WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — The Rams were without their top two cornerbacks: Trent McDuffie with a back injury and Jaylen Watson with a season-ending shoulder injury.
The two have dealt with various injuries throughout the season, however the Rams hadn't played a game this season with both of their top corners off the field until last Sunday against the Commanders.
In his return to play his former team on Sunday afternoon, cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. was thrust into a much larger role than he's had all season.
"E-man (was) extremely productive," defensive coordinator Chris Shula said on Thursday. "A bunch of PBUs. I thought he was awesome in the run game, physical, tackling. He made that play on the screen."
Forbes has played 33% of the Rams' defensive snaps this season, and in the two games when Watson and McDuffie played every single defensive snap, he had none. Against Washington when both Watson and McDuffie were out for the first time all season, though, Forbes played every single defensive snap and recorded the second highest grade on the defense at 90.6, according to Pro Football Focus, only behind outside linebacker Myles Garrett.
Even entering last week's game against the Commanders, Forbes' defensive grade ranked among the highest out of all cornerbacks in the NFL.
"I'm really proud of him, really proud of how consistent he's been this year," Shula said on Oct. 29. "He's staying tapped in. He's working really hard at practice and it's showing out on the field."
Forbes' afternoon didn't start off as strong as he may have liked, giving up a touchdown to former Rams and current Commanders wide receiver Van Jefferson early in the second quarter to take the lead.
But from then on out, Forbes became the lock-down defender the Rams were looking for with their top two corners out. Forbes allowed six receptions for just 19 yards. To help buff that stat, Forbes snuffed out a screen pass for a 4-yard loss in addition to recording the games first tackle on run defense and excelling in that category altogether.
"I thought he was great," head coach Sean McVay said postgame. "I thought he played tough. I thought he came up in run support. I thought he was sticky in coverage. What I like is that he's responding, showing great maturity, showing great competitive stamina. ... (Commanders quarterback) Jayden (Daniels) does such a great job of being able to extend plays. They got a lot of different guys that can make some plays, and I was really proud of Emmanuel Forbes."
Forbes also recorded three pass breakups on the afternoon. The first on a third-and-5 to force the Commanders to punt. The second on a come back route to Jefferson. And the third on a fourth-and-17 to end the Commanders second-to-last drive.
"It's all about the next play," Forbes told therams.com. "(There were a) couple plays that didn't go my way and things like that. But the plays that I did make was at the right time to help the defense get off the field and to help us win the game on Sunday."
On top of having a great performance, the opponent Forbes got to do it against meant a little bit more to him than any other game. After playing his rookie season with Washington, he was released by the Commanders in November of his second season and was picked up by the Rams two days later.
Sunday was Forbes' first game back in the stadium he called home for the first season and a half of his career.
"I felt good, honestly, just going out there and being able to help my team win against my former team," Forbes said.
Moving forward, the goal is for McDuffie to return and give the Rams the best possible chance to win. But in the interim, Forbes held down the fort against the Commanders and continued what was already a strong start to the season in a smaller sample size.
