WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – After a gritty, 14-9 win over Houston in Week 1, the Rams have started preparing for their next opponent, the Tennessee Titans. Sunday marked the fifth time in the last seven games, dating back to last season, where the Rams have held their opponent to 10 points or less. They will look to continue that streak on Sunday.
Head coach Sean McVay, quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Davante Adams spoke with local media on Wednesday about Sunday's performance and looked ahead to their matchup with Tennessee. Defensive coordinator Chris Shula, offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, outside linebacker Jared Verse and wide receiver Puka Nacua did the same on Thursday.
Here are the most significant quotes and talking points from those press conferences.
"I think just the command, the communication, obviously the productivity (stood out for inside linebacker Nate Landman). When he has 10 tackles, and then he obviously makes a huge play, but there's so many different things, especially when you're the green-dot guy. You're communicating, you're making front adjustments, you're communicating to the back end on certain things. This guy is an extension of the coaches." - McVay
After earning NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors, McVay praised Landman's command of the field and huddle all game, not just during his potentially game-saving forced fumble. He said that Landman has "earned the respect of his teammates" from the moment he entered the organization this past offseason, and knows when to insert his voice. He led a Rams defense that "did an outstanding job" of responding to the circumstances they were placed in.
When asked about the balance between Puka Nacua and Davante Adams' targets, McVay said they always "want to get both of them involved" because "when the ball's in their hands, good things happen." Their respective volume is largely predicated on the coverages Los Angeles is seeing, and McVay added that the offense as a whole can be "a little bit more seamless" once they can become more efficient on early downs.
Nacua's toughness led to a 10-catch, 130-yard performance that prompted one of McVay's friends to text him "Nacua must mix his oatmeal with cement," he said with a laugh. The third-year star's excitement to block in the run game helps set up opportunities for him as a pass-catcher, which is exactly what happened on the game-sealing completion. "The third-and-eight is set up because he'll stick his face on (Texans safety Jalen) Pitre on the previous two plays," which were run out of the same look and motion from Nacua.
Stafford, meanwhile, was able to work through some dirty pockets to make good decisions and high-difficulty throws in a game where he showed total command, McVay said.
"Recovery (from the game) feels good. You don't get hit for a long time at quarterback. We wear this thing (a red non-contact jersey), luckily, every day in practice so Jared Verse knows not to hit me. It is just getting back used to feeling that, but I feel good and ready to go. (I'll have) a full week of practice, hopefully, and just go play again." - Stafford
Stafford wasn't worried about the back injury that held him out of training camp and some preseason practices, saying "you have to stand in there and do your job." That's exactly what he did, and no health consequences came of it. He expects to practice fully ahead of the Rams' Week 2 matchup in Tennessee.
Stafford said the Titans have "a really physical defense" and defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons is "disruptive, strong, gets off on count, physical, fast (and) plays with a nasty streak." He knows that defense will present multiple looks, especially in the backend, which means he'll have to trust his eyes and progressions to make the right decisions with the football.
Last week, Stafford passed the 60,000 career passing yards mark on a six-yard completion to Nacua. He said it was meaningful for that ball to go to Nacua because he's enjoyed "a lot of good moments with him," and this will be another one that he always remembers. However, when he went up to Nacua to tell him as much, it was clear the receiver hadn't realized the significance of that throw and catch.
"I went up to him and was like, 'Hey man, glad that one went to you.' And he's like, 'Yeah, sure.' I don't think he really knew (why)," Stafford recalled. They were able to clear that up later, though.
"It's not easy at all (to time-up deep balls with a new quarterback), but it's something that, just having a little bit of experience with him in OTAs and that offseason program, we worked on it a little bit there, and I actually missed a few of them earlier, so to be able to go in the game and still have that trust and confidence in me, and me have the confidence in him that he's gonna see the coverage and throw the right ball, it's a good building block." - Adams
On a third-and-three in the fourth quarter, Stafford trusted Adams on a back-shoulder throw on the left sideline. The veteran receiver adjusted against tight coverage to snag the pass and get both feet down in-bounds for a 24-yard gain. Adams credited Stafford for making that play happen. "I was still driving and digging, running, trying to win over the top, and then I peaked. And, I mean, (Texans cornerback Derek) Stingley couldn't really do anything about it."
On his first catch as a Ram, Adams took a massive hit coming over the middle that bent him backwards. But the 12th-year pro popped right back up and got ready for the next snap. At this point in his career, Adams isn't looking to take punishment, but as a receiver "you can't live forever," he said. "So sometimes you got to go across the middle and make that play. You can't just let a ball soar past your eyes just because you're in harm's way... That's what you signed up for if you want to be a receiver in this league."
Adams' running mate, Nacua, showed similar toughness. After absorbing a big hit early on, he was evaluated for a concussion and a gash above his eye had to be stitched up, but he still returned. Adams described Nacua as a "pit bull" because "It's hard to stop a pit bull once you get going. That's clearly what you get from somebody like Puka."
"The more you present from a personnel standpoint, the more you present out of that (12) personnel, in theory, the harder it is (to stop our offense). So it was good to get that out there. It's not like we're forcing it, we feel like that's the best thing for our team, for our roster." - LaFleur
The Rams ran 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) at a 42.1% clip on Sunday, the 4th-highest rate in the league per Sumer Sports. In 2024, they ran it at 15.6% of the time, which ranked 25th. Throughout the offseason, McVay talked about wanting a more versatile offense, and the Rams presented one in the season opener.
LaFleur also discussed running back Kyren Williams' heavy usage being a product of the game's flow. He received 18 of the 19 running back carries against the Texans and played 49 of the team's 60 offensive snaps (81.7%), per Pro Football Focus. The plan was to go with Williams for the first two drives "unless he needed a break," and then the third drive went to Blake Corum, but resulted in a three-and-out.
"I know you guys have been hearing for the last six months how much we're going to get some of these other backs in, and yeah, that's the plan, but plans do change based on the circumstances," LaFleur said. "So we'll see where this goes."
When asked about the challenge that Simmons will present on Sunday, LaFleur said he's "a stud" who is "not fun" to play against based on his past experiences. He's a force in the run and pass game, which is why LaFleur thinks of him as "one of the better interior linemen in this league."
"You definitely do (have to look at college tape of rookie quarterbacks like Cam Ward). You have to, because you've only got like 50-something snaps in the preseason and you obviously have the first game, so you definitely do look at tendencies, what he likes, what he does, all things like that." - Shula
The Rams are used to watching tape of players from either college or previous teams at this point in the season. Ward enjoyed lots of clean pockets during his standout senior season at Miami (Fla.), but he's quickly learning that won't always be the case in the NFL. The Broncos pressured Ward on 50% of his dropbacks in his NFL debut, according to Next Gen Stats, sacking him six times. The rookie's next test will be a Rams front that pressured the quarterback 41.2% of the time last Sunday, leading to three sacks.
In the secondary, the Rams started Emmanuel Forbes Jr. at cornerback after he was picked up off waivers in the middle of the 2024 season. Shula said he's been "really impressive (to see) the urgency that he plays with, the physicality, the toughness." One of his biggest weaknesses with Washington, after being selected in the first round of the 2023 draft, was tackling. Shula said he made a point of working on that this offseason, and it showed up against Houston.
New defensive tackle Poona Ford showed that "he's an excellent run player and an underrated pass rusher," in his Rams debut, Shula said. Landman, a fellow newcomer, displayed his embodiment of Rams culture: "A great person, great in the locker room, just a guy you really enjoy talking to and he works hard and loves football," Shula said. The game-saving punch-out wasn't a surprise to Shula, who saw him do that effectively in OTAs and training camp.
"I don't (feel like I mixed my pass rushes enough in Week 1). I feel like the game plan that they had for my moves specifically was kind of to force power. They took up a lot of space, they set really far and they forced me to go power and that's on me. I can do a couple more things (to avoid that). I could tighten up a little bit, I could play my line a little bit better, I could rush a little faster." - Verse
Verse wasn't satisfied with his performance after generating a team-high four pressures, via Next Gen Stats, kind of like he wasn't satisfied with his Defensive Rookie of the Year campaign in 2024. He spent the offseason working on his speed rush and counters in the hopes of becoming less predictable, but didn't feel like he achieved that in Week 1.
Verse had to fight through double- and triple-teams throughout Sunday's game, but that's something he expected. Winning his few one-on-one opportunities was even more significant because of that, but he didn't do that as well as he wanted to. His frustration was a reflection of that fact that his teammates "expect more" of him than he gave, especially on those one-on-one rushes.
Looking forward to Week 2, Verse isn't underestimating Ward. "He's the number one pick for a reason," Verse said. "It doesn't matter if you're a rookie quarterback." Ward being a rookie doesn't change how Verse will approach the matchup against Tennessee.
"I got both my arms attached to me. Both my legs are working. I'm ready to go back back out there." - Nacua
That was Nacua's mindset as he waited to be evaluated for a concussion in the first half of Sunday's game. Despite felling as though "half of my face had fallen off into my face mask," Nacua said, he was still itching to get back out on the field and hit somebody. On Thursday, he said his head feels "a lot better than it did on Sunday," even if he said it with a swollen right eye, underneath the cut that had to be stitched up mid-game.
Nacua also discussed the evolution of his route-running. When he showed up to OTAs as a rookie, he recalled just running the routes exactly as they showed up in the playbook. But as he's learned from veteran teammates and coaches, route-running is more nuanced than that. Going into Year 3, Nacua knows how and when to adjust his routes, either before or during the play, based on the defense so that he and Stafford are still on the same page.
