Near the end of the first quarter, Rams outside linebacker Wesley Bailey rushed his way toward Saints quarterback Zach Wilson. Bailey muscled past the right tackle and wrapped up Wilson for the sack.
The sack was Bailey's first in a Rams uniform, but it wasn't the first time he ended that type of play with a celebration that includes him creating a heart with his hands and pointing it up to the sky.
Every time Bailey records a sack, he finishes the play the same way. He does so to honor his late mother who passed away when he was just 5 years old, as well as his three sisters. Now, he was able to do so on an NFL field.
"It definitely is a blessing," Bailey said postgame. "I've been doing this since 2021, that's when I got my first sack. So to be able to do it on the next stage is definitely a blessing. Definitely, just glad to be here."
Bailey had multiple standout plays on defense and he's an undrafted rookie out of Louisville looking to use the preseason as a chance to showcase what he's able to do on the field in live play.
On Saturday against the Saints, Bailey's first NFL sack wasn't even his best play. The Saints marched their way down into the red zone, and for the second time on Saturday afternoon, the Rams came away with a red zone turnover. Bailey ran up behind the ball carrier and punched the ball out at about the 4-yard line and defensive lineman Payton Zdroik pounced on top of it.
"Just being able to get a red zone turnover is great," Bailey said. "In that situation, they're guaranteed three (points for them), and so for them to come out with nothing is definitely great. So great opportunity, for sure."
Bailey didn't even realize it was Zdroik who got on top of it until "10 minutes ago," he said in the locker room after the game. The play was emblematic of the extra effort and presence Bailey has had on the field throughout the preseason so far.
"I thought you felt his presence all day," McVay said. "He did a great job, played a bunch of snaps. He's gotten a lot of reps, even just because of some of the injuries that we've had throughout a camp or guys being out where he's taking reps with the ones, he's playing a lot of reps in both of these preseason games. I thought his body of work today compared to last week was really (an) improvement, and he did some really good things last week. To force the fumble, I've mentioned it before, there's certain guys you just feel on defense where you just know they're making their presence felt, and that was how I felt about Wes Bailey all day today."
Stringing together back-to-back games, Bailey improved from last week to this week. Against the Chiefs last weekend, Bailey recorded two tackles and generated pressure in the backfield on multiple occasions. On Saturday against the Saints, he had the sack and forced fumble and also added four quarterback hits and five tackles.
Bailey acknowledged that "it definitely is a jump from high school, college to NFL." Although many of the plays he made came from individual effort getting to the quarterback or ball carrier, Bailey credits the culture and Rams organization as a whole for the success he's had so far through the first two weeks of the preseason.
"It's just being a part of this Rams organization," Bailey said when asked what's allowed him to play so free and make a big impact. "We have a great D-line coach, outside linebacker (coach), DC, head coach, and all throughout the staff. So I think it's allowed me to play free and just keep balling and having great teammates to be there as well. I had opportunities, and I was able to take advantage of it."
