Sean McVay made the bold and somewhat surprising decision this offseason to move on from legendary defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, replacing him with Brandon Staley – a 37-year-old coach who has three years of experience in the NFL, all as an outside linebackers coach. It aligned with McVay’s desire to have more say on that side of the ball, as he’ll now work even closer with the defense and Staley in particular.
But when the Rams take the field at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 13 against the Cowboys, assuming the season kicks off as planned, it’ll be Staley’s first time ever calling defensive plays in an NFL game.
That’s because the NFL agreed to cancel the preseason altogether, giving teams zero exhibition games before rolling into the real thing this September. Veteran players don’t seem to mind the decision made by the league – especially those on the Rams who haven’t played a preseason snap since 2017 – but this will have an impact on Staley early in the year.
On a conference call with reporters in May, Staley was asked about the possibility of the preseason being canceled and how that would affect him.
“I wouldn’t anticipate it being that big of a deal,” he said.
With the preseason nixed, practice will become increasingly important for Staley and the Rams. Unfortunately, they won’t be allowed to practice against other teams like McVay loves to do each year, so Staley will be calling defensive plays against his own offense.
He and McVay plan to create game-like situations in practice
“It’s important. You’ve got to treat practice like games. That’s where I was talking about practicing with purpose,” Staley said earlier this offseason. “Being off the field, having a walkie-talkie, making that as game-like as possible with the communication to the person who has the green dot and Sean putting together really purposeful practice plans which are more, move the ball, live situational, think on your feet, being able to respond to what’s happening on the field in real time.”
Surely, McVay and Staley have been going over play calls, game planning and other scheme ideas, but actually being on the sidelines calling plays in the heat of a regular-season game will be difficult for Staley to prepare for – especially because he’s never done it before in the NFL.
Fortunately, the Cowboys will also be going through a similar transition with Mike McCarthy taking the sidelines for his first game with his new team. Dallas has Kellen Moore back as offensive coordinator, but there are a lot of new faces on that staff, too.
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