Los Angeles Rams Transcripts - Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris, Offensive Coordinator Mike LaFleur, Receiver Cooper Kupp, Defensive Tackle Aaron Donald - Thursday, November 16, 2023

Los Angeles Rams Transcripts - Defensive
Coordinator Raheem Morris, Offensive
Coordinator Mike LaFleur, Receiver Cooper
Kupp, Defensive Tackle Aaron Donald -
Thursday, November 16, 2023

Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris

(On young Seahawks players like RB Zach Charbonnet, WR Jake Bobo
and WR Jaxon-Smith Njigba and how they’ve progressed throughout the
season)

“They're getting better. Obviously, they're finding different roles for Bobo, in
particular. They came in with real high hopes on (Seahawks WR Jaxon-Smith
Njigba) ‘11’. His first game was against us. He came out and you could just
watch him get better and better as the thing goes on and they're getting more
touches for those guys. And then obviously they're running back, they get the
fire and the whatever you want to call it with the boulder coming downhill in
Charbonnet They're playing really well. They're getting better throughout the
process. It's no different than our rookies. You want those guys to get better,
you expect them to get better. They always hit a little wall obviously because of
the college system and how it goes and how the plan goes, but you find ways
to get them back, particularly with the bye and things of that nature and some of
the stuff we got from Thursday night games, how you can rest them and how
you can get their mind mentally focused and prepared to play.”

(On how much of OLB Byron Young and DE Kobie Turner’s success on
defense is accredited to DL Aaron Donald)

“You can give Aaron Donald credit for almost everything on defense, right? And
rightfully so. But you got to give those young men credit for being able to go out
there and execute their technique first. The work that they've been able to do
with their coaches, both (Outside Linebackers Coach) Joe (Coniglio) and
obviously (Defensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator Eric) ‘Henny’
(Henderson) has been outstanding. And the trust that we have in those guys
and those young players to go out there and execute at the levels that we
expect them to now is almost becoming…They're almost veterans at this point
because of the amount of time that they played so it's a really a lot of fun.
Aaron Donald being able to help those guys, Aaron Donald being around those
guys…They know the attention Aaron Donald draws. They know the
opportunities they get. You learn as you go and it's been fun to watch both
‘Agent Zero’ (Byron Young) and Kobie go out there and really find their niche
and find their spot in how to play off Aaron and also how to take advantage of
the fact that they know what's happening because of Aaron.”

(On what NT Bobby Brown III brings to the group if he’s available)

“Hopefully he's back into the lineup. What he misses from us is that big
powerful man in the middle of the defense that really shows you power and the
guy that's been here training for the last three years and the fruits of his labor
were really starting to show. And then he had the unfortunate injury, so getting
him back means a lot for us and a lot for our unit. He's one of the ‘young
veterans’ so to speak, and it is really nice when he's out there and nice to get
him on the grass and nice to get his smiling face out there playing with his guys
and doing some really positive things.”

(On how Bobby Brown III expands the number of fronts they can run)

“It’s really awesome when you can use Bobby as an (inaudible), you can use
Bobby in really a shade, you can use him in a ‘2I’, you can slide Bobby to a little
bit of ‘4I’ times if you needed to. You can do a bunch of different things with
Bobby, but (NT) Kobie (Turner) gives you the different change of pace,
probably more a mover, legit movement and some of those type of things.
Although Bobby has some great powerful movements as well. Those two play
off each other really well and they form a really good national football league
nose tackle when you put them both together. And they feed off of that,
particularly when you're going from nickel and all the different base fronts that
we play and the different alignments and stuff, that structure that we get into.
They're exciting when they're out there and I love having both of those guys out
there. I don't know if you want to put any one of them in a box to say they can't
do something because I've seen them both do (it) at a high level at both
spaces. But I'm just happy to have them back. And the things that you can do
with those guys is really special because they both are smart. They’re able to
articulate the things that they do. I watched Bobby go through the process first
and it was a rough year for Bobby going through it and just getting yelled at
every day constantly in all the practices. But Kobie came in, handled it a little bit
better, but I also saw Bobby be able to help him throughout the process to get
through that thing a little bit faster and it's been great.”

(On how much they missed LB Ernest Jones not being in the lineup and
what it means to have him back)

“You're always going to miss Ernest Jones. He limped through a couple weeks
there as we’re well aware of and when you talk about a big powerful man and
the impact that he's able to have with just being vocal, the impact that he has of
the plays that he makes, the splash plays, the excitement he brings the energy,
the juice. The energy in the edge, again, a lot of that is Ernest so he's sorely
missed. Now you're definitely thankful to be able to have a guy like (IL Troy
(Reeder). All Troy did was win the Super Bowl here and play middle linebacker
for us. And then you're definitely thankful to have a guy like (LB Christian)
Rozeboom that's been out there playing for you and doing some of those
things. And then definitely (LB Jacob) Hummel, who was able to go out there
and fill in those roles. But Ernest is different and we thought that when we
drafted him. We talked about the green dot when that was the topic of the
conversation so just him taking away from that and giving it to (DB Jordan)
Fuller and then him taking it back, it’s our livelihood. I can't express enough
good words about Ernest and how he makes me feel as a coach just going out
there with him. And really all the guys, but particularly him because of his
leadership skills and stuff that he brings to the table and how much he puts into
it.”

(On how DB John Johnson III has re-developed in the defensive system)

“I think I got to give John a lot of credit. He came in and, I don't want to say my
system, I want to say he just had to get himself back into shape, right? He was
out of football. He was away from it. You can work out all you want, it's just
different until you get back on the grass and get your legs up under you.
Usually, you see it happen with rookies, à la (D Quentin Lake when he first
got here and having the injury and having to get his legs up underneath him.
And now you're starting to see John get his legs up underneath him and you
see his role increase in some of the things and places that he's able to go out
there and play and that's a credit to him. At first, I tried too early in that San
Francisco game, gave him a little bit of role, didn't look as great as you want
him to look. And then you just watch him go through the process and practice
and I can't wait to see him get out there and have some more opportunities.
The best thing about this place that (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) creates the
environment is that the best man is going to go out there and absolutely conjure
more reps based off his play. And you go out there and you identify those roles
for these players and you want those guys to go execute those roles. And the
better you execute that role, your role continues to grow. So hopefully we can
keep him going and get them growing and get them back to what he was
because he's a really good football player.”

(On how he’s feeling after the bye week)

“That's what all the cool coaches say because nowadays you look ahead and
you look at yourself and self-evaluate on a week-to-week basis. It's because all
the smart people in this room with all the analytical data, the information that's
able to be pumped out by (Director of Video) Dan Dmytrisin that gets to us as
fast as he's able to give them to us every single week. The stuff that we get
from (Director of Data and Analytics) Jake Temme and we get from (Senior
Personnel Executive Brian) ‘X-Man’ (Xanders) across the board and to be able
to evaluate what we do and kind of go through the process of what we do. Your
friends being able to call you after you play them and snitch on what they
thought. You're able to really do a lot of that daily. The thing you're able to do is
collaborate on the information that you're able to gather throughout the process
with your coaches and you get this great information. And really what I tell
those guys is I want you guys to be critical of me and don't be bashful. I'm not
sensitive and so I like when we're critical of each other and then maybe I give
them the opportunity to give it back to us on paper and then to be able to go out
there and really apply some of the answers that you want to do if you want to
be able to do it moving forward. That is awesome. And I don't even know the
genesis of what your question was because I just talked so much right there.
But what was it again? Go ahead.”

(On how he feels with all the data and information moving forward with
Sunday’s game feeling like a ‘pivotal game’ for the season)

“Aren’t they all? I feel like you ask me this question at least once a year, right?
But it's always those games, right? Really it is. They’re all so pivotal because
this is the National Football League, right? It's the best professional sport and it
truly is when it comes to every game meaning a lot. And it is so pivotal and
every moment and you can see the sense of urgency, the increased urgency
and that is the more… I don't even know how to express it. That’s the fun of
what we do. So you're exactly right. That information we're able to gather and
really accumulate and compile and go through the process and the due
diligence and all the things that you would do, that stuff is really helpful for all of
us, especially when you get away. You can do it by yourself after you’re able to
digest the information given to you by these really good coaches.”

(On if he remembers when he first started to see the 'jogging start'
motion)

“I don't know. I don't know if it was (Dolphins Head Coach) Mike McDaniel. I
know (Dolphins WR) Tyreek (Hill) started doing it, (WR) Tutu (Atwell) does it. I
don't know. You got to let (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) and (Offensive
Coordinator) Mike (LaFleur) fight about who did it first, you know? Because
(49ers Head Coach) Kyle (Shanahan) want to have an argument with that.”
(On the specific qualities of players that were doing the motion)
“It's just when you go through your everyday process and you watch the league
and the explosive plays and some of those things that you watch on a daily
basis, that motion keeps coming up because there's an eye flash. There's an
eye detriment and you see it in practice and as you see more people do it, you
practice against your guys whether people do it or not just so you can get used
to it. I don't know exactly who to give the original credit to, but it's probably
within the family somewhere. And if not, I apologize to whoever I'm discrediting,
because (Chiefs Head Coach) Andy Reid's does some things too that are
outside the box. And everybody doesn’t want to catch on the Andy Reid stuff
sometimes, but he definitely could be one of the guys. I'm not quite sure, but I
thought it was Mike. Maybe I thought it was Mike because I was looking at
Tyreek Hill do it so fast. It is what it is.”

(On who he wants to give the credit to)

“None of them (laughter). I hate all of those offensive guys now that I don’t
coach offense.” (laughter)

(On if he ever disregards the data and goes with his gut)

“That’s called Sunday., right? You use all the information, right? You take all
the things you get from your coaches. You take everything that you hear from
Sean, you take everything you hear across the building, you hear from your
scouting department, you take the information you take from practice, it is no
different. The information you're taking in is all going on this plan that you're
creating and then Sunday you let it go and you trust your instincts and you go
with it. Not to say that you can't adjust and you stop listening, but at some point
you do got to let it go. That third down and six has got to be called and you got
a certain amount of time to call before that mic shuts off. And if it doesn't get
called out there, there’s going to be a little blind guy pissed off at me.”
Offensive Coordinator Mike LaFleur

(On what his work week looked like during the bye)

“You focus on yourself, right? Particularly up until about Saturday or Sunday
then we started popping on Seattle from home, stuff like that. (Head Coach)
Sean (McVay) and I would have some conversations just kind of getting an
early start on that. Really again, just honing in on what you're doing well, what
you're not doing well. Last thing you want to do as a coach for these players is
have regrets when you start watching the season cutups in February and then
you're getting your next OTAs kind of figured out. So when you get this mid-
season bye, hey, what can we fix now? So that we can say, ‘Hey, we did get
that fixed and we're performing this, that, or another at a better level.’”

(On what he thinks can be done to get WR Cooper Kupp back on track
with statistical production)

“Yeah, I think last week was rough on everybody, I mean coaches, players,
organization. It wasn't fun for anybody. He's had two games this year when he
was back-to-back a hundred yards. I know we all want Cooper to have 2,000
yards every year because that's his last standard of when he played a lot of
football and even last year before he got hurt statistically. His time will come.
He's Cooper Kupp, you know? Truly believe our offense has a lot of good
things in store for us, not just him, but everyone for these next few weeks.”

(On OL Rob Havenstein returning this week and what his presence does
for the offensive line)

“Steady pro. Every single day is the same for this guy in a good way and that's
what you want. You just want a guy that is resilient through it and more
importantly consistent. That's what he is. Again, like I said, steady. That's the
word you use for him, both on and off the field. He's the same guy all the time
and that's a good thing.”

(On having QB Matthew Stafford back)

“It's Matthew Stafford. It's just awesome to have him, and not just from the
player perspective, but just the human, the leader, his presence, both for
coaches and players alike. It's good to have a guy like Matthew Stafford out
there and feeling good and ready to go.”

(On what QB Carson Wentz brings to the quarterback room)

“Yeah, you can tell he’s obviously played a lot of football. He knows how to go
about his day. He's in very early. He stays very late. He's with (Quarterbacks
Coach) Zac Robinson a ton right now. He's asking a million questions to make
sure that if he has to have his number called on Sunday, he's going to be ready
to go and ready to perform. He's a pros pro, you can tell. Knew he was a big
guy, played against him a number of times, but then when you actually are kind
of next to him, he's a very big man , so it's good to have him.”

(On if he thinks Stafford is healthy enough to return to his normal level of
play)

“Absolutely. Again, I can only speak for this year and being with him since
OTAs and all that, but Matthew's got a lot of great football ahead of him. So as
long as he wants to go and as long as his body will go it's going be his call, but
he's got a lot of good ball ahead of him.”

(On reviewing the season during the bye week and if he thinks about
doing things differently or trying to return to core football principles)

“That's a good question. It's all encompassing, right? I mean, we would like to
install this, to get better at our techniques with this. This isn't working for us,
even though it might've worked two years ago because (a) maybe our players
aren't suited for, or (b) maybe the landscape of the league defensively is
saying, hey, we're not going to allow you to do that anymore. So it's just all
encompassing. There's not one thing. Now from a player perspective, you want
to say, ‘Hey, here are the two things technique wise fundamentally that we
need to get fixed and here's the three things you're doing great.’ From our
standpoint, we got to look at it from a global perspective. What's going to fit for
our guys with this offense, with this team against globally, prospectively the
defenses that you're going against?”

(On having faced Seattle so many times in his career and what the
greatest challenge is)

“You know that they know a lot about us and we know that we know a lot about
them. So what's going to be a little bit different this week? It is a challenge
because the players, the coaches, everyone knows a lot about each player
physically, but then obviously schematically. It's always a challenge. It's always
kind of fun to see what (Seattle Seahawks Head Coach) Pete (Carroll) and
them have in store because they're always going to have a little wrinkle. Then
we'll see what we're going to present for them on Sunday.”

(On what makes Pete Carroll’s defense unique)

“Yeah, the speed for sure. I'd say for forever and a day with these guys it's the
length too. You can tell that that is huge in their draft process or free agent
process, just accumulating players. They always have guys with length. When
they've been really good on defense, which they have been basically every
time he's been there, they've always had great length. Obviously when you're
playing there on the road, just when you're watching the tape, the energy just
speaks. They play hard. They play physical. They take after their head coach.
He's fun. There's so much respect that you have for Pete, but their players take
after that too and you can see that.”

(On how to troubleshoot in-game against a defense that can play various
different styles)

“Yeah, that's a good question because particularly with a guy like Matthew
Stafford, everyone knows that if you're just going to give him exactly what you
put on tape, then he's seen too much. He's been around too long. You know
going into it, regardless of what you see on tape, it's not what you're going to
see on Sunday. You'll see some of it because it's their foundation, it's what they
do, but they're always going to have the wrinkles. For the good quarterbacks,
the Matthew Stafford’s of the world, there's just going to be more wrinkles
thrown at you. It's our job as coaches to understand that and not say, ‘Hey, just
because we saw this clip, we're going to build a 10-play deal off of just this one
clip,’ because they're just going to throw too much other stuff at you and they all
have to have answers. It's not just the quarterback. It's not just the defense
you're going against. It is, like you said to start your question, defenses around
the league are just kind of starting to throw a lot more stuff at you and you got
to have a little bit more universal answers within your own playbook to make
sure you can combat that.”

(On the process of having to counter defenses that aren’t running the
normal looks)

“Yeah, again, that's why… we can make it as hard as we want to make it, right?
You can try to be Mr. Guru and scheme everything up, but it ultimately comes
down to your 11 guys and what your quarterback can go out and execute.
Obviously, Matthew can execute at a high level. There’s such a fine line
between attacking the scheme but again, also hey, they're going to have these
different answers for us so we got to have all encompassing, universal answers
for our guys so that we can go out there, ‘Hey, that wasn't the look we were
going with, but man you guys have gotten a thousand reps at that so you know
how to fix that right there.’ Then we come to the sideline, we can detail it up
further if we're going to go any further with it.”
Receiver Cooper Kupp

(On having QB Matthew Stafford back this week)

“Yeah, it's been great. Yeah, I love having Matthew out there and you definitely
miss that. Just kind of the communication, the ability to have been in this
offense and communicate stuff, and just the command that he has. Obviously,
he's called the play quite a bit for us. Just even from the huddle, just having him
in there, the comfortability there, it goes a long way in terms of starting your
play off how you want to.”

(On his statistical production over the last three games and if he feels
there's room to recapture what he’s accustomed to)

“Yeah, it's football. I've been playing this game, playing in the NFL, this is my
seventh year. You go through stretches where you don't have the production
maybe. I think the goal isn't at the end of the day what you're producing or what
the stat sheet says. I know everyone wants to talk about production and
certainly you want to produce. But what's more important to me is being a
positive piece of the offense. I want to be able to do my job. Whatever is asked
of me, I want to be able to do it. I think a lot of our offense is about taking what
the defense gives you, about being able to distribute the ball and I'm excited
about moving forward on this thing and continuing to kind of do what I can just
to be able to be a positive each and every play. That's what we strive ourselves
on. While I certainly would love to be producing in terms of statistical stuff, at
the end of the day, what's important to me when I come in here on Monday is
making sure that I'm a positive part of moving this team forward and a part of
working us towards getting wins at the end of the day.”

(On if he feels he draws the attention from defenses like Donald draws
attention from opposing offenses)

“Oh yeah. Certainly, if you want to watch the tape, you want to pull the tape up,
you can kind of see what teams are doing and how they want to play things and
whatever their plan is. Yeah, certainly you feel that in certain capacities, but
that's like I said, at the end of the day it’s not about the statistical stuff, because
certainly a team wants to game plan against you. At the same time, I do want to
be able to find ways to get open regardless of what a defense is doing and be
able to break leverages and things like that. I put that on myself to be able to
overcome some of those challenges that defenses might present. At the same
time, I just want to do my job.”

(On missing the last two contests against the Seahawks and if that gives
him extra motivation)

“Yeah, it's fun. Obviously, a divisional opponent, so it is a lot of fun playing
against them. It's always a great competition it seems like. Defensively they fly
around and they've been pretty similar the whole time that we've known them.
They're doing a little bit of different stuff this year. It's going to be fun. I'm
always excited about it. This division is competitive. Some good teams and
some good football players. So yeah, excited to get out there and see them this
time.”

(On what he did during the bye week)

“Yeah, so I try to sweat a few times, get out and be active and do some stuff. I
took my family and I went up to Stratolaunch up in Mojave and see the largest
airplane in the world and a few different pretty cool things that my boys really
like to see. We got to go up there and yeah, it was a good bye week spending
time with the family.”

(On how motions give information to the receivers and to the
quarterbacks)

“Yeah, I think it's the same thing. It’s the same exact thing that you're looking
for as a quarterback is looking for is a lot of that same stuff that you're looking
for as a receiver, trying to hear communication, see communication and I think
sometimes you’re doing it… it seems like at least, some people do it just to look
cool, but I mean, make the defense work harder. I don't think we do that. We
don't do that do (laughter).”

(On how he sees motion evolving with the times)

“Yeah, well, I think the understanding of what you can get out of a defense has
evolved over the last few years, regardless of whether you're seeing space or
whatever is that other teams want to see. I have had been very blessed and
have the luxury of only been with this organization for the last seven years, so I
don't know what other teams are doing but there's so much that defense can
tell you. You’ll get tips and at the end of the day in this league, you anticipate
you never predetermine because defenses also are aware of what they're
showing, what they're giving away, and are able to show you some things and
change them when the ball snaps. So I think motions and all that stuff is great
for giving you an idea of what you might see, be able to anticipate if it is that.
And then at the end of the day, being able to adapt when defenses are
changing that up.”

(On what happens when you combine motion with an option route)

“You combine something with an option route? Well when the ball is snapped,
you're doing advanced calculus, throwing these things pulling all together. At
the end of the day, you're really just seeing patterns. It's patterns. That's what
football is. There's a finite amount of patterns that you see when you talk
about… when coach talks about coverage contours. It's just patterns to me,
and when you see the patterns enough, you start to just kind of know where the
space is when you see the patterns. And so for me, it's when you're running
choice routes and things like that, it's identifying who you're running it against
and then being able to adapt to zone and seeing the patterns and where the
space is going to be.”

(On if Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll has presented a consistent
defense throughout the years)

“Yeah, they consistently play with an energy and excitement. I think some of
the identity stuff in terms of what their calls are has changed a little bit. I think
the identity that they have in terms of how they approach the game has been
very similar. You can tell that those guys want to play for Coach Pete. I think
he's done a really good job creating a competitive and exciting environment for
those guys to come out and play football. Obviously, it’s fun competing against
them because you can tell those guys are enjoying being out there and football
is a fun game at the end of the day and so it's fun being out there and just
playing a game that there's 22 guys on the field and they all love what they do.
It makes it fun.”

(On conversations with QB Matthew Stafford regarding troubleshooting
defensive looks)

“Yeah, a lot of that comes down to me. Its about identifying when they're trying
to do those things, understand what kind of routes we have that are run against
it. You call the play and then you got to be able to… the defense is going to
present whatever they present to you and finding ways to get open. But at the
end of the day, there's a give and take and I by no stretch am I trying to say
what has happened over the last three weeks is anything that this other guy,
I'm about to mention experienced. But like you're talking to Matthew when he
was with (Former Lions WR) Calvin (Johnson), Calvin saw some of the craziest
coverages that league he's ever seen. At the end of the day, it's like Matthew
was like, hey, I know I'm going to throw to him, but at what point do you say
three people is too many, I got to progress, right? So like there's a give and
take at quarterback of saying when are the times you want to hang on me when
I don't have great leverage? Or the help is shifted that way when there's other
guys that have better matchups. And so there's an understanding there for
Matthew and then as a receiver, I just want to do my job, try to give Matthew an
opportunity to see if he likes what I can do in the timing rhythm of the play and
then if it doesn't work out, come back and be ready to go for the next one.”

(On his initial thoughts of QB Carson Wentz)

“Yeah, I knew Carson a little bit pre-draft and we spent a little bit of time
together with the same agency. Shoot, coming in here and being able to do
what he's done, being able to throw the ball around a little bit with him earlier
this week and basically off the plane trying to get grasp of what our offense is. I
thought he did a really good job and not an easy place to be and he's obviously
been through it. This last week was just a crazy rollercoaster for him. But man,
he's come in here and he's got a great focus. He's been a great teammate in
terms of pushing guys, asking the right questions and yeah, just, it's exciting to
have someone here that's played a ton of football. Exciting to have someone
like that in the QB room. Not my in my room, in my secondary room (laughs).”
Defensive Tackle Aaron Donald

(On his time in Pittsburgh during the bye week)

“It was good. Got to spend time with the family. Got to see my son's flag
football game so that was cool.”

(On if he had any notes for his son’s coach)

“No, he played good. He had three touchdowns, an interception. I was proud of
him. Running up and down the sideline.”

(On if his son plays defense)

“He played defensive and offense. He had a couple reverses he scored on, two
running touchdowns, one pass he caught and then caught a big interception in
the red zone and ran it down halfway through the field so he played good. I was
proud of him.”

(On whether he’s able to stay calm on the sideline)

“I'm running, high stepping, joyful. I'm all into it. It was fun though just watching
him because he played with some little passion. He loves football so it was cool
just to be there and watch him play. His championship game is this week, this
Sunday. So after his championship game, he will be flying out here. He doesn't
want to miss that.”

(On his sense of the team coming out of the break and into the second
half of the season)

“Fresh, everybody's fresh. Eight games left, a lot of football left. We control how
the rest of the season goes. Obviously, we got to go out there and try to play
consistent football this week, try to find a way to beat a good football team, a
team that we know we play twice a year. We just got to go out there and do our
job one week at a time. Main focus is trying to find a way to beat Seattle this
weekend and worry about the next week when it's here. But you just got to play
consistent football, fly around, and make plays.”

(On what he’s liked from Byron Young and Kobie Turner thus far)

“You said it, production that they showed. They made plays when we needed to
make plays. I think when we played Green Bay, we did some good things as far
as in the rush game with guys playing off each other and making plays and
affecting the quarterback at times. Again, we just got to continue to build off
that. Have a lot more football left to play so just continue to be that same
productive player and continue to make the same plays week in and week out.”

(On if there’s anything different the Seahawks offense is doing that they
didn’t see in Week 1)

“Well, you're going to see different things but when you tend to play teams, you
usually get what you're going to get. You don't usually see a lot of the out of the
box stuff. Some plays sprinkled here and there, but you kind of know what to
expect and you just got to bow up and play good football. I think they got a solid
running game we got to worry about. And then when it's time to transition to
rush, I'm trying to find a way to get to (Seahawks Q Geno (Smith) and make
him uncomfortable and not let him be able to scramble and extend plays with
his feet. We got to do better this second half than we did the first half. Just
bottling up quarterbacks and not letting them get out the pocket and extend
plays. So we just got to do our job up front. Guys up on the back end going to
do what they need to do make them hold the ball a little longer. Hopefully we
get them down and then we just have to keep playing good football from there.”

(On if containing the quarterback was a point of emphasis for the defense
coming into the second half of the season)

“Yes, we came back and we had good plays and bad plays we did and we
watched it all together as groups. So you got to see it and see what you need to
correct and what we need to do better. You talk about it and obviously you get
on the grass, you practice it. I think we had a good practice session yesterday
on defense. Guys were flying around, seeing (L Ernest (Jones) out there
healthy, looking fast flying around feels good to just have them guys back out
there obviously. (Q Matthew (Stafford) is out there looking good. So when
you got your guys out there, you obviously got a lot more confidence and
knowing that you play good football with those guys, you know what they can
bring, you know what they can do. So we just got to go out there and perform
when we got to.”

(On his impressions of Stafford as an opponent and a teammate)

“Oh wow. I played Matthew two times in my career? I sacked him six
times(laughter). Great quarterback, his arm is amazing. He can do a lot of
things with his arm. The throws he can make are like no other I’ve ever seen.
So obviously that, but I remember having some good games against Detroit
when he played. The first time we played them in St. Louis was my first three-
sack game ever. Then we played them in Detroit. Was that in ‘18? I really had
four but a flag. They took one away. I was mad about that, but it was some
good days when I played against Detroit when he was there.”

(On if he got the game ball after his three-sack game against the Lions)

“I'm pretty sure I did because I think we clenched in ‘18. We clenched the
division, so we had a lot of excitement, a lot of joy in the locker room. So I
think… I believe so, we did clinch out there that year.”

(On if he does anything during the bye week to accelerate recovery)

“Well, just kind of trying to stay on your normal routine as far as what I do to
take care of my body. Even though you’re not doing the football stuff as far as
punishing your body, but you still want to do the same routine, keep your body
where it needs to be. Even if I feel good, just do the same things, just make
sure I'm where I need to be. So that's just being professional about it and
obviously staying in the weight room, keeping myself prepared, and being here
today healthy, a hundred percent, no aches, no pains, feel good. So that's how
you want to be coming off a bye.”

(On Stafford being a healthy, veteran quarterback in the league right now
and his ability to change arm angles without having to use his legs much)

“He’s made some good runs this year too (laughs). I don’t know, he might be a
little mobile now. Don’t knock my dog off there, he’s mobile. I don’t care what
y’all say.”

(On if Stafford’s ability to make any throw helps him “stay modern” even
though is is from a different era of quarterback)

“Yeah, a great quarterback is a great quarterback. When you are able to
understand, and you know the X’s and O’s of football, knowing different looks
he gets and knowing how to put the ball where it needs to be, that's a plus.
That's what makes him great, right? That's why he's able to play this game as
long as he has and have so much success because of who he is and that's who
he is. A consistent quarterback that does that and that's just how Matthew plays
ball. He's just different.”

--RAMS--

---

#HelmetHornsMatter

“Well, the color is good, I like the metallic blue,” Youngblood recently said while laughing, via NFL Journal. “The horn is terrible. It looks like a ‘C.’ When I first saw it on the logo I honestly thought it was a Charger logo.

“Now when I see it on the helmet, it just isn’t a ram horn. There is no distinct curl like a mature ram horn. I don’t know how the Rams could get that wrong. That is your symbol and it has been for what? Seventy years or more? Longer than I have been alive? It’s just not us, it’s not the Rams.”---Mr. Ram Jack Youngblood