Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › Ndamukong Suh, the Rams DT
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May 30, 2018 at 3:13 am #86792
znModeratorNew Rams defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh likes practice and its benefits
Gary Klein
http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-ota-20180529-story.html
In a nod to a new star player’s offseason regimen, Rams coach Sean McVay afforded defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh plenty of leeway when voluntary workouts began last month.
Suh spent time in home-state Oregon getting fit. McVay said the five-time Pro Bowl player also checked in at the Rams’ Thousand Oaks facility to work with strength and conditioning coach Ted Rath, who guided Suh during stints with the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins.
Suh was the on field last week when the Rams began organized-team activity workouts, and he appeared comfortable Tuesday when they started Week 2.
“The one thing I won’t miss is practice — I pride myself on being there,” he said after a two-hour workout. “Understanding what we have to do and to play this game, you’ve got to have your teammates and they have to have you.”
The Rams are not expected to see all members of their star-studded defensive line in place until probably training camp.
Aaron Donald, the reigning defensive player of the year, remains absent from OTA workouts for the second year in a row because of an ongoing contract dispute.
Rams’ Ndamukong Suh puts on his helmet for practice at the team’s training camp in Thousand Oaks on Tuesday.
Rams’ Ndamukong Suh puts on his helmet for practice at the team’s training camp in Thousand Oaks on Tuesday. (Michael Owen Baker / Associated Press)Suh, who signed with the Rams as a free agent in March, has been leaning on veteran lineman Michael Brockers and others to help him assimilate into Wade Phillips’ 3-4 scheme.
Suh does not foresee any problems eventually melding with Donald, who did not report last season until the eve of the season opener. Donald recorded 11 sacks in 14 games.
“I don’t think there was a problem last year when he missed,” Suh noted. “I don’t think there will be a problem this year. … I don’t think it will be an issue by any means.
“He’s a great player and I look forward to him coming back.”
The 6-foot-4, 305-pound Suh signed with the Rams after five seasons with the Detroit Lions and three with the Miami Dolphins.
He has 51½ career sacks, including 4½ in 2017.
McVay has watched Suh in four full-squad workouts.
“You see the movement, you see the size and strength, but he’s also smart enough to know how to practice the right way,” McVay said, noting that OTAs are not the time when coaches are “letting guys loose.”
Suh said he has made an “easy transition” to Southern California and to Phillips’ defense.
“It’s a good situation to have a mind like that around you,” Suh said.May 31, 2018 at 9:11 pm #86854znModeratorDavon Godchaux learned to be nasty in one year with Ndamukong Suh
Davon Godchaux learned to be nasty in one year with Ndamukong Suh
DAVIE — Davon Godchaux isn’t Ndamukong Suh, but he benefited from a one-year mentorship under the five-time Pro Bowler and gained a lot from watching him work on a daily basis.
The Dolphins let Suh go this offseason and will proceed with Godchaux as a likely starter at defensive tackle. He came in as a fifth-round pick and played well, which is partly a credit to Suh’s influence. He described him as a “great guy” who embraced the role of being a teacher.
“Great mentor,” Godchaux said today. “I think after practice everybody saw me and Suh getting together and working on pass-rush moves, run fits, things he learned… Just a lot of things he taught me off the field, whether that’s eating right (or) things like that.”
He added, “You finally get to be on the same side with him and play with him and see how nasty he really is in a game and how physical he really is. It’s a major part for me. I’m glad I got to play with him.”
Godchaux played 15 games, including five starts, last year and is among the young players Miami is counting on to have a breakthrough this season. He had 40 tackles, one pass breakup and a forced fumble last season. Pro Football Focus ranked him the No. 84 defensive tackle, which is a decent starting point as a rookie.
Suh ultimately signed a one-year deal with the Rams, who are not on Miami’s schedule this season. He reached out to Godchaux after he left to encourage him to keep improving on the things that served him well last season.
“I reached out to him and told him best of luck and things like that,” Godchaux said. “He sent me a message, ‘If you keep working hard, the sky is the limit for you.’ I’ll try to stay in touch with him.”
June 1, 2018 at 11:22 pm #86920znModeratorFor Suh, Communication is Key Throughout Offseason Program
Kristen Lago
Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh joined the Rams just two months ago, but he has already made an impression on the defensive line.
While it may be his first offseason with the franchise, Suh still represents one of the few players on the unit with over five years of NFL experience. As such, he has been thrust into a leadership role early on, tasked with setting the example for younger players up front.
“A lot of it is going to come down to understanding the terminology for them, the speed of the game [and] allowing it to slow down,” he said. “But at the end of the day it’s going to be communication that’s going to be able to help them. As a young guy I remember you’re like a chicken with your head cut off so, you just try and take the basic things and elaborate on them each and every day.”
That process of daily improvement is something Suh not only hopes for the younger players on the Rams roster, but for himself as well, as he continues to take in the terminology of the defense.
“At the end of the day my biggest focus is understanding what I have to do on the defensive side of the ball —working with my teammates, understanding how they like to rush, how to play their base defense and going from there,” Suh said.
And as he continues to learn the system, that communication has also become an important theme for Suh in regards to teammate, Michael Brockers.
While Suh will be transitioning from three-technique to nose in the Rams system, he acknowledged that the differences in position are slight.
And because Suh will be playing a similar role, in terms of technique and scheme, his focus throughout OTAs has been about creating camaraderie with the players alongside him. The Nebraska product said he has made a point to talk with Brockers throughout each day, building chemistry with the main player who will be lining up alongside him.
“It’s pure communication at its best,” he said. “You probably don’t see it as much as you see it from a quarterback’s perspective, but as a front — for us all to be on the same front — we have to communicate.”
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