WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Byron Young's moment to allow himself a public pat-on-the-back came early in a video conference with reporters Monday afternoon.
About 24 hours removed from a 24-20 win over the Eagles in Philadelphia, a reporter asked about the outside perception of a lot of his opportunities at the quarterback being the result of people paying attention to other teammates on the defensive line, and whether it was satisfying to set a career-high in sacks (2.5) on a day Los Angeles' defense was without outside linebacker Myles Garrett (knee) or defensive end Aaron Donald (back).
Young, whose quiet personality largely prefers to let his play do the talking, was glad to hear the acknowledgement. And the 2025 Pro Bowler seized the moment.
"I'm not gonna lie to you," Young replied. "I'm glad you actually said that. You know, it's something I've been wanting to say without saying it, and the fact that you brought it up is great. Because just the past few years, every time I was playing, it's always been kind of like a second-hand credit to Byron. Like, it would be credited to me, but it would be like, 'Well, because so-and-so take up all the attention because of this,' and I never really got the credit I felt like I deserved, just because of other guys being great too, but at the same time, it's just like, it's always been a second-hand congratulations."
The fourth-year Rams outside linebacker delivered two sacks, including a strip-sack, on the game-clinching final drive at Lincoln Financial Field last Sunday, though the timely playmaking and overall performance hardly came as a surprise to coaches and teammates.
In 2025, Young led the Rams with 12 sacks – the only player on the team to reach double-digits. So even as L.A. added Garrett and later Donald this summer, he was still going to be a crucial piece to its defense.
In 2026, Young's Week 4 performance has him as the team leader in sacks with 3.5 overall entering Monday Night Football against the Bills. His 22 QB pressures are fifth-most in the NFL entering Week 5.
Against the Eagles, he also finished with six total tackles (two for loss) and three QB hits. The stats speak for themselves – even if Young admitted he felt like he wasn't playing his best game up until the final drive.
But the numbers stood out the most to defensive end Kobie Turner was the amount of game clock Young erased by making those plays. Philadelphia had burned its final timeout just before running back Kyren Williams scored the go-ahead rushing touchdown with 1:17 remaining.
"He made his impact felt all over the field," defensive end Kobie Turner said. "I think especially, we talk about competitive greatness, being your best when your best is required, and to be able to ... stop them and BY gets two of those sacks, and they didn't have any timeouts. ... Even when you think about just the amount of time that ran off because of the sacks, where they have to get back and regroup, and their receivers are down the field, or because of a strip-sack now people are fighting for the ball and that is just wasting more and more time off the clock.
"... He's a guy that just always flies around with his hair on fire, and I'm super happy for him to be able to go and have that type of performance that he had yesterday. He made his presence felt all over the field."
The Rams will need that kind of pass rush presence Monday night against Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who once again looks like an MVP candidate with the way he's led Buffalo's offense.
Young would not be one to outwardly campaign for credit if he authors a similar performance on Monday Night Football. If Week 4 was enough of a reminder – or eye-opener for those not paying attention – he won't need to anymore, anyway.
"It feels like the game slows down for him every single year," defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. "I remember evaluating him at Tennessee in his four-point stance getting off, and then in his rookie year he took I think over 1,000 snaps, so he saw huge growth that year. And then ever since then, he's just one of those guys that's very intentional. (Outside linebackers coach) Joe (Coniglio) and him have a really cool relationship, really special bond that they have, and you just see he takes coaching and he can apply it to the field. He's such a special person, such a special player, and I'm just so happy he's starting to get the credit that he's always deserved."
