Tag: Mike LaFleur

If Rams want to take a shot on Zach Wilson, they have 2 coaches who know him well

If the Rams want to try a reclamation project with Zach Wilson, two of their coaches worked closely with him in New York

Unless the Los Angeles Rams can be certain that Stetson Bennett will play in 2024 and be available all year, they’ll need to make a move at quarterback. Whether it’s re-signing Carson Wentz, bringing in a veteran or drafting someone to be Matthew Stafford’s backup, the Rams have to find more stability behind No. 9.

One potential option is taking a shot on Zach Wilson. After he was benched twice last season and had yet another abysmal season in New York, the Jets could be looking to move on frothanm the former No. 2 overall pick. They’ll look to trade him before releasing him, though it’s unclear if any team would be willing to take on his $5.45 million cap charge for 2024.

If the Rams are even considering this possibility, they’ll surely ask two of the coaches on their own staff. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur was the Jets’ offensive coordinator for the first two years of Wilson’s career in New York. Rob Calabrese, who the Rams just hired as an offensive assistant on Tuesday, was the Jets’ quarterbacks coach for the last three years.

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Those two coaches worked as closely with Wilson as anyone in the NFL. Therefore, if anyone knows whether Wilson has what it takes to turn things around, it’s LaFleur and Calabrese. The Rams never leave any stone unturned so it’s likely that Sean McVay and Les Snead will talk to both coaches about Wilson to find out whether he’s worth giving a chance.

A reclamation project has never scared the Rams away, giving Blake Bortles, Baker Mayfield and Wentz all a shot under McVay’s tenure. Wilson could be next in line to learn McVay’s scheme in hopes of righting the ship.

Given his poor play in New York, it’s hard to fathom Wilson fetching anything more than a sixth- or seventh-round pick. The Rams have four sixth-rounders and probably won’t find a quarterback with the talent that Wilson has at that point in the draft. Obviously, a sixth-rounder also won’t cost Los Angeles more than $5 million for one season, but there’s always a chance the Rams could get the Jets to eat some of his contract as a way to facilitate a trade.

The safer option would be to re-sign Wentz and keep him as Stafford’s backup, but if McVay, LaFleur and Calabrese see something in Wilson, he could be a player to watch.

Rams OC Mike LaFleur, not Sean McVay, called the offense on Sunday

Sean McVay handed over play-calling duties to Mike LaFleur and he loved the job his OC did on Sunday

Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers wasn’t a preseason matchup, but neither team treated it like a must-win regular-season contest. They each rested starters and had one eye looking ahead to the playoffs.

For the Rams, it was an opportunity to hand over the play sheet to offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur for a day. And that’s exactly what Sean McVay did.

After Sunday’s 21-20 win over the 49ers, McVay revealed that it was LaFleur who called the offensive plays with Carson Wentz at quarterback.

“What we did today, because we went off a wristband, Mike LaFleur did a great job calling it today,” he said. “Mike has been instrumental. There were some operational things relative to using the wristband, the comfort, the familiarity there. I have so much confidence in Mike, he could do that, but we felt like that was what was the best approach. We’ll go back to our standard, normal operating procedures next week. I can’t say enough good things about what Carson did with the overall operation. Mike LaFluer is such a stud. He has been so instrumental in all of the good things that have occurred offensively, the way that he’s helped me and led our operation.”

It may not seem like much but it was a great chance for LaFleur to call the plays for the Rams, something he hasn’t done all season. He was the offensive play caller for the Jets during his two years in New York, but he gave up that responsibility to join the Rams this season.

As McVay said, he called a great game, too. The Rams went 9-for-15 on third down, rushed for 109 yards and outscored the 49ers in the second half, 14-0. They only had 258 total yards of offense, but that was with backups all over the place on offense.

LaFleur could be a head coaching candidate as early as this year but if not now, don’t be surprised if he draws some interest in the near future.

Mike LaFleur sees better days ahead for Rams’ Cooper Kupp amid recent struggles

Mike LaFleur spoke on Cooper Kupp’s lack of production in recent games and he believes the All-Pro WR will bounce back moving forward.

After a blazing start to the season upon his return from injured reserve in Week 5, Cooper Kupp has had forgettable performances for the Los Angeles Rams in recent games. Despite the recent struggles from Kupp, Mike LaFleur believes the elite receiver will bounce back sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, I think last week was rough on everybody, I mean coaches, players, organization,” LaFleur said. “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.”

In his first two games back from injured reserve, Kupp combined for 15 receptions, 266 yards, and a touchdown on 21 targets. But in the last three games, Kupp has totaled only eight receptions, 98 yards, and zero touchdowns on 24 targets.

The positive news for Kupp is that Matthew Stafford is expected to start for the Rams in Week 11 after missing Week 9 due to a thumb injury. At the same time, even Stafford and Kupp seemingly weren’t on the same page on certain plays before the bye week.

The emergence of rookie Puka Nacua and the speed that Tutu Atwell brings to the offense have given the Rams other options outside of Kupp in the aerial attack. That being said, defenses are still keying in on doing their best to slow down Kupp.

Even with his recent outings, Kupp is still one of the best receivers in the NFL, and he hasn’t shown any signs of being limited by the hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve to begin the season. After not getting to face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1, Kupp will look to get back to recording his typical production against the Seahawks in Week 11.

Mike LaFleur: ‘It’s been a smooth transition’ for Kevin Dotson so far

Mike LaFleur has liked what he’s seen from Kevin Dotson so far since he joined the starting offensive line of the Rams.

Kevin Dotson joined the Los Angeles Rams’ starting offensive line earlier this season, and he’s performed extremely well so far. With Dotson set to make his fifth start for the Rams, Mike LaFleur spoke about how well the former fourth-round pick has performed.

“Yeah, he’s a pro’s pro too. He came from a really good organization with how they do things in Pittsburgh, obviously,” LaFleur said. “He’s a son of a coach. It’s been a smooth transition. Unlike Myles (Gaskin) where he came from a similar system, Pittsburgh runs a very different system than us from every aspect: protection, run game, and all that. So that was a learning curve for him hearing our terminology for the first time but every week just getting a little bit more comfortable with that and with comfort comes better execution.”

At the end of training camp, the Rams acquired Dotson from the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for fourth- and fifth-round pick swaps in 2024, along with fifth and sixth-round pick swaps in 2025. Dotson would begin the season behind Joe Noteboom at right guard, but Noteboom has been dealing with a variety of injuries.

Even with Noteboom active again in Week 7, the Rams elected to keep Dotson in the starting offense. Dotson has responded by producing an overall PFF grade of 87.4 (a career-best mark). He’s also allowed a total of four pressures and two sacks in his first four starts.

As mentioned by LaFleur, Dotson has needed time to get comfortable with an entirely different system since joining the Rams. That being said, Dotson has shown enough to warrant starting him over Noteboom for the rest of the season.

How Puka Nacua and the Rams’ receivers are cooking in a surprising passing game

Puka Nacua has taken the NFL by storm. Here’s why Nacua, Sean McVay, and Matthew Stafford are cooking in the Rams’ surprising passing game.

When the NFL released the 2023 schedule, the Week 5 matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles was not seen as must-see TV outside of the fans of those two teams. The Eagles are the defending NFC champions, and the Rams were portrayed as a team in full rebuild with little to go on. But even without Cooper Kupp (hamstring) in the first four weeks of the season, Sean McVay’s passing game has been one of the league’s most interesting, and one of the toughest to stop. And the pointman has been BYU rookie receiver Puka Nacua, the fifth-round pick who has exceeded all expectations.

Nacua’s 22-yard touchdown in overtime to send his team to a 29-23 win over the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday was just the latest play in what has become a historical season to date.

Nacua’s 39 receptions is the most for any first-year receiver in his first four pro football games — and in fact, he’s already passed Reggie Bush for the most receptions for any rookie in his first FIVE games. Nacua also has the most receiving yards (501) for any rookie receiver, and he’s the first rookie with three 100-yard games in his first four opportunities, joining Harlon Hill of the Chicago Bears in 1954.

So, it’s clear that Nacua is a natural fit for what McVay and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur are cooking up this season. In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into how the Rams are controlling the middle of the field with simple concepts that work exceedingly well.

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You can watch this week’s full “Xs and Os” video, featuring all of Week 5’s biggest NFL matchups, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Now, let’s get into this surprising Rams passing game — and why it could be a major issue for the Eagles’ defense.

Rams’ offense is 8th in EPA per play through Week 4

The Rams’ offense has been impressive to begin the season and is 8th in EPA/play through Week 4.

The Los Angeles Rams have exceeded expectations on both sides of the ball early in the season, and the offense has been one of the better units in the league. Following an overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4, the Rams are currently eighth in offensive EPA (expected points added) per play, according to rbdsm.com.

The Rams have an EPA per play of 0.067 through the team’s first four games. With Sean McVay and Mike LaFleur constructing the offense, the Rams have a well-balanced attack that could get even better when Cooper Kupp returns from injured reserve.

The seven teams with a higher EPA/play through the first four weeks than the Rams (with the Monday night game still yet to be played) are the Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Dallas Cowboys.

In the passing game, the Rams have the 10th-best dropback EPA (0.122) with Matthew Stafford operating the offense. And with Kyren Williams leading the way on the ground, the Rams boast the 12th-best rush EPA (-0.031).

Entering the season, there were understandably question marks about how well the Rams and Stafford would perform on the offensive side of the ball. Stafford’s play from under center, along with the emergences of Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell, has helped the Rams post a top-10 offense in EPA per play thus far.

Mike LaFleur shares a great quote on Rams abandoning the run vs. Bengals

The Rams abandoned the run against the Bengals, but Mike LaFleur says that was largely because Cincinnati wouldn’t let them run it

Rams fans were screaming at their TVs and on social media Monday night as they watched Sean McVay refuse to run the ball despite the Bengals struggling to stop the run in the first two weeks. Kyren Williams only carried it 10 times, with one of those rush attempts coming in the final minutes when the Rams were out of timeouts – another point of frustration for fans.

McVay is often quick to abandon the run if it isn’t working, so this was nothing new. But situationally, fans and analysts were surprised by how little he utilized his ground game against a statistically poor run defense.

Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur gave his take on the matter Wednesday, explaining why the Rams didn’t run it as much as some people hoped they would. It had to do with what Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo was showing the Rams, lining up to prevent Los Angeles from running it.

So, as LaFleur put it, the Rams weren’t going to just bang their head against the wall by running into stacked fronts.

“What we’re always going to want to do is still to help our pass protection out, still continue to get a run game going, not abandon the run in the fourth quarter and that’s something you always want to do,” LaFleur said. “The thing about what Lou does in Cincinnati is they don’t allow you at times. You want to stay balanced, but if they’re telling you you’re not running the ball here, you’re not running the ball here based on the pump block-type pressures that they’re bringing in those situations. So there was a lot of runs called that unfortunately had to get checked out of it into some passes and some of the results were good and some of them weren’t as good. So again, you always want to stay balanced, but you’re also not going to just go beat your head against the wall if they’re saying you’re not going to do it.”

The Rams have been reluctant to run into loaded boxes all season, trying to play the number’s game when they do hand the ball off. Kyren Williams is one of two running backs in the NFL who haven’t yet faced a box with eight-plus defenders, so the Rams aren’t trying to just run him into a wall of linebackers and defensive linemen. It may not be the answer fans were looking for, but it does make some sense.

Rams are somehow still ‘figuring out’ their starting offensive line

With only a few days before kickoff, the Rams are still unsure who their five starting offensive linemen will be

The Los Angeles Rams have had all offseason to sort out their offensive line, but like every procrastinating high schooler, they’re waiting until the last minute to hand in their assignment. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that they’re taking as long as possible to figure out their five starters, but it is a little bit surprising that kickoff is just days away and they still don’t know who will be protecting Matthew Stafford.

Or, that’s how they’re making it seem, at least.

“Figuring out that front five. Still doing it,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said Thursday. I’m sure it’ll sort its way out by 1:25 or whenever we play on Sunday, but every day, again, they’re still working through this thing and we feel we’ll put our best five out there.”

For the last few weeks, we’ve gotten at least a little bit of clarity on the offensive line. Alaric Jackson looks like the starting left tackle, Steve Avila will be at left guard and Rob Havenstein is locked in at right tackle. Tremayne Anchrum Jr. appears to have the edge at right guard over Joe Noteboom, but that may not be the case based on what LaFleur is saying. And the same goes for Coleman Shelton at center, with Brian Allen also competing there.

The Rams probably aren’t the only team taking this long to figure out their starting linemen, but there is a downside to it. It’s tougher to build chemistry up front and with the quarterback when guys are constantly rotating, especially at center.

“It definitely does,” LaFleur said of it affecting chemistry, “and so we got to be very strategic about each play that we put in in terms of who’s working combination blocks, both in the run game, who’s working on their slides and when they’re on the man side in protection, working off the game. So there’s a lot that goes into it in terms of making sure that we feel like they’re prepared to be able to – whatever five we put out there, going to have to be able to go out there and execute.”

What could make life even tougher for the offensive linemen this Sunday, whoever they may be, is the environment in Seattle. Most likely, the Rams will have to use a silent count because of the noise at Lumen Field, which is one of the loudest in the NFL.

That’s something the Rams are working on as the game approaches, but again, that’s tougher to get right when guys are rotating so often.

The Rams will sort it out sooner or later. They kind of have to with their first game coming up in two days. But ideally, they would’ve had this figured out much earlier.

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Mike LaFleur explains what he wants to see from Puka Nacua in joint practices with Raiders

The Rams will hold joint practices with the Raiders this week and Mike LaFleur explained what he wants to see from Puka Nacua.

Puka Nacua had a productive preseason debut for the Los Angeles Rams over the weekend, catching three passes for 32 yards and a touchdown. Following the rookie’s positive performance against the Los Angeles Chargers, Mike LaFleur detailed what he wants to see from Nacua in joint practices with the Las Vegas Raiders this week.

“Just keep building on what he’s doing. He is going against first-team defense every single day,” LaFleur said. “Going into his 11th practice and training camp and then dating back to OTAs. So again, not making anything up. Continue to build on what he’s doing. Giving him a little bit more inventory every day like we’re giving everybody else, just getting ourselves prepared for that first game in September.”

In the preseason opener versus the Chargers, Nacua finished with three receptions for 32 yards and a touchdown on five targets. The touchdown was an 11-yard reception between a couple of defenders on fellow rookie Stetson Bennett’s first offensive drive under center.

Since the start of OTAs and rookie minicamp, Nacua has continued to impress the coaching staff and other players on the Rams. Nacua is currently competing for the No. 3 spot at wide receiver behind Cooper Kupp and Van Jefferson.

Sean McVay and LaFleur haven’t held back on giving Nacua more and more to process as he’s gotten plenty of snaps with the first-team offense in practice. Ahead of joint practices and a preseason matchup with the Raiders, LaFleur and the Rams just want Nacua to simply keep doing what he’s been doing thus far: improving every single day.

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Kyle Shanahan shares what’s ‘kind of annoying’ about Mike LaFleur joining the Rams

Kyle Shanahan was happy to see his friend Mike LaFleur land with the Rams, but it’s also “kind of annoying” for one reason

Sean McVay had to replace his offensive coordinator again this offseason after Liam Coen left to join Kentucky’s staff for the second time in three years. He landed on Mike LaFleur, the former Jets offensive coordinator and brother of Sean’s friend, Matt LaFleur.

Mike LaFleur and Kyle Shanahan worked together with the Falcons and then with the 49ers, so they’re familiar with each other on and off the field. The same goes for McVay and Shanahan, who are good friends and enemies two Sundays a year.

While Shanahan is happy to see LaFleur land with the Rams, there’s also one part that’s annoying about it: McVay can take ideas from LaFleur that the 49ers used in the past.

“Sean can steal a lot of stuff from Mike now after he was with me for so long,” Shanahan told The Athletic. “So to tell you the truth, it’s kind of annoying.”

Shanahan did tell LaFleur when he was hired by the Rams that he’s “very happy” for him and “it’s going to be a better opportunity” for him, but he may not have thought completely about the implications of his former coordinator working for a divisional foe now.

LaFleur won’t call the plays with the Rams but he’ll be working closely with McVay every day of the week to help field the best offense possible. That includes trying to beat Shanahan and the 49ers twice a year.

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