Rams pre-season week 1 (up to 8/14)

Nate Atkins@NateAtkins_
The Rams are back at Woodland Hills, and today was another practice where the defense suffocated the offense.

Kam Kinchens, Kam Curl and Myles Garrett came up with turnovers.

Sean McVay said it was the secondary’s best day yet.

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Out at Rams practice today. They might have to start giving that Myles Garrett guy more “veteran rest” days. Can totally take over a practice drive. Including a pick six right off a screen and high-step into the end zone.

LAFB Network@LAFBNetwork
The first time in NFL history the reigning MVP practices against the reigning DPOY

Six thoughts from Rams’ impressive defensive showing in joint practice with Cowboys

Nate Atkins

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7506644/2026/08/11/rams-defense-cowboys-joint-practice/?unlocked_article_code=1.4lA.9wo-.aVXCWm391p7h&source=emp_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

LOS ANGELES — After 12 practices and battles back and forth between a loaded offense and star-studded defense, the Los Angeles Rams finally strapped it up against another team in Tuesday’s joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys.

Linebacker Omar Speights kept bringing the heat. He laid a hit during a goal-line drill that had Cowboys offensive and Rams defensive players from the sideline running in for a giant scrum. The group included Myles Garrett, who was in street clothes and wasn’t practicing.

But like every other moment in Tuesday’s 90-minute practice, the tensions diffused before anything more than talk happened.

“We could be a little more physical with them,” strong safety Kam Curl said. “We have to take care of our teammates. … You always want to set the tone. You don’t want to get pushed around. But at the end of the day, we want to get the work done. We know what we’re out here for. We’re not out here to fight. This ain’t no UFC fight.”

Here are six observations from the joint practice.

1. The Rams did have one injury scare when wide receiver Puka Nacua left with trainer Reggie Scott and was not able to finish the practice. Coach Sean McVay had not heard an update on him as of the post-practice news conference, nor had Matthew Stafford.

“Nobody ran up to me in a panic, so I don’t think it was anything too major,” Stafford said.

The new-look defense did not feature Garrett, as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year sat out a second straight practice with swelling in his knee, which goes back to an issue that led to four days off earlier in training camp. It’s unclear which knee is injured, but Garrett did flash a sleeve over his left knee while in shorts on the sideline.

McVay said Garrett estimated he’s been around 85 percent when he’s been practicing recently, and his situation is nothing to be concerned with.

2. Given that the Rams’ offense is the known commodity with every starter back from the No. 1 scoring unit last season, I spent practice focused on the defense, which is fitting two new cornerbacks in with Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson and got the greater challenge Tuesday. Even without Garrett’s presence, it was a fascinating scene.

That defense got to go up against what is arguably the league’s best offense other than their own. The Cowboys feature a top-10 player from last season in passing (Dak Prescott), rushing (Javonte Williams) and receiving (George Pickens), in addition to three-time All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, two-time Pro Bowl tight end Jake Ferguson and three first-round offensive linemen in left tackle Tyler Guyton, left guard Tyler Smith and right guard Tyler Booker.

The Rams’ secondary mostly won the day, thanks to some help from the pass rush. And what stood out was the versatility in their approach.

Los Angeles lived in lots of dime personnel, something it led the league in last season, but it can get more creative and versatile with McDuffie’s ability to play inside and outside, in addition to the growing versatility of Curl and Quentin Lake. McDuffie often slid inside in these settings, offering a second nickel cornerback of sorts to Lake, which threw off the matchups the Cowboys were hunting for by motioning Pickens and Lamb into the slot, or a normal method to expose the lacking coverage of most teams they face.
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3. That meant Emmanuel Forbes Jr. got plenty of run. He played mostly with hard outside leverage to take away the deep passes and the sideline throws Prescott was hunting for on designed rollouts or when the pocket broke down and he had to scramble, which happened time and again. Likewise, Forbes was stronger on those outside throws, including a couple where he was draped all over the receiver in tight man coverage to force incompletions.

He did slip out of his breaks on a couple of quick slant passes, where Pickens and Lamb are among the hardest covers in the league. But the Rams can feel more comfortable with that approach given how they crowd McDuffie, Lake and Curl into these areas and can trust their instincts to help off their coverage assignment to make the tackle, and that happened several times.

The Cowboys weren’t able to get many explosive plays as a result. They did generate a couple of yards-after-catch opportunities with dumpoffs to running backs and tight ends in the flat or on play-action leak patterns that tapped into Prescott’s ability to extend the play with his legs. The only time the Cowboys came close to scoring a touchdown was in the red zone period, where Prescott’s dual-threat abilities manipulated the numbers so much that it’s that much harder to get a stop when he can find Ferguson in the back of the end zone, which happened a couple of times.

4. The coverage highlight came when Lake intercepted Prescott in the red zone. The Cowboys tried to throw a quick shot to Pickens from the slot, but Lake was all over it, running the route for Pickens and stabbing the ball out of the air before running with it until he was tackled.

The play was an extension of the camp Lake has had, where he’s been consistently around the ball for pass breakups, interceptions on rushed throws and a scoop-and-score touchdown.

After signing a three-year, $38.3 million extension last fall, Lake is eyeing the playmaking as the next step in his game. He scored his first career interception last season against the Baltimore Ravens, but he’s had a hand in just four career turnovers, not including the 2-point conversion he intercepted last year.

He’s been trying to incorporate more of the mindset that free safety Kam Kinchens is pushing on him, and he should be freer to do that with the additions of Garrett, McDuffie and Watson to eliminate previous structural weaknesses and introduce more rushed or forced throws.

“We always talk about calculated risk: If you see it, go get it,” Lake said. “(Kinchens) is the one who taught me that: ‘Q, just go out there. Sometimes you’re going to have to nut up and believe in it and go get it.’ I did that a couple times, but he’s the one who taught me that, which is a very, very valuable piece of my game that I’m going to take with me for a long time.”

5. Even with Garrett out, the Rams’ pass rush feasted on two tackles who are currently the lone question marks on the Cowboys’ offense.

Byron Young had a field day against Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele. He won with speed around the edge, one time so freely that he actually overran a sack that Prescott turned into a short scramble by dipping around his speeding body. He won with the bull rush at times, including one rep where he drove the pocket back so deep into Prescott that the Cowboys quarterback was left chucking the ball over McDuffie’s tight coverage on the outside just to get it away.

He had another rep where he lined up on the left side and threw Guyton into the running back for a quick run stop.

Josaiah Stewart also had a busy day. Often on the left side in place of Garrett, Stewart kept finding his way around the edge to bring run plays down in the backfield, and he scored a sack on another play with a deep speed rush.

The best offense the Cowboys had outside of the red zone came when Williams would cut back on inside runs, make a defender miss and gash up the middle, which happened a couple of times. Nate Landman and Speights had a busy day of physical run stops when that creativity couldn’t come together.

6. The Rams don’t have an update on Aaron Donald’s decision on whether or not to come back and play, but he did get another workout in at the facility on Monday, along with current Rams defensive linemen Braden Fiske and Desjuan Johnson, whom Donald played with in 2023.

At age 35 and two years removed from playing, Donald worked on his footwork with cones and ladders in a video posted by 2Tenths Speed & Agility. He flashed elements of his athleticism that once made him a three-time Defensive Player of the Year.

“It didn’t feel like he missed a beat at all,” Johnson said. “It feels like he even got a little bit faster, a little bit hungrier in a way.”

For as dominant as the Rams’ defense has been over the past week, Donald remains one more layer of fascination.

5 standouts from Rams’ joint practice with Cowboys

Cameron DaSilva

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2026/08/12/rams-cowboys-practice-standouts-best-players/91269553007/

The Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys held a joint practice in Woodland Hills on Tuesday, the first of two practices with another team for Sean McVay’s group this summer. Starters got in a lot of work, as expected, knowing they won’t be playing in the preseason.

Puka Nacua left early with a minor groin injury and Myles Garrett was held out entirely due to some knee swelling, but the Rams’ top players had a great opportunity to face another opponent for the first time.

Based on reports from those who attended practice, here are five players who stood out in a positive way for Los Angeles.

TE Terrance Ferguson

Based on the play-by-play notes from Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, it sounds like Ferguson had quite the day. He caught passes on crossing routes and curls for modest gains, and then had a deep crossing route that went for a big play on what Harris believes was a busted coverage.

He also had a play where he shook Donovan Ezeiruaku “in drop coverage on a wheel route for a big gain,” which is a complete mismatch favoring the tight end against the Cowboys edge rusher.

Ferguson should be a key member of the offense this season, especially given the absence of a true No. 3 receiver next to Davante Adams and Puka Nacua. Ferguson’s progress puts him in line for a major role in Year 2.

OLBs Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart

After facing Alaric Jackson and Warren McClendon Jr. all camp, Young and Stewart got a look at different tackles on Tuesday. They were the primary edge rushers with Myles Garrett out, and by all accounts, they dominated. Nate Atkins of The Athletic wrote that Young “had a field day against Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele,” using his speed to bend the corner and force Dak Prescott out of the pocket.

Stewart is a terrific third edge rusher for the Rams to have, stepping up both as a run defender and pass rusher on Tuesday. It’s reassuring to know someone as capable as Stewart is waiting in the wings as the No. 3 outside linebacker in the event that Young or Garrett gets hurt.

Both Young and Stewart bring great combinations of speed and power to the picture, allowing them to use a variety of methods to get to the quarterback.

DB Quentin Lake

Lake has never been a ball hawk but he’s taking positive steps toward creating more turnovers this season. In a red zone drill, he picked off Prescott by undercutting George Pickens’ route and leaping for the interception in front of the Cowboys receiver.

Atkins noted that the entire secondary had a good day against one of the league’s best passing attacks, with Lake being among the standouts. His versatility, along with Trent McDuffie’s, allows the Rams to move around their DBs and create more favorable matchups in nickel and dime packages, which Chris Shula lives in.

QB Matthew Stafford

Though Stafford did throw one interception to linebacker Justin Barron – one of three picks on the day by Barron – he was otherwise sharp, according to those in attendance. Sean McVay was happy with how his MVP quarterback performed, saying he did “a nice job” outside of the one throw where he was late over the middle.

“I thought he was great,” McVay said. “There was one where, just a little bit late over the middle, but I thought he kept the ball in play. I thought he saw coverage really well. I thought some guys did a good job stepping up.”

One of Stafford’s better throws was a sideline shot to Davante Adams, which can be seen at the beginning of this video.

Stacking days. 🧱 pic.twitter.com/mXTZFsF6nM

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 11, 2026

Nate Atkins@NateAtkins_
The Rams defense has gone up against arguably the two best offenses in the NFL over the past week and largely shut both down.

i liked most of what i saw from rams offense yesterday, despite being down a couple key pieces. https://t.co/N2ydM1P2yF

— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) August 12, 2026

When the #Rams Fanbase needed her again, she answered the SIGNAL!🤣🐏

Glad to have a fan favorite @JourdanRodrigue return, to cover the team in the booth for Preseason Football!

Also,
Glad to have Rams Legends Rob Havenstein, @DMarcoFarr1 , & @JB_Long calling games, PLUS Emmy… pic.twitter.com/KmgDoUZLmq

— Ian (Rams Up Podcast) (@RamsUp_Ian) August 13, 2026