentee and role model.

In 17 seasons, Fitzgerald caught 1,432 passes for 17,492 yards, both of which rank second all-time, and 121 touchdowns, which ranks sixth.

In 11-plus seasons, Adams has 1,009 receptions for 12,533 yards and 117 touchdowns, which ranks seventh.

Adams can move closer to tying Fitzgerald in career touchdowns on Sunday when the Rams play the Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

“Anytime you can be mentioned with any of the names that are coming up as these weeks unfold, scoring touchdowns, being up there with some of those guys… it’s all elite company and definitely blessed,” Adams said Thursday.

Adams said that early in his career, he met Fitzgerald after games and told him how much he respected him. The feeling was apparently mutual.

In 2019, Fitzgerald “took me under his wing” and set him up with a “very expensive” physician to help him work through turf toe injury.

“So we just got connected and I kind of just followed his way, the way he moved as a pro,” Adams said. “I had good examples in front of me on my team as well. But just having somebody like that who’s a football god, legend in this game, that obviously meant a lot to me to have somebody kind of take me under their wing, and so I definitely took advantage of it.”

Adams has 52 catches for 689 yards and a league-best 14 touchdowns, four shy of his career high set in 2020 with the Green Bay Packers.

Fitzgerald, who retired after the 2021 season, is a semifinalist for the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

Adams said Fitzgerald’s success as a businessman off the field also has been an inspiration.

“There’s a lot of the same because I feel like I got a lot of depth to me,” Adams said. “And it’s not just a football aspect. … So just learning from that, seeing that there’s a way to expand and just as a person, you know, outside of football, that was the biggest inspiration for me.”

Kyren Williams nominated for Man of the Year award

Running back Kyren Williams is the Rams’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, presented annually to a player for their work on the field and their “commitment to making a positive impact” off of it.

Williams has rushed for 868 yards and scored 10 touchdowns this season for a Rams team that is 9-3 heading into Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. He has spent every off day during the season appearing at community events, and has committed to becoming a Big Brother, the team said.

Former Rams lineman Andrew Whitworth won the award after the 2021 season.

Matthew Stafford named NFC player of the month

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was named the NFC offensive player of the month for November, the NFL announced.

In five games, Stafford passed for 1,207 yards and 15 touchdowns, with two interceptions.

This season, Stafford has passed for a league-leading 32 touchdowns, with four interceptions.

The College Football Playoff Committee’s penultimate rankings caused a bunch of consternation among fans, and one Heisman Trophy hopeful called on the president to take charge.

The Vanderbilt Commodores are on the outside looking in at the final field with no more games left on their calendar. Vanderbilt has only two losses on the season – against the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas Longhorns. Both of them are conference opponents, which kept them from getting into the SEC Championship.

Diego Pavia wrote on social media that President Donald Trump should sign an executive order to expand the field with days before the final bracket is released.

“@realDonaldTrump MAKE THE EXECUTIVE ORDER PLEASE,” he wrote on X.

Pavia responded to a post that called for the expansion of the College Football Playoff from 12 teams to 16 teams. The post called for the CFP to have four SEC teams, four Big Ten teams, two ACC teams, two Big 12 teams and four at-large bids.

“Get rid of these stupid committees filled with justifications nobody seems to understand,” the post added.

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Trump taking over the CFP Committee was something Secretary of State Marco Rubio joked about in an appearance on CNN.

Right now, feeling the hurt the most are the Miami Hurricanes, who are sitting on the outside looking into the field despite having a head-to-head advantage against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

There are a few conference championship games Saturday that could shake up the rankings a bit. The BYU Cougars losing to the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Big 12 Championship will ultimately hurt them and possibly catapult them into the field. The possibility of Alabama staying in the field despite having three losses should they lose to the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC title game, would create more heated conversation as well.

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The final rankings will come out Sunday once the conference championship games are finished.

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Los Angeles Times NFL writer Sam Farmer examines the matchups and makes his predictions for Week 14 of the NFL season.

All lines and over/under numbers are according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Last week, Farmer posted a 11-5 (.688) record. Through the first 13 weeks of the season, he is 130-64 (.670).

Using point spreads with the scores Farmer predicted, his record against the spread in Week 13 would have been 7-9 (.438). For the season, his record against the spread is 98-96 (.505).

All times are Pacific and TV reflects broadcasts in the Los Angeles area. The 49ers, Giants, Panthers, Patriots are off this week.