Category: Latest Rams news

Jalen Ramsey gets a lot of praise, but Rams’ other 2 CBs are thriving

Troy Hill and Nickell Robey-Coleman have been among the best CBs in the NFL since Week 6.

The Los Angeles Rams defense has improved dramatically since Jalen Ramsey arrived in Week 7. In their last four games, they’ve allowed just 44 points, which is the lowest total in the NFL. They’re also No. 1 in run defense in that span, ranking fifth overall against the run this season.

Ramsey has a lot to do with the Rams’ elevated play on defense – as does the level of competition in the last month – but he’s not the only one who deserves credit. The secondary as a whole is playing significantly better, led by Troy Hill and Nickell Robey-Coleman, surprisingly.

According to Pro Football Focus, they both rank in the top three of all NFL cornerbacks since Week 6 in overall grade. Hill has been the league’s best cornerback in that span, while Robey-Coleman ranks third.

In terms of coverage, Hill is ninth and Robey-Coleman is third.

Ramsey has played well this season, too, but Hill and Robey-Coleman deserve a lot of credit for their play, as well. Hill, in particular, has been targeted frequently by opposing quarterbacks simply because Ramsey is on the other side of the field.

This season, Hill has been targeted 39 times but he’s allowed just 20 completions (51.3%), one touchdown and a passer rating of 66.8. Ramsey has seen 50 passes thrown his way, allowing 32 catches (64%), one touchdown and a 93.2 passer rating.

The Rams took a big chance by trading away both Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, showing a great deal of confidence in Hill to take over as a starter. He’s rewarded them with some outstanding play and coverage, making the Rams look smart for giving him to an extension through 2020 this offseason.

He’s become an important part of the defense and assuming things stay the way they have, he’ll be in the mix for a starting job next year, too.

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Rams vs. Ravens: 4 key matchups to watch on Monday night

Cory Littleton and Taylor Rapp will play key roles in Monday’s game.

(AP Photo/Mike McCarn)

The Los Angeles Rams’ season could ride on Monday night’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. They desperately need a win – and a signature one, at that – and none would be bigger than beating the red-hot Ravens.

Containing Lamar Jackson will be priority No. 1, but there will be several other matchups within the game that could decide the outcome.

Here are the four biggest matchups to watch in Week 12.

Cory Littleton vs. Lamar Jackson

(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

It’ll take a complete team effort to slow down Jackson, but a lot of the responsibility falls on Littleton. He’ll likely be asked to spy Jackson, as will Taylor Rapp and maybe even a cornerback like Nickell Robey-Coleman. Littleton’s role in this game will be huge when it comes to stopping the run, which is a staple of Baltimore’s offense, of course.

Few players in the NFL have the speed to keep up with Jackson, but Littleton’s instincts and anticipation can help limit the big plays made by the electric quarterback. Making the correct read on zone reads is also critical, and could be the difference in a 20-yard gain or one for 5 yards.

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Rams injury report: Brandin Cooks a full participant, 2 others sick

The Rams released their first injury report of the week.

The Rams released their first injury report on Thursday ahead of their Week 12 matchup with the Ravens and there were several players who missed practice. There was a welcomed addition to the field, however, with Brandin Cooks returning to practice.

He was listed as a full participant and he’s expected to play on Monday night against Baltimore, Sean McVay said, and has been feeling good for a couple weeks.

Malcolm Brown missed practice as he’s awaiting the birth of his child. He’s expected back on Saturday. Rob Havenstein remains out with a knee injury, and both Johnny Hekker and Josh Reynolds were sidelined with an illness.

Darious Williams is still recovering from an ankle injury, but McVay didn’t have an update on his status.

Wade Phillips calls Lamar Jackson ‘this era’s Michael Vick’

Wade Phillips wasn’t afraid to compare Lamar Jackson to Michael Vick.

During his heyday with the Atlanta Falcons, Michael Vick gave opposing defensive coordinators and head coaches headaches as they tried to devise a plan to contain him. He was as electric as any player to play the quarterback position, bringing a terrifying combination of speed and arm strength to the field.

There hasn’t been a player quite like him since, but Lamar Jackson is staking his claim as the next version of Vick.

Ahead of Monday night’s matchup with the Ravens, Jalen Ramsey likened Jackson to Vick on Instagram this week, and Wade Phillips didn’t disagree with the comparison. Phillips was asked how the two quarterbacks are similar, and he seems to believe Jackson has a slight edge.

“Pretty similar in a lot of ways. Both of them are great runners. Mike was similar in that he didn’t throw many interceptions and he had that flick of the wrist that he could throw the ball downfield. But Lamar is this era’s Michael Vick, maybe plus – Michael Vick-plus.”

That’s some high praise for a coach who was around Vick for several seasons. Phillips was the Falcons’ defensive coordinator in 2002 and interim head coach in 2003 when Vick was there, so he knows a lot about what it was like trying to stop No. 7.

Vick rushed for 777 yards in 2002 en route to a Pro Bowl selection, emerging as one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in all of football in just his second season.

Jackson is not only on his way to the Pro Bowl in Year 2, as well, but he’s also the front runner to be named NFL MVP. In Phillips’ mind, Jackson is clearly the best player in the league through 11 weeks.

“Lamar Jackson, everyone’s saying it and rightfully so, he’s certainly the MVP so far this year and is having a great year,” he said.

The Rams will get their first taste of Jackson next week when the Ravens visit on Monday night, and Phillips isn’t necessarily excited about facing that offense.

“Gives me a headache,” Phillips joked. “But it’s a great challenge. It’s something that competitors – and I think our guys are – it’s something for them to step up and play well against, and that’s what our challenge is.

“If I didn’t already, they’d give me white hair playing against teams like this. But I’m already there.”

Robert Woods is back with Rams but uncertain to play vs. Ravens

Robert Woods returned to the team Thursday but it remains to be seen if he’ll play against the Ravens.

Sean McVay opened his press conference on Thursday with some good news regarding Robert Woods. He announced that Woods is back with the team and will practice for the first time today.

Woods had been away from the team since Sunday when he had to leave to take care of a family matter, causing him to miss the game against Chicago. It was unclear when he would return to the Rams, but it’s good that he’s back in the fold.

As for what that means for his availability against the Ravens, that’s still to be determined.

“Robert’s here, he’s in a good place. We’re just taking it a day at a time,” McVay said, before adding “we’ll see” when asked if Woods will play on Monday night.

The Rams have kept everything in-house with regards to Woods’ situation, out of respect for him and his family. It does seem odd that McVay wouldn’t say for sure whether Woods will play against the Ravens, though, considering he’ll be back at practice Thursday and has an extra day to prepare.

Even if Woods can’t play, Brandin Cooks will be on the field for the Rams. He’s returning from his second concussion of the season, which caused him to miss the last two games.

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Why Brandin Cooks’ return is huge for Rams with Robert Woods still away

The Rams will have Brandin Cooks back, which is huge for the offense with Robert Woods still away.

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The Los Angeles Rams offense looked very different on Sunday night against the Bears than it did in Week 1. There were two new starters at wide receiver and three new faces on the offensive line, as well as Johnny Mundt replacing Gerald Everett as one of the two starting tight ends.

They had to thrust Josh Reynolds and Mike Thomas into larger roles with Brandin Cooks still recovering from a concussion and Robert Woods tending to a family matter. Being without both players was a big hit to the offense, given the importance of both players’ roles.

It’s unclear when Woods will return to the team and there’s a chance he could miss Monday’s game, but Sean McVay shared some good news on Cooks’ recovery Wednesday. He confirmed the wideout will be back on the field Monday night against the Ravens after missing two games.

“Brandin Cooks is back, he’s excited to be able to play,” McVay said. “He’s felt good for a couple weeks, so when he’s feeling good and we’ve gotten the thumbs up from everybody else, that makes us all feel good. He’s going to play and we’re excited about that.”

This is huge news for the Rams, to say the least.

Cooks has been the least impactful of the Rams’ top three wide receivers this season, but that doesn’t make him unimportant. He simply hasn’t gotten as many opportunities as Woods and Cooper Kupp.

His return to the field changes things dramatically for the Rams offense. With Cooks and Woods both out in Week 11, the Rams went with a completely different approach offensively. They utilized two-tight end sets on 34 plays, which is the highest total of the season. They ran the ball 34 times and Jared Goff only attempted 18 passes, the fewest in his career.

The Rams set out to run the ball straight at the Bears, and it worked to the tune of a 17-7 win. But as we’ve seen all season, McVay prefers to throw the ball over run it. It’s just that putting the ball in the air 40 times with Reynolds and Thomas as two of the top three receivers wasn’t a recipe for success.

We all know how reliant McVay is on 11 personnel, having three receivers on the field more than 90% of the time. The Rams can get back to that on Monday night against the Ravens with Cooks, Kupp and Reynolds, leaving Thomas and his unreliable hands in the No. 4 spot.

Cooks’ speed will also be very valuable. He can stretch a defense like few receivers can, and against the Ravens’ cornerbacks, that’s critical. While Marlon Humphrey has good speed, Marcus Peters and Brandon Carr are somewhat lacking in that area.

If the Rams can get Cooks matched up on Peters or Carr, they can take advantage against single-high safety looks when it’s essentially one-on-one outside. Thomas and Reynolds simply don’t possess that same level of speed as Cooks.

The biggest benefit of Cooks’ return is having three receivers Goff is comfortable with. The Rams clearly shied away from using too many three-receiver sets against the Bears because of his and Woods’ absences, but that should change on Monday night.

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With Marcus Peters in Baltimore, Rams will ‘be careful’ with what he knows

Sean McVay is well aware of Marcus Peters being on the other side this week.

Both the Rams and Ravens have players on their side who spent time with the opposing team. The Rams actually have two with Eric Weddle and midseason acquisition Kenny Young, who was a starter for the Ravens earlier this season. The Ravens have Marcus Peters, though, who the Rams traded to Baltimore before the trade deadline.

Weddle has already said he won’t be sharing any inside knowledge of the Ravens with the Rams, having too much respect for his former teammates and coaches. It’s unclear how much Young can offer Sean McVay and Wade Phillips, but it’d be reasonable to expect him to share at least some insight.

With the way Peters’ tenure in Los Angeles ended – being traded during the season – you can bet he’ll be giving his current team everything he can on his former squad. After all, Peters knows the Rams defense like the back of his hand, spending a season and a half in L.A.

McVay is well aware of Peters being on the other side, and while he wouldn’t definitively say the Rams will change things up because of it, he knows they have to be careful.

“It does [impact game planning] because he’s a great player. You look at the production that he’s had and how quickly he’s picked up some of the things that they’re doing schematically. He’s always been a guy that has great ball production. You look at him in his first game, getting an interception against Seattle. He has one against Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago. He’s very comfortable,” McVay said on Wednesday. “He’s a guy that whether he was here or not, you’ve got to be mindful of because he does have such elite ball skills. You do want to be careful about some of the things that he might be familiar with. He’s a great player and I’m really happy to see him doing so well.”

Peters is a smart player and while he might allow big plays at times, he also has the ability to completely change a game. Just in the four games since being acquired by the Ravens, he’s picked off two passes and returned both of them for touchdowns.

The Ravens are undefeated since acquiring Peters and their defense ranks second in points allowed since Week 7. The Rams are first in that category in the same span, but there’s no denying how well Baltimore’s defense has played.

With the added knowledge of the Rams’ scheme, it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if Peters makes a big play or two in this game.

Rams preparing for Lamar Jackson with John Wolford as scout team QB

The Rams know they can’t emulate Lamar Jackson, but they’re going to try.

There isn’t a quarterback in the NFL right now who can do what Lamar Jackson does. His combination of speed and vision as a runner, as well as his accuracy and decision-making as a passer make him one of the most dangerous players in football – regardless of position.

His unique skill set makes him far more difficult to prepare for than a traditional pocket quarterback, which teams have learned all year long. The Rams will do their best to simulate him in practice, but not with Jared Goff or Blake Bortles.

Instead, it’ll be quarterback John Wolford, who’s currently on the practice squad.

“John Wolford’s going to do a great job for us. We’ll see if he found some extra speed this week, too,” McVay said. “You can’t ever really, truly emulate this guy, what he’s done and what they’ve done as a team. As a team, but then when you’re individually talking about their offense and Lamar Jackson, it’s been impressive. It’s fun to watch, it’s exciting, it’s going to be a great challenge and I know our defensive guys are excited about that challenge.”

Wolford is an athletic quarterback, as we saw in the preseason. He’s quicker than fast, though, as he ran a 4.77 40-yard dash at his pro day. His 4.18-second short shuttle time would’ve been the third-best at the combine in 2018, and his 6.78-second three-cone would’ve been the fastest at his position.

Obviously, Jackson is on another level, but Wolford is a better scout team quarterback before facing the Ravens than Andy Dalton is. He has a good combination of mobility and arm strength, as he showed on this play in the preseason.

As McVay said, you can’t truly emulate Jackson in practice, but the Rams are going to do their best with Wolford. Monday night’s matchup will come down to slowing Jackson as a runner because that’s where he and the Ravens offense are most dangerous.

Eric Weddle could tell Rams ‘a lot of stuff’ about Ravens, but won’t

Eric Weddle knows a lot about the Ravens, but he’s not going to tell the Rams anything.

Eric Weddle is one of the smartest players in the NFL. He’s also one of the most well-respected across the league, specifically with his former and current teammates. He earned that reputation with his play on the field and displaying loyalty off it.

His loyalty seems to have gone too far for some Rams fans, though, with Los Angeles playing Weddle’s former team on Monday night. The safety said back in August that he won’t share any of the Ravens’ secrets with the Rams, which angered fans in L.A.

There was some hope that he’d change his mind with this being such a monumental game for the Rams, but that’s not the case. He doubled-down on keeping his knowledge of the Rams’ scheme to himself Wednesday, saying he won’t give the Rams anything.

“There’s nothing that needs to be said, outside of, I could tell them a lot of stuff, but that’s just not who I am,” Weddle said, via the team’s website. “We’re going to play it on the field and the best team’s going to win, but they all know what I’m about.”

It all comes down to respect for Weddle. He built a strong relationship with players and coaches in Baltimore during his three years there, and he’s not going to turn his back on them – despite the fact that the team cut him this offseason.

It might seem a bit extreme to some fans, but the connection with Baltimore goes deep for Weddle.

“I said it whenever I did that last interview, I have a lot of respect for that place,” Weddle said. “Not only how it helped my career and rejuvenated my career, and how they treated myself and my family, but it’s a very tight-knit group. What kind of man would I be if I just turned my back on all of them?”

Sean McVay was asked about Weddle’s decision during Wednesday’s press conference, and it’s no surprise that he respects his decision. McVay said “it’s a small demonstration of why he’s a special guy,” understanding why he wouldn’t want to share intel on his former teammates.

“I think what you respect about Eric is he’s one of those guys that you pick his brain just because you want to talk some football. But in terms of some of the intricacies, I think he’s got a lot of loyalty to those guys even if he’s not there anymore,” he said. “And I think those are things that I think he would probably say, ‘I like talking ball with you,’ but I don’t want to do something that takes away from his ability to try to unfairly give information with the Ravens and I know that’s something that he’s communicated. So I haven’t talked to him about it.”

Kickoff between the Rams and Ravens will be on Monday night at 8:15 p.m. ET, with the Rams trying to get their seventh win of the season.

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Sean McVay weighs in on Eric Weddle’s decision to keep Ravens’ secrets

Eric Weddle won’t give away anything on his former team, and Sean McVay respects that.

When Eric Weddle signed with the Rams, one of the first games he probably circled on the schedule was a matchup with his former team, the Ravens. It was always going to be an intriguing matchup, but with Baltimore 8-2 and looking like one of the best teams in the NFL thanks to Lamar Jackson, the implications of this game have been heightened – especially for the 6-4 Rams.

Weddle knows the Ravens better than anyone outside their locker room, but Sean McVay and Wade Phillips shouldn’t expect any inside information from their starting safety. He said back in August that he won’t share any of his former team’s secrets – a startling revelation to Rams fans everywhere.

“I can’t give all the secrets away. Those are my guys. I can never turn my back on my guys over there,” Weddle told Andy Benoit in a film breakdown video. “Coach McVay knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t need much.”

Weddle respects his former teammates too much to give away secrets about their scheme.

“What kind of man would I be if I rat out my guys that I played three years with?” Weddle asked. “I cherish every relationship I made on that defense, on that team. The minute I say, ‘Here are all of their calls’ or ‘here are the checks to this,’ then what am I at the end of the day? I lose everything that I gained from there. And that means more to me than anything.”

McVay was asked by reporters on Wednesday if he’ll pick Weddle’s brain this week in advance of their Week 12 matchup with the Ravens. McVay knows Weddle said in the past that he won’t share any inside details about Baltimore’s scheme, and the coach respects that.

“I think what you respect about Eric is he’s one of those guys that you pick his brain just because you want to talk some football. But in terms of some of the intricacies, I think he’s got a lot of loyalty to those guys even if he’s not there anymore,” he said. “And I think those are things that I think he would probably say, ‘I like talking ball with you,’ but I don’t want to do something that takes away from his ability to try to unfairly give information with the Ravens and I know that’s something that he’s communicated. So I haven’t talked to him about it.”

McVay was then asked whether that would be regarded as unfair.

“I think this, it’s totally at each person’s individual approach. I think with his reasoning, I think it’s a small demonstration of why he’s a special guy. But we’ll talk some ball, we’ve talked before. Maybe I already asked those questions in the free-agent visit, he just didn’t realize it,” McVay said, smiling.

Schemes change every year and there are certainly differences between what the Ravens did last year when Weddle was there and what they’re doing now. In reality, there probably isn’t much of an advantage Weddle can give the Rams, because players still have to go out and execute the plays called.

Monday night will mostly come down to stopping Jackson, and if the Rams can’t do that, they’re going to be in for a long night – regardless of what Weddle might (or might not) tell them.

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