Tag: Cobie Durant

Should the Rams make a change at CB with Derion Kendrick struggling?

Derion Kendrick had his worst game of the season on Sunday, leading many fans to call for a change at cornerback

For the most part, it’s been an up-and-down season for Derion Kendrick at cornerback. The second-year defender has been a starter for all but one game in 2023, and while he’s had some excellent performances and made big plays, he’s also made too many mistakes in coverage.

His worst performance of the season came on Sunday against Washington when he allowed seven receptions on eight targets for a total of 153 yards and two touchdowns. He also committed a pass interference penalty in the end zone that helped set up the Commanders’ last touchdown.

Penalties and big plays have plagued Kendrick all season, often being the blemishes on what might’ve been solid outings. He’s been called for 11 penalties and has given up receptions that went for 38 yards, 39 yards, 42 yards and 48 yards.

His 566 yards allowed in coverage are the 17th-most among all cornerbacks this season, landing him a 59.9 overall grade this season, according to Pro Football Focus.

After Sunday’s performance where he allowed two long plays and committed a pass interference penalty, several Rams fans were calling for him to be benched – and understandably so. Sean McVay was asked about whether changes will be made in the secondary amid Kendrick’s struggles but he was non-committal on shaking things up.

“We’re just in the early parts of getting ready,” he said Monday. “You kind of accelerate your postgame process. I thought our defense played really well. There were those two drives that could make it feel a lot different than what it was. There were a lot of good things. We had some communication things on their first touchdown we got to do a better job of. And then you just mentioned it, (Commanders WR) Terry McLaurin is a baller and there were some isolation situations where sometimes it’s not going to go down for you and he ended up making some good plays. What I think we need to be able to learn from, and I want ‘DK’ to be able to learn from and not exclusive to him, us overall, is okay on the first touchdown, how do we make sure with a tool that we play that better so we don’t leave the corner route open? When we get them in a fourth down and seven, how can we make sure that we’re not giving ourselves a chance to foul and give them a fresh set of downs playing with the good techniques?”

It sounds like the Rams will probably stick with Kendrick as a starting cornerback again this week when the Saints come to town. McVay still wants to see him improve, particularly in the mental aspect of the game.

“Some of the things that we can control above the neck and being smarter situationally, those are the things that we want to improve upon,” McVay continued. “He’s shown that he can respond to that, but I think there’s a tendency, and I felt this way too, that oh man, it felt a lot different than what the totality of the game was because it was that most recent exposure in regards to when  (Jacoby) Brissett comes in and manufactures two scoring drives and the way that it went down. And it seemed like ‘DK’ was in the middle of that action, but he’ll learn from it. He’s a mentally tough guy and we’ll figure out what we think is the best way to try to defend a really good team that’s playing at a high clip on Thursday.”

If the Rams wanted to make a change at cornerback, there aren’t many options available. Duke Shelley is on injured reserve and Tre Tomlinson has a thigh injury, so he may not be healthy enough to play on Thursday night.

It’s possible the Rams could go with a starting lineup of Ahkello Witherspoon, Cobie Durant and Quentin Lake, along with Jordan Fuller and John Johnson III, but there’s been no indication that a change like that will be made.

It might be time to shake things up, though, because the playoffs are approaching and Kendrick hasn’t always been reliable in big moments.

Rams Week 11 inactives: Cobie Durant out vs. Seahawks

Cobie Durant is officially inactive and won’t play against the Seahawks today

The Los Angeles Rams came into Sunday with far fewer injury concerns than they’ve had in recent weeks. Matthew Stafford, Ernest Jones and Rob Havenstein are all back after missing Week 9, while Bobby Brown III has also been activated off injured reserve and will be available against the Seattle Seahawks.

Cobie Durant was the only player listed as questionable to play and he’s officially inactive. He won’t be available against the Seahawks, which means Duke Shelley could get more playing time in the secondary.

Quentin Lake has also played significant snaps in the slot, so expect to see him on the field plenty in passing situations.

In addition to Durant, Nick Hampton, Zach Thomas, Warren McClendon Jr. and Earnest Brown IV are also inactive.

Rams-Seahawks injury report: Cobie Durant, Tyler Lockett both questionable

Cobie Durant is the only Rams player that will carry an injury designation into Sunday’s game against the Seahawks

Sean McVay said on Friday that the Rams are probably as healthy as they’ve been all season as they head into this weekend’s game against the Seahawks, and that’s certainly reflected on the injury report. They had no major concerns this week with everyone practicing in some capacity, including Matthew Stafford – who was a full participant all week.

The only player who will be listed as questionable for this weekend’s game is Cobie Durant, who’s still recovering from a stinger suffered a few weeks ago. McVay said he’ll be limited again on Friday and the team will see how he’s feeling this weekend in advance of the game.

Otherwise, everyone else will be good to go. Rob Havenstein and Ernest Jones are set to return after missing Week 9 with injuries, and Puka Nacua is good to go after being limited to begin the week.

For the Seahawks, Tyler Lockett, Jamal Adams, Abraham Lucas and Tre Brown are all questionable to play. Dareke Young has also been ruled out already.

Rams injury report: Matthew Stafford a full participant, Puka Nacua limited

Matthew Stafford is back to being a full participant in practice, but Puka Nacua and 3 others are still limited

Fresh off their bye, the Los Angeles Rams come into Week 11 much healthier than they were the last time they took the field against the Green Bay Packers. Matthew Stafford, Ernest Jones and Rob Havenstein are all expected to return after missing Week 9, and the initial injury report on Wednesday gives no reason to doubt that.

Sean McVay provided updates on the Rams’ injuries before practice and only four players will be limited:

  • Rob Havenstein (calf)
  • Cobie Durant (shoulder)
  • Larrell Murchison (knee)
  • Puka Nacua (knee)

Everyone else will be a full participant, including Stafford. McVay said Stafford will throw in practice and there will be no limitations in terms of taking snaps under center because of his thumb injury.

McVay also said Havenstein is “tracking well” and he still expects the big right tackle to suit up against the Seahawks on Sunday. As for Nacua, “he’s just banged up,” McVay said.

“Just the style at which he plays, I’ll be interested to see if he’s ever truly back full speed – not full speed, but feeling like you don’t have to be cognizant of taking care of him to get him to game day feeling as good as possible,” he added.

The full injury report for both the Seahawks and Rams can be seen below.

Cobie Durant questionable to return vs. Packers with shoulder injury

Cobie Durant had to leave the game with an injury for the second week in a row

For the second week in a row, Cobie Durant had to leave the field early due to injury. He suffered a stinger last week against the Cowboys and on Sunday in Green Bay, he exited with a shoulder injury.

He’s once again questionable to return.

Durant was getting more opportunities to play outside, with Quentin Lake getting some snaps in the slot. Derion Kendrick has had his role reduced after his recent struggles as the outside cornerback.

Cobie Durant suffers shoulder injury, questionable to return vs. Cowboys

Cobie Durant left the game in the first half with a shoulder injury and is questionable to return

When it rains, it pours.

The Los Angeles Rams dug themselves a deep hole in the first half against the Dallas Cowboys, going down 26-3 early. To make matters worse, Cobie Durant has a shoulder injury and is questionable to return.

That leaves the Rams without one of their top three cornerbacks, which is bad news against an offense as potent as the Cowboys’.

Cobie Durant, Quentin Lake could see bigger roles as Rams tinker with secondary

The Rams have been experimenting with their secondary a little bit, which could lead to bigger roles for Cobie Durant and Quentin Lake

For the first handful of games this season, the Los Angeles Rams’ secondary looked almost unchanged from week to week. Jordan Fuller and Russ Yeast would play just about every snap at safety, Derion Kendrick and Ahkello Witherspoon would do the same at corner, and Cobie Durant would play between 65-80% as the nickel defender.

However, in the last two weeks – particularly last Sunday against the Steelers – the Rams have been tinkering with some changes to their defensive backfield. Kendrick played a season-low 89% of the defensive snaps in Week 6, with Durant playing a season-high 87%, and then in Week 7, Kendrick played 37% and Durant played all 59 snaps.

It was partly because Kendrick’s practice participation was limited due to his arrest last Monday, but the Rams began tinkering the week prior. This experimentation also involved more opportunities for Quentin Lake, who played 27 snaps in Week 6 and 28 snaps on Sunday after his previous season-high was 15 back in Week 3.

Raheem Morris addressed these changes and said he likes what he’s seen from both Durant on the inside and Lake in the slot, which could lead to bigger roles for both players moving forward.

“Cobie had to go outside a little bit and that was where he played, had a nice knockdown pass, was really close on another one that we felt like he could have played a little bit better,” Morris said Thursday. “Really proud of him just being able to bounce out there and be able to pick up for his brother that had some issues last week we had to deal with. Cobie just showed some of his versatility that he can do and so did Quentin Lake being able to slide inside and do some of those things for us in those structures.”

The Rams wouldn’t be exploring these changes if Lake and Durant weren’t playing well, which Morris says has earned them more opportunities. Lake allowed three catches against the Steelers but they only went for 17 yards. Durant had a nice pass breakup but he also allowed three catches for 53 yards on five targets.

“You really explore more of those things when people play well and Quentin Lake’s been playing really well so you explore more of him playing some inside stuff for us,” Morris said. “Cobie’s been playing really well, just about most of the spots we put him at and playing at a high level so getting those guys in the grass as much as possible and finding that right combination to give you your best results to endure a whole game or play the way you need to play is part of it too.”

The Rams aren’t going to take Fuller, Yeast or Witherspoon off the field because they’ve all been playing well, but Kendrick’s role is certainly in danger of shrinking. He started the season well, allowing just six catches for 43 total yards in the first four games, but in the last three, he’s given up 154 yards on eight receptions with no pass breakups and three costly penalties.

Morris was still proud of the way Kendrick played in a limited role last week, but he knows the corner’s absence during the week affected his play against Pittsburgh. In the loss, Kendrick allowed 67 yards on three catches (three targets) despite only playing 15 coverage snaps.

“Always has an effect. You can’t ever discredit absence so certainly it did, right?” Morris said. “He was able to come back and play a role for us. He wasn’t playing his normal role, but he was able to come back and help us play in the role he was able to play in. To say how it affected him, probably a better question for him, right? He played decent. We gave a play at the end that we should have some help on and different other things but I’m not sure if that was the reason of the absence. It’s just more so really the mental stamina of doing things right, better, faster in order to make a few plays towards the end, right?”

Dallas only runs 11 personnel 56.4% of the time, according to Sumer Sports, so they won’t have three receivers on the field as much as some other teams do. It’ll be worth seeing whether the Rams deploy Kendrick or Durant at outside corner in their base packages this weekend, and how much Lake mixes in to counter the Cowboys’ tight ends.

Matthew Stafford, 7 other Rams among NFL’s highest-graded players of Week 6

Matthew Stafford is the highest-graded QB of Week 6, but he’s not the only Rams player who ranks among the best at their positions

It’s amazing how one good half of football can change the narrative surrounding an entire game. That was the case for the Los Angeles Rams, who failed to score a touchdown in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday before outscoring them 20-0 in the final two quarters.

They cruised to a 26-9 victory at home, in large part because of the way Kyren Williams, Matthew Stafford and the offensive line played in the second half. The defenses wasn’t too bad, either, allowing zero second-half points to Arizona.

When Pro Football Focus released its game grades for the Rams’ win, there were several players who received high praise from the analytics site. Stafford was chief among them, ranking as the highest-graded quarterback in the league for Week 6 with a grade of 90.0. The next-closest quarterback is Kirk Cousins, who had a grade of 83.5.

Dak Prescott and Justin Herbert still have to play on Monday night, but Stafford has been the best quarterback of the week so far. Seven other Rams players were also graded among the best players at their respective positions, all of them ranking in the top six.

  • Matthew Stafford: 90.0 (1st among QBs)
  • Kyren Williams: 84.8 (3rd among RBs)
  • Cooper Kupp: 87.0 (2nd among WRs)
  • Kevin Dotson: 86.1 (2nd among OL)
  • Rob Havenstein: 82.7 (6th among OL, 3rd among OTs)
  • Byron Young: 87.3 (3rd among edge rushers)
  • Aaron Donald: 85.2 (2nd among DTs)
  • Cobie Durant: 81.4 (6th among CBs)

All eight of the above players were instrumental in the Rams’ victory, with five representing the offense and three on defense. Dotson and Havenstein were dominant on the right side of the line, particularly in the run game, while it was Donald and Young applying constant pressure on Josh Dobbs in the pocket. Williams, Kupp and even Durant were excellent, too.

The Rams are building some momentum with this victory, heading into Week 7 when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers. Football is the ultimate team sport and it’s always good to see a collection of players like the one above come through with some stellar performances.

Is it time for the Rams to change things up at cornerback?

Cobie Durant and Derion Kendrick have both had some rough patches this season. Should the Rams consider switching things up a little?

The Los Angeles Rams came into this season with high expectations for both Derion Kendrick and Cobie Durant. Following the departures of Jalen Ramsey, David Long Jr. and Troy Hill, Kendrick and Durant were thrust into much larger roles as starters.

Unfortunately, it’s been mostly a mixed bad for the Rams’ two young corners. Kendrick has had some really positive moments and has allowed just 10 catches on 22 targets, but he’s also committed five penalties, which are the second-most by any cornerback in the NFL this season. And if you saw those penalties, you know they were costly. Three of them were defensive pass interference, two were horse collar tackles and one was a facemask, so we’re not talking about illegal contact or defensive holding for 5 yards.

As for Durant, he’s been much less consistent. He has a PFF grade of just 39.7 this season and has allowed 200 yards in coverage (15 receptions, 22 targets). Durant does have two pass breakups, but he’s also been called for two fouls, though neither of them went for very many yards: one pass interference and one holding.

Kendrick had a particularly tough time on Sunday against A.J. Brown, who caught two passes for 48 yards and two first downs against the Rams corner. Durant missed two tackles on crucial third-down plays, as well, allowing the Eagles to move the chains at inopportune times for the Rams.

On Monday, Sean McVay was asked for his evaluation of Kendrick and Durant thus far. He didn’t sound overly positive or encouraged, seeing plenty of room for them to learn and grow.

“I think a lot of learning. I thought DK, I thought the third-down-and-2 where they threw out the bubble screen and the possession before where he knocked that back. If they gain a yard right there, they’re running their patented sneak, which is a very difficult play to stop. So I thought that was a key and critical stop to force them to a field goal when they ended up going up 10-7. And then there are just some opportunities for learning. I think we can make sure that in that third down and one that they ended up hitting the explosive to A.J. Brown, you say, ‘OK, maybe we want to play it a little bit different technique wise.’ He wasn’t trying to horse collar him when he brought him down. He was just trying to bring him down by any means necessary and then there’s certain things, whether it be where we can help out with or the techniques and fundamentals when there’s seven seconds left in the half. Even though they had a timeout, you know the ball is probably got to go to the end zone and we just got to be smart and we got to be able to help him out. But he’s a resilient guy. I think he’s learned a lot. I think he’s done a lot of really good things and like anything else, you better have a short memory as a DB. He is mentally tough, and I think a lot of the same applies to Cobie Durant.”

By no means did McVay call out Kendrick or Durant, but he didn’t give them a ringing endorsement, either. Might it be time for the Rams to switch things up a little bit at cornerback and give some other guys opportunities.

The first player that comes to mind is Duke Shelley, who broke up a pass in the end zone during the second half on Sunday after Ahkello Witherspoon left due to cramping. The Rams signed Shelley just before the season began and have barely utilized him thus far, but he’s someone who can play in the slot or outside, having done both for the Vikings and Bears the last two years.

“I think there’s a good opportunity for guys to be able to earn some more snaps,” McVay said. “I’ve been pleased with those guys that have played a lot of snaps but been really pleased with Duke. I thought he did a nice job. He came in just a few weeks ago. I like the presence that he’s made on special teams. He’s a competitor. He’s played a lot of football. The game makes sense to him. He’s kind of one of us, if you will, in terms of just the way that he competes, the way that he goes about his business. And I was really pleased with the way that he played in those nine snaps, as you mentioned. And so, yeah, I think guys get what they earn. Exactly what the game plan looks like against Arizona, I’d be better equipped.”

Tre Tomlinson is another cornerback who fans have been clamoring to see after his standout preseason performance. He’s undersized like Shelley, but he showed in the preseason that he can hold up outside and cover bigger receivers.

I’m not saying the Rams should bench Kendrick entirely or give Durant no snaps moving forward, but it might be worth seeing what Shelley can do to help improve the coverage on the back end. Right now, they’re almost exclusively playing just three cornerbacks: Witherspoon, Durant and Kendrick. No other corner has played more than nine snaps this season.

You want your best players on the field and Witherspoon is one of them, but Kendrick and Durant have been a tad inconsistent.

Rams injury report: Puka Nacua, Cobie Durant DNP Thursday

The Rams opened their week of practice on Thursday and both Puka Nacua and Cobie Durant were held out with injuries

With their upcoming game being on Monday night, the Los Angeles Rams got an extra day of rest coming out of Week 2. They started their week of practice on Thursday afternoon, which was their first injury report, as well.

The Rams listed five players on their injury report to open the week, including Puka Nacua and Cobie Durant. Both players were non-participants, as was Brian Allen. Nacua is still dealing with an oblique injury, Durant has a groin issue and Allen is sick.

Joe Noteboom, who left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury, was limited, along with Jonah Williams due to a back injury.

Sean McVay said Thursday that he doesn’t expect any of the injuries to affect players’ availability for Monday night’s game against the Bengals, which is good news.

As you can see on the Bengals’ side, Joe Burrow was a non-participant after he aggravated his calf injury in Week 2. His status for Monday is very much up in the air.

Former Rams safety Nick Scott was limited as he recovers from a concussion. This will be his first game against his old team.

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