WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Rams defensive end Kobie Turner couldn't stop smiling every time he got the chance to talk about the new addition to his family during his press conference Monday morning, with and he his wife Alissa welcoming their first child, a baby girl named Rowan, to the world last month.
"Dad life is incredible. Lots of surprises," Turner said. "Early on, I figured out that babies poop in threes, so don't change after the first one, because if you try to change it, then she's gonna light you up the second you take off the diaper. But it's been the most rewarding thing to be able to be hand-in-hand with my wife, Alissa, and to be able to take care of Rowan together. I was up at 4 a.m. last night changing her diaper, she decided to pee the second I took off the diaper. But it's just so many sweet moments, man, I'll probably talk a ton about that. That's gonna be my entire life, for a long time, probably the rest of my life."
As the Rams began their voluntary offseason workout program at their facility on Monday, Turner feels that sense of responsibility not just to his new family of three, but also his teammates.
When outside linebacker Jared Verse appeared on Maxx Crosby's podcast earlier this offseason, Verse said that after quarterback Matthew Stafford publicly announced his return for the 2026 season, Turner texted the Rams defensive line group chat which included Verse, Byron Young and Braden Fiske, and said the defense "has got to be better." With Stafford coming back, Turner told them Stafford is putting faith in the defense and counting on them.
How much longer Stafford will play remains to be seen, but a 38-year-old, Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback coming off an MVP season returning for Year 18 creates the requisite urgency from teammates.
"He's such a big-time talent, but such a big-time, all-in-all, all-around player, person, leader," Turner said. "And so you don't have a ton of opportunities in this life to be able to say, 'All right, we have a Hall-of-Fame quarterback, MVP quarterback. And so now it's up to us defensively. I take this charge to our defensive front guys: 'How can we be at our best, so that when he's at his best, we can capitalize off of it, so that we can take some of the weight off of his shoulders, and be able to take this team as far as we can take it?'"
What does that look like during offseason workouts in the spring? In one way, training and spending as much time together as possible – both of which will include scheduling a return visit for an offseason workout with Krav Maga expert Al 'Poodie' Carson, who previously worked with Rams legend Aaron Donald as part of the means of achieving that goal.
"How many times can we get together to train together?" Turner said. "How well can we know each other so that we can maximize the opportunities of getting him the ball back, whether that's through sacks, whether that's through turnovers, or whether that's just through playing good defense, first down through third down, to maximize his opportunities?"
Turner is juggling all of this while entering the final year of his rookie contract. The 2023 third-round pick out of Wake Forest said he will let his agent handle contract extension talks with the team, but also said "I've really loved my time here. It's a great organization and a great group of guys, and so I would love to have that opportunity."
That could easily be his "why" as he goes through his offseason preparation this spring and summer. But he's motivated most by the teammates next to him, and especially the new "why" who is six weeks old and close to his heart.
"You always talk about having a 'why,' and that gave me another 'why,'" Turner said, still smiling. "I mean, I get to be her dad, and that's the most special opportunity that I'll ever have in this world. I'm excited right now that after this gets wrapped up, I'm gonna go and shower, and then I'm gonna go back and go home and be a dad. But, yeah, I think that also encourages me to, when I'm here, let's get the most out of the work that I have. Let's capitalize off of all my opportunities so that I make sure that she's set for life. And then it also goes to, what legacy am I leaving? What type of man am I? What type of leader am I? What type of player am I? And am I somebody who, when she grows older and she's able to look back at certain things, or if somebody at school was like, 'Who is your dad?' that she'll be able to talk about me and have a smile on her face and be proud of the output. So, I mean, I can't even... I can't even put words into how much that means. And I can't wait to be able to represent her as well with the Turner that's on the back of my jersey, along with the family that I represent, along with my wife that I represent.
"It's just such a special opportunity."
