Transcripts 1/6/22

Los Angeles Rams Transcripts - Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris, Offensive Coordinator Kevin O'Connell, CB Jalen Ramsey - January 6, 2021
Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris, Offensive Coordinator Kevin O'Connell, CB Jalen Ramsey
Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris
(On what the defense learned as a group from the last time they played the 49ers)
“It’s not necessarily about learning as a group, it's kind of our teaching going to the field. Last time we talked about these guys attacking the edge and we talked about how physical and how violent it was going to be when we were able to execute, some of the time, but not all of the time. And we got to be more consistent in our efforts and our execution and our physicality on the edge. There’s going to spill to all different things. You can't just dedicate everything to that moment because these guys are great game players and they're going to come with different things and do different things off of that. You can't over commit to something, you can't overthink about, over talk about it or overemphasize, where you get to the point that it just gets lost. We got to get these guys ready to play a nice, physical football game versus a division opponent on a great stage. A meaningful one this time of the year is always fun.”

(On if there is anything different a defense, particularly the pass rush, does knowing the quarterback has a hand injury – such as the case with 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo)
“For (49ers Q Trey (Lance), you're talking about being prepared for the design runs. Some of the differences there, they both are pretty mobile. (49ers Q Jimmy (Garoppolo) is pretty mobile. He's not like (Ravens QB Tyler Huntley), but he could absolutely move to some of the things. So, the rush part of it is very similar. Those guys stand in the pocket just more of the quarterback designed runs. The hand thing, you got to take that with a grain salt. We played a guy with a bad toe a couple weeks ago (Packers QB Aaron Rodgers) and he looked pretty good. So, you got to know he's going to know his body. They got a great training staff, I'm sure. I'm sure they're doing a great job trying to get him back. I'm sure they're doing all the things they need to do, but we got to prepare for Jimmy as he's a 100% because nobody cares in this league whether you're a 100% or whether you're 60% or whether you're no percent, they're just (thinking) about getting out there when you go out there and expect to participate, give value and play.”

(On what has the defense been succeeding with and in what ways do they need to still work towards as playoffs near)
“It's about constant communication. It's about the flow. It's about the communication level from the coaches to the players and the players to the coaches and the constant flow of getting that better, so you can go out and execute. There’s the ability to go out there and practice. Amazingly enough, we were fortunate to start playing better in the summertime with less practice. In the summertime (there’s) more evaluation of jog-thrus and more evaluation from just being in the classrooms and in those settings and those smaller settings. And some of those things work a little bit better for you. So that's something where we kind of grew in the last month that had us undefeated, but it's more places we can take it and get better with our technique. And that's the thing that's going to start happening as we practice a little bit more. So last week we started that. You got better technique, you got better efficiency, you got smaller meetings, you got more time together. It's more visual learning. More learning with the guys and more learning amongst each other. And those things just come into play throughout the attrition of the season. And it's just worked out for us well. We're going right where we want to go. And then like (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) always says, ‘Everything's right in front of us and it has been the whole year.’ And those things we care about the most. When people tend to say you playing better, usually they're talking about that because of stats – and you know how I feel about stats. It's more about wins. It's more about collectively playing together. It's more about what Sean talks about every week of as playing complimentary football. Those things we got to do. There was no bigger moment than this week of having them have the ball, first-and-five on the five-yard line, defense's getting a big stop holding them to three and our offense, (QB Matthew) Stafford just unbelievably going 14-for-14 or whatever it was. And that last drive and going to score touchdown with (WR) Odell Beckham (Jr.) catching the great catch and getting out bounds and us getting the ball back in a two minute, stopping them, along with our special teams being involved in that. That’s what good football teams do at the time of the year.”

(On how CB Jalen Ramsey has grown under his watch and what was his view of the incident that happened on the field on Sunday with S Taylor Rapp)
“It’s a difference between being that assassin that he's accustomed to being where you can go out there and absolutely just focus on doing one thing and one thing in itself, as opposed to being what he's become. And what he's trying to become is the leader. When you're the leader, you can't make that decision at that time, you find a way to communicate that better. They (have) that brotherly love – the thing that we always talk about that everybody mentions when that happens. You do have those moments and you got to control those moments. You got to figure out a way to talk those things out. He'll grow from that. We'll grow from that. And it's one of those things that if he can do over, he'd do it differently.”

(On Ramsey’s growth over the course of the season)
“That was a small setback for him. We've seen so much growth in his development and what he's been able to do from a leader standpoint, from a communication standpoint, from his interactions with me on how to deal with situations when he does get stressed and he gets to that assassin mode and how to bring it back. And that was just a small setback for him. Unfortunately, it happened to a teammate, which you never want to happen. But fortunately, it happened to ‘T. Rapp’ (S Taylor Rapp), a guy that's got that kind of character that he has that can bounce back within the same series and not let it be detrimental to us winning the football game.”

(On if he expects the 49ers to attack them the same why they did earlier in the season)
“We’re talking about (49ers Head Coach) Kyle Shanahan. He's absolutely not going to do that. I’ll give you a quick story. He has to a run meeting that he has tomorrow on Friday. And I don't know if he's still running or not, but I know what it sounds like, I know what they are like because I've been in that room. He sat there one time, he came into the run meeting, he said, ‘We're going to absolutely run the football. You know how we're going to do it guys? We're going to pass it.’ And everybody kind of went, ‘Huh?’ And then he explained himself and he talked about the play-action pass and how it's going to help them get to the point where they could open us some gaps for themself in the run game. So I'm expecting nothing less but the same from him and what he's going to try to do and try to attack us. He's going to do whatever is best to win the game that day. That's who he is. That's who he always will be. But he will have some traits of his performance and his latest past success against us. So things you better be ready for him. You better have them cleaned up. When you do, you can expect him to be able to counter punch off him.”

(On as the defensive coordinator, how does he handle the situation between Ramsey and Rapp in real time)
“I can tell you exactly what I did. I didn't see it live. I kind of heard the reaction like everybody else when the whistles were blowing. I looked up – I was making a call because they were coming out the huddle. So I made the call, we get off the grass and we come off. The beauty of it was people that already begin to handle it. The (DL) Aaron Donalds of the world, the (C Darious Williams of the world, the people came to aid to both of them, let them get some frustration off their chest and have the ability to do it. I'm able to then talk to Jalen (and) find out what happened. (We) talked about what happened and what he needed to do better. I'm able then talk to Taylor and tell him what I though went wrong in the situation and how I can fix that. And I got those guys back on the next page for us to continue playing the game and go about our business. But I think the process of fixing it happens during the week. This week these guys (are) sorting, sitting down, hashing it out, talking it out and doing the things they need to do with our head coach and their coordinators and themselves and their teammates is the most important part of it all.”

(On if he can provide an insight on what happened to cause the disagreement)
“Let’s just say it was wanting to win really bad. It was wanting to execute an assignment really bad. The miscommunication by two people that were basically saying the same thing, (they) just didn't say the exact same way at the time. It was it was a big game (laughs).”

(On being in L.A. for almost a whole year and what has surprised him the most about his defense)
“It'd be hard to say anything has surprised me. I expect these guys to come out and be great. I expect these guys to come out and be resilient. The thing that we do most every week that I really enjoy is the effort, the hustle to finish the really good plays that you have to put up every single week no matter what position it comes from, whether it comes from the back end (or) the front, the intermediate level of the linebackers. I just think everybody has the ability to shock you or to absolutely exceed your expectations so to speak each week. Sometimes it's ‘Flo’ (OLB Leonard Floyd), sometimes it's Aaron, sometimes it's Taylor Rapp, sometimes it's Jalen. Just the amount of people that can absolutely affect the game. The thing that probably is the most rewarding, not shocking at this point, it's kind of rewarding.”

(On if there was one player who has stood out beyond belief)
“You’ve had so many special plays by different people at different moments. Last week Darious Williams played really well. Last week Darious Williams did a great job playing the ball down the field. You've had games (where C Jalen Ramsey is absolutely taking whoop (expletive) and taking over a game and been that guy for his team, his teammates. You've had game where Aaron Donald – (he) just had a whole month of absolutely destroying people and going through his process and doing what he needs to get done to in order to win championships. And I expect that from our guys and these guys are great teammates, they're great friends, they're great competitors. And those are the things that make that you proud of that and that make you happy.”

Offensive Coordinator Kevin O'Connell
(On what ways the offense is peaking and how it could still improve)
“When you think about peaking at this time of year, I can remember (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) talking to the team late November, early December, about what we wanted to do in the month of December, as a team and be playing our best ball. We've been able to reel off a few wins in a row now and (are) playing complimentary ball. (We are) playing well in all three phases, but offensively speaking we're always striving to correct any errors we made. We're trying to figure out the advantages we can find to put our players in the best possible situations and then letting those guys execute based upon several factors. Where we can now build off of a lot of the things we've done, making things look the same, but end up being different. The illusion of complexity to a lot of our offensive philosophies late in the year, can be something we rely on to build a plan to kind of be at our best when our best is required. I thought no greater example than that was the last drive of the game in Baltimore the other day. Our guys were at their best when we needed them to be. Now, we're just looking for that consistency a little bit more across the board.”

(On what he thinks QB Matthew Stafford thinks of WR Cooper Kupp being so close to the multiple records with one game left, as a former quarterback himself)
“The best thing about (WR) Cooper (Kupp) and the season that he's had is just, he's done it in a way within the confines of every single offensive game plan that we've had. He's a huge part of what we do. We've got so much confidence in him, in really everything we do from a standpoint of the run and the pass and his impact on the game. But what's remarkable is that his catches and his targets and those things, there really hasn't been a time where you look back on it and you feel like you've forced anything to him. It's come in the rhythm of the offense and the rhythm of progressions where maybe he's the first progression, maybe he's on the backside of something and (Q Matthew (Stafford) gets to him. That can hold true for us. We will have some things for him, but then just in the confines of wanting to spread the ball around, activating all five eligibles like we like to do, that's really what's made our offense what it has been this year. But then his impact of being able to fit in within certain concepts, progressions, rhythm, timing and him being on the same page with Matthew. But from a quarterback's perspective, Matthew's got to go out there and he's got to make the correct read in the rhythm and timing of the play. If that ends up being Cooper, that's great. But if not, Cooper wouldn't want it any other way. Throw to the open guy and we'll move on to the next play.”

(On what needs to happen for Stafford to be more consistent from start to finish)
“It's just a consistent process of understanding all the phases of our offense, but then situationally, down and distance wise. We're really talking a lot about the power of putting the ball in play and throwing completions. Even if you got to check the ball down. One of the things that really resonated with me watching the tape in last week was, there was a stretch there kind of in the third quarter. I know we didn't have an incompletion in the second half, but there were some plays there in the third quarter where you look at it and he checks the ball down to (R Sony (Michel) a couple times. I think two check downs totaled maybe 22 yards, couple first downs, one on a play pass, one on a drop back play. But there was some throws maybe down the field then and he didn't love it. In the rhythm of timing that we're coaching, he got to Sony and gave him a good checkdown throw. Sony goes and gets us a new set of downs. So, just the value of completions, the power of completions and picking our spots where maybe we can be more aggressive down the field, more aggressive by the situation. But understanding that in the end, the most important thing is the value of the possession of the football. Especially when our defense is playing well, special teams are playing well. Our job on offense is to make sure we're scoring points and moving the ball, but we don't want to set back either one of those sides to possibly make it any harder on our defense or our special teams than it already is.”

(On how he sees RB Sony Michel’s success of late and how he sees RB Cam Akers fitting into the offense)
“Sony has been such a huge part of our success over the last few weeks. Really with (R Darrell (Henderson Jr.) going down you looked at it and you didn't really have any fears of Sony not being able to handle it because that's why we were so excited to go get him when we did. He's been such a positive influence on our whole unit the whole year. But really when I think about these last few weeks and how much we've relied on him with 20-plus carries and the physicality at which he runs the ball with, it's added an element to our offense and added an element to our group that has really kind of thrived and kind of felt that physicality. Then maybe the offensive line, the tight ends and those guys on the perimeter, they start to feel a little bit more confidence to lean on the opponent a little bit. That's been huge. His impact on really the running back room with Darrell and (R Cam (Akers) coming back, has been really it positive. With Cam, we're just so excited to have him back out there and he's got that juice. He's got that infectious personality where all of a sudden everybody is excited to see him back there. But it's just great to have him back in the huddle with the unit. The guys are really excited to see what he can do, but at the same time we understand this will be his first game action and what can we do to give him some great (opportunities) to get back in the flow, but without overdoing it to the point where you might be asking too much out of him. I know if you asked him right now, he'd say that wouldn't be possible. But it's on us as coaches to make sure we figure out that balance.”

CB Jalen Ramsey
(On being unanimously selected by the Los Angeles members of the Pro Football Writers’ Association for the “Good Guy” award)
“Oh, y'all picked me? Wow. That’s crazy (laughs). Appreciate it though, for sure. There's a few other guys y'all could have picked, but I appreciate it. I have had a growing relationship with the media through my career. It’s been good with you all out here in L.A. I don't want to compare y'all to anybody else, but it's been good and I appreciate y'all as well. So I'm glad I'm able to help y'all do y’all’s job better and give y'all some insight and time.”

(On what happened between him and S Taylor Rapp in the first quarter in Baltimore)
“We had a disagreement. We had a personal disagreement about something specific during the game. We got into it and it was what it was. I guess that's kind of all I will say about it is, it was what it was. We were able to move on, support each other through the game, communicate better throughout the rest of the game, give each other calls throughout the rest of the game. We're fine now. But during the heat of the game, both of us being super passionate, wanting to make the right call and put ourselves in the right position for the team. We just had a disagreement and then it got handled how it got handled, but we moved on from it. I hope everybody else can too. That's my dog. ‘T. Rapp’ (S Taylor Rapp) is my dog. We aren’t tripping about none of that.”

(On the challenges 49ers WR Deebo Samuel presents)
“It is tough to do at times just because he's moved all over the place. If you're not in specific matched up coverages, they can try to get him in favorable positions. He’s dominant at every position that he plays, whether he's at the outside receiver, he's at slot or running back. So regardless, it's a challenge for whoever's going to be going up against him wherever he's lined up at. (He’s a) super important piece and puzzle to their team. (He’s) just a great player. We got to figure out a way to limit his impact this week.”

(On how he thinks the defense has handled losing some key players from last season and how have the grown as a unit on and off the field)
“It’s been kind of ever evolving and it's still growing. We're still finding the right ways to handle things, our right chemistry, the right guys to put in the right situation, the right places, how everybody can feed off each other and help each other. It's been a whole journey in itself, but I've been pleased with it. I think that it's went well for the most part. We've had times where we had hiccups and things we wish we had done better. Also had times where it looks amazing. And as of lately I feel like it has been looking really well. We've overcome a lot of adversity lately and still been able to ball out defensively. So, I think we should bring a lot of confidence and have a lot of confidence going into hopefully these next five games. Did that answer your question?”

(On what ways the offense is peaking and how it could still improve)
“Yeah, exactly. If we want to be where we really want to be at the end of the year, it definitely has to keep growing. So, we'll keep on challenging each other, pushing ourselves to be the best versions of who we can be.”

(On if there a mental block that requires overcoming to get back on the winning side of the 49ers rivalry)
“I wouldn't say so. We kind of take every week individually, every week as it is. We try to play every game to the best of our ability no matter if it's a big game, small game, division game, non-division game, whatever the case may be. Yeah, they've had our number at least since I've been here. I don't know about before I was here, but since I've been here, they've had our number. It is frustrating, but they don't have mind control over us, nothing like that if that's what you're asking. It's just how the games have went. But we are going out there confident on Sunday. We're not going out there thinking, ‘Ah, man, we we've lost this many games.’ That is not our mindset at all. We're definitely going out there confident.”

(On what the keys are for the Rams defense against 49ers)
“Making sure we do well on first and second down, so we're in good positions for third down. And then actually winning those third downs was something I know we struggled with before, against them this year. So that is something that we cannot let happen again. We got to lock in. We want to execute better than we did the last time we played. And I think that's probably about it.”

(On if there is heightened urgency with a chance to clinch the division or if clinching the playoff was relief)
“It's a little bit of both, I would say. It's definitely another game and we take all of our games seriously, honestly. But it definitely means more because we can clinch the division and get the two-seed. So that would be dope, right? That would be cool and important. So yeah, I guess it's a little extra bonus, it has a little extra importance to it you can say.”

(On how they prepare for the possibility of seeing two different QBs in the same game)
“Yeah, we got to basically just prepare for both of them. Both of them are able to make a lot of plays for their team. You know the talent that (Q Trey Lance has, the number three overall pick. So, he has a lot of talent there. They probably think he is the future of their franchise right now. And that's like a big, important thing to draft a guy top three overall, but you have another quarterback that's playing, I guess you could say over him and not like in a down-way. I'm not trying to down him, but I'm saying like (Q Jimmy Garoppolo who's actually the starter and who's played well, has their team that position to go to the playoffs. So, they're both really good. You got tp prepare for each of them and they play a little bit differently at times. So, we had to watch a lot of film, a little extra film just to make sure we know how each of them play, I guess you could say.”

--RAMS--



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2022 02:07PM by Shaky.