Rams players stand behind embattled coach Jeff Fisher

Rams players stand behind embattled coach Jeff Fisher

Alden Gonzalez

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/32203/rams-players-stand-behind-embattled-coach-jeff-fisher

LOS ANGELES — If anybody is fed up, it’s Rodger Saffold.

The veteran offensive lineman has been with the Rams since 2010, making him the longest-tenured player alongside defensive end Eugene Sims. For seven straight years now, Saffold has been with an organization that has been unable to progress beyond mediocrity and sometimes even falls well below that.

“I’ve seen the 2-14 team, I’ve seen the [7-8-1] team that had a chance to go to the playoffs — I’ve seen it all,” Saffold said. “Eventually, something’s going to have to change. I’ll tell you right now, the coaches are coaching their ass off. And if we can’t execute, then they get blamed. I’m sick of hearing that. It’s up to us.”

Saffold’s comments highlighted the central theme of the Los Angeles Rams’ locker room late Sunday afternoon, after a 42-14 blowout that pushed this team to 4-9: The Rams are killing themselves with mistakes, and none of these struggles should fall on a coaching staff led by Jeff Fisher.

There may not be many outside those walls who agree.

Coach Jeff Fisher walks off the field with center Tim Barnes after the Rams’ eighth loss in nine games. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
Fisher, whose 165 career losses have tied Dan Reeves for the NFL record, may need an inspired, unexpected turnaround to remain the Rams’ coach next season.

It’ll be extremely difficult to justify his return with anything but a complete 180 from this fading team over the last three games. Even that would only get the Rams to the same 7-9 record Fisher bemoaned in an infamous training camp meeting that was captured by the cameras of HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” He has guaranteed the Rams their 10th consecutive losing season and has six in a row himself.

“I have to take it,” Fisher said of shouldering responsibility for a team that has finished no better than 7-8-1 since he arrived in 2012. “The head coach takes it. It’s obvious. That’s the National Football League. I feel responsible for this.”

Fisher is signed through 2018, along with general manager Les Snead. But that extension was agreed upon well before the start of the season. Rams owner Stan Kroenke values stability, and he saw Fisher as a man who could lead this franchise at least until the new stadium opens in Inglewood, California. There was also seemingly a sentiment in the Rams’ front office that it would be unfair to judge Fisher until he got past the relocation year and had more time to groom rookie quarterback Jared Goff.

But then this season happened.

The Rams began the season with an embarrassing loss on Monday Night Football to the San Francisco 49ers, a team that hasn’t won a game since. They followed that with three consecutive wins, by a combined 15 points. Then they lost eight times over a span of nine games. Their last three losses were severely lopsided, and their latest one featured five turnovers, two of which led directly to touchdowns and one of which came on the opening kickoff.

Rams players pointed to those mistakes, and four prior losses that were decided by seven points or less, as evidence that the onus falls on themselves, not the coaches.

“Coaches aren’t out there playing,” said running back Todd Gurley, who also said the Rams “looked like a middle school offense” Sunday. “Coaches don’t have anything to do with it. This is about us. We’re on the field.”

“Great coach,” cornerback Trumaine Johnson said of Fisher. “Man, this game, we beat ourselves — turnovers, not holding them up on defense. It’s on us. So put that on the players. Don’t put that on the coaches.”

“It’s us players who are out on the field playing,” middle linebacker Alec Ogletree added. “He can’t play for us. All we can do is go out there and do our best and try to win games for him. It’s a lot of stuff that goes on, but everybody needs somebody to blame.”

It’s hard to look beyond the coach right now, even outside of the mistakes and the penalties, a problem since Fisher took over. The Rams’ offense is dreadful for the fifth straight year. And they’ve unraveled toward the end of their first season back in Los Angeles, a season that was set up for them to thrive when you consider the struggles of the division-rival Seahawks and Cardinals and the overall health of the Rams, quite possibly the NFL’s healthiest team all season.

The clamoring for Fisher’s firing has never been louder, from the stands to national TV to, well, Eric Dickerson.

“We’re in L.A.,” Rams receiver Kenny Britt said. “Of course. Big market. That means you’re going to hear it from the fans, you’re going to hear it from everybody. We do a good job of closing out the noise and focusing on ourselves. That’s what we’re going to do for the next three weeks, and we’re going to finish strong.”

Fisher’s job may depend on it.