THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, offensive coordinator Liam Coen and defensive lineman Aaron Donald each held press conferences with local media prior to Thursday's practice, discussing the challenges presented by Kyler Murray and the Cardinals offense, signing defensive end Takkarist McKinley, wide receiver Ben Skowronek's usage, and more.
Here are some of the highlights and key takeaways from those conversations, which you can watch in their entirety below:
"He's a guy who can help us in the pass rush and he's a guy who I think deserves a second chance, and hopefully he can come in and do some really good things for us." – Morris
- While Morris' background with McKinley "has been both rocky and good, whatever place he's been," Morris wants to give McKinley another chance, which played a part in Los Angeles signing McKinley on Wednesday.
- According to Morris, L.A. also signed McKinley to address pass-rush depth in wake of Leonard Floyd's injury last week and other teams signing its players off of its practice squad.
"Ben, he's done such a nice job on teams as a guy that can really play in space, but also is physical enough and strong enough to play in the box a little bit when those matchups on the nickel are advantageous to our area of the field." – Coen
- Skowronek's physicality and mentality make him a "natural" when it comes to doing the things asked of a fullback, according to Coen.
- Whether that role resurfaces again this week remains to seen, since Coen said that it was specific to the defensive structure and the matchup they liked against the Falcons.
"We know what to expect, so just doing we need to do to contain him, make him uncomfortable and trying to get to him." – Donald
- Having played against Murray several times now, the Rams have an idea of what they're up against when it comes to Murray's mobility and ability to extend and make plays off schedule.
- In the last matchup between the two teams, the Rams held Murray to 19 of 34 passing for 137 yards with two interceptions in a 34-11 win in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
