WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Safety Quentin Lake holds multiple different roles for the Rams' defense.
And in many ways, they've counted on his versatility and communication more than ever, especially in the last two weeks.
In Week 6, he had a takeaway that led directly to points. Then, with inside linebacker Nate Landman (concussion) out Sunday against the Raiders, Lake wore the green dot – in addition to his duties at the star position and at safety, while playing 100% of the snaps.
"It's a big deal," head coach Sean McVay said, when asked by Voice of the Rams J.B. Long on this week's Coach McVay Show about knowing he has another trusted voice who can get everyone organized and in the right spot. "He's always been such a great communicator, but I do think one of the things that was helpful is, he's in everyone personnel grouping where sometimes you want to give guys blows that's best for the team in getting some other guys involved. But because he plays in a lot of the different sub-groupings, (defensive coordinator) Chris (Shula) was able to just communicate things right into him directly and we were able to echo those things."
The only problem they had to solve for was the instances where Lake was playing one of the deep safety positions instead of the star – meaning, lining up on the third level of the defense rather than near the second – but they were able to work through it because of previous experiences with former safeties John Johnson III and Eric Weddle wearing the green dot.
While not a perfect performance, Los Angeles' defense still held Las Vegas to six first-half points, 48 total rushing yards and 3-for-14 on third down.
"It's brought up some fun moments, some funny moments. Having the dot, it's a privilege. It shows that the coaching staff they trust in you. They trust in your ability to be able to communicate on all levels, and for me, it's a task that I'm taking and I've been enjoying it," Lake said. "I've always been able to communicate on all three levels, but when you really have it, you got to make sure that everybody's getting the call. That's the biggest thing. Can you get the call echoed to all three levels? And I guess I did a pretty good job last Sunday."
The preparation that served Lake well in that role also had a hand in two timely plays he made this season.
Lake likes to use a familiar mantra when talking about those plays: the combination of preparation and opportunity meeting. In Week 6, the circumstances played out exactly as he wrote down in his notes. It led to a career-high second interception of the season, but more importantly, gave the ball back to the Rams offense in Cardinals territory for a drive that ended with three points.
"It was so funny because I said, I literally wrote it down in my notes, which was wild," Lake said on Oct. 19. "I wish I had my iPad with me. I said, 'if we get this play on this down and distance, and this guy is aligned up at this spot, I'm gonna make the (play),' I called my shot. ... (We) had some coverage stuff and kind of knew some of the options that we were going to get on that third and medium down and distance, and luckily we were in the right call. He targeted my way, but I said, hey man, if I get this route, I'm going, I'm just going to go get it, and luckily I got the route."
While Lake's first interception of the season, which came five weeks earlier against the 49ers, was not in opponent territory nor led to a scoring drive, it stopped what had been an efficiently-moving drive by San Francisco that was likely ending with at least three points if not for Lake's impressive pick on a Brock Purdy pass intended for George Kittle.
Landman was a full participant in practice today and Wednesday; if he's cleared to play Sunday against the Chargers, it's reasonable to assume the green dot would return to him given that's the way the Rams defense had been operating the first six weeks of the season. Still, having Lake reinforce that he's capable of holding that down is a nice luxury to have.
"I thought that was a big deal for us to be able to have him wear the dot, for us to have the communication with a variety of different personnel groupings because he's always on the field," McVay said. "He was excellent and I think it was a key factor in a lot of the good stuff that went on yesterday."
Last Sunday wasn't the first time Lake wore the green dot, so between that and those preparation and communication skillsets defensive coordinator Chris Shula knows well, it wasn't a surprise to see him operate in the role so effectively.
"He did an awesome job communicating to all kind of levels of the defense," Shula said. "Obviously, it's more ideal (when) you have a guy at the second level that's kind of wearing the green dot that can communicate to both sides. But Q Lake, just like Landman, is one of our captains, he's going to do anything he's asked. So he's covering guys running with him down the field, coming back in, getting the huddle going, and he's a stud and (I'm) not surprised at all. He did a great job with it."
