Rams Suffer Major Blow From California Court as NFL In-House Arbitration Crumbles

https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/rams_suffer_major_blow_from_california_court_as_nfl_in_house_arbitration_crumbles/s1_17730_44172450

Whenever a dispute arises involving an NFL team or the league, the NFL’s Constitution says the Commissioner has broad power to arbitrate certain disputes. Instead of going directly to a normal court, the league can argue that the dispute belongs in its internal arbitration process. Over the past few years, however, the league has been losing control in its in-house arbitration procedure.

The latest case involving the Los Angeles Rams and the team’s former employee Brittany Todd only reinforced it. Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, found that an arbitration clause used by the Rams was ‘unconscionable and, in turn, unenforceable.’ The development gained momentum after Todd filed a lawsuit against the Rams, alleging that she was terminated on March 10, 2026.

According to Florio, he wrote:

“She claims that her March 10, 2026 termination happened after she complained that her immediate supervisors were consuming alcohol during work hours ‘to the point of extreme intoxication,’ that they coerced subordinate employees to consume alcohol, that they berated employees ‘to an abusive level’ after becoming intoxicated, and that they berated employees for their religious views.”

As that went down, the Rams didn’t want the case to go through the normal court system. Instead, the team filed a motion to compel arbitration. The court, however, rejected that motion. For broader context, the Rams’ arbitration agreement allowed the NFL commissioner or someone chosen by the commissioner to have the exclusive power to resolve the dispute.

The court, meanwhile, found the agreement unconscionable because it relied on an arbitrator employed by the NFL, an organization that represents all 32 member teams, including the Rams.

“We are happy that our client will be able to have her day in court,” Todd’s lawyer Mike Caspino said in a statement. “We are also happy that all of the employees of the 49ers, Chargers and Rams will no longer be subjected to the NFL’s biased arbitration system.”

Back in October 2021, Jon Gruden resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after emails containing offensive language became public. The emails, written between 2011 and 2018 while Gruden worked for ESPN, surfaced during the NFL’s investigation into workplace misconduct within the Washington Football Team organization. Gruden and the Raiders later reached a confidential agreement concerning his contract, but the matter subsequently moved into court.

In November 2021, Gruden sued the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell, alleging that the league selectively leaked the emails and caused damage to his reputation and employment. His lawsuit included claims of interference with his Raiders contract, negligence, and civil conspiracy. The NFL has denied the allegations, setting up a dispute over where the claims should be resolved.

The NFL sought to send the case to its internal arbitration process, which grants the commissioner broad authority in certain disputes. Because Goodell was also named as a defendant, Gruden’s case raised questions about whether that process could serve as the appropriate forum for the litigation.

Now, Brian Flores also challenged the NFL’s effort to move his employment-discrimination claims into the league’s internal arbitration process. In August 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a lower-court ruling that denied arbitration for Flores’ claims against the NFL, the New York Giants, Denver Broncos and Houston Texans. The court found that the commissioner-controlled framework did not provide the type of independent arbitration process required under federal law.

The NFL later asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision. On May 26, 2026, the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, leaving the Second Circuit’s ruling in place. The Court did not issue a decision on the merits of the NFL’s arbitration system, but Flores’ relevant claims against the NFL and the three teams remained in federal court.

In July, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni denied another NFL request to reconsider arbitration in the Flores case. That ruling kept the litigation on track for court proceedings.

Todd’s case differed from the Gruden and Flores matters because she sued the Rams rather than the NFL. The Los Angeles court nevertheless denied the Rams’ motion to compel arbitration, citing the NFL’s role in selecting or providing the arbitrator.

The ruling applies to Todd’s dispute with the Rams. It follows court decisions in the Gruden and Flores cases that also declined to require the plaintiffs to use the NFL’s commissioner-centered arbitration process.

For now, the next steps in Todd’s case, including whether the Rams will seek further review of the ruling, remain to be seen.

wv wrote:

Atlanta Falcons edge rusher James Pearce Jr. will be suspended for the first eight games of the 2026 season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy

But at least they got rid of their pesky 2026 1st round pick. Otherwise they would be stuck with a guy like Reuban Bain, who was taken 2 picks after the 13th pick they were lucky to get rid of when trading for Pearce. To multiply their good fortune, Bain went to a division rival, Tampa, at pick 15.

wv wrote:

Orlovsky ranks Josh Allen no.1 in “decision making with the football.”

zn wrote:

from Ranking NFL quarterbacks by trait: Best arm, accuracy, more

Dan Orlovsky

Connected posts. Written v. youtube versions. (Which is good.)

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

from https://lineupbeat.com/nfl/offensive-line-rb-performance/?utm_campaign=offensive_line&twclid=2afpm9dzb7vdoic7bxec0kx0bk

Nate Atkins@NateAtkins_
Stetson Bennett will start Saturday’s preseason game against the Chiefs. He and Ty Simpson will both play in the game.

OC Nathan Scheelhaase will call the plays, with Sean McVay still serving as head coach.

Nate Atkins@NateAtkins_
NEW: The Rams have one player where the term “breakout” comes up most from teammates and coaches.

It’s Kam Kinchens.

His role is about to get fascinating for his skill set in Year 3.

…

Ask the Rams about Kam Kinchens, and they’ll tell you he has All-Pro potential

Nate Atkins

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7509921/2026/08/13/rams-defense-kamren-kinchens-breakout/?unlocked_article_code=1.5FA.WXSu.ngjm4yEmizDn&source=emp_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

LOS ANGELES — When the whistle blows, the ball is snapped and the quarterback loads up, a radar turns on in the mind of Kam Kinchens.

If he’s on the side of the field of a ball’s trajectory, he’s drawn to the pigskin.

Take a play from an early training camp practice: Kinchens was caught in the middle of the field as a single-high safety as a pass from Stetson Bennett darted to the sideline, well beyond his range. Kinchens was on a dead sprint to the mesh point, hoping, praying for some help. And then there was cornerback Cam Lampkin, jumping up to contest the pass and tipping it like a volleyball player at the net. Kinchens made the play, diving to secure the ball like a newborn into his stomach.

Kinchens, 23, is entering his third season surrounded by an early buzz that could signal an occasional splash becoming a sustainable brand.

“Breakout player this year,” defensive back Quentin Lake said.

Added strong safety Kam Curl, “He’s an All-Pro player in my eyes. He has what it takes.”

Kinchens isn’t a fully rounded player yet. Los Angeles bucked the trend when it picked him in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Miami, overlooking an athletic profile that lagged in nearly every measurable. Kinchens stood 5-foot-11, ran a 4.65-second 40-yard dash time and put forth a broad jump of 9-foot-2, all marks in the bottom 38 percent of NFL combine safeties all time, according to Relative Athletic Score.

But the Rams selected him anyway because of his ball skills. Kinchens had six interceptions as a sophomore and five more as a junior, with pick sixes in both seasons.

He boldly chose to go against the crowd of kids in Miami lining up to be wide receivers when they had sticky hands, opting instead to be a defensive back. Those hands led him to 20 different Power 5 scholarship offers before he chose the hometown Hurricanes. Once there, he began to work with Ed Reed, who became arguably the greatest free safety of all time and led the NFL in interceptions three times.

Kinchens saw the field his sophomore and junior seasons, and the turnovers arrived — 13 total, which became his meal ticket and landed him with a Rams franchise looking to rebuild on defense after Aaron Donald’s retirement.

“That’s one of his gifts,” Curl said. “The ball finds him.”

That gift flashed immediately when he was a rookie, when Kinchens tied for a team-high with four picks despite playing just 46 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. Among those picks was a 103-yard touchdown, the longest interception return of 2024 season, as well as a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

“We always talk about calculated risk: If you see it, go get it,” Lake said. “He’s 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.”

Still, Kinchens’ gift for finding the ball also became something of a curse.

“You always thought that picks were the best thing. To me, personally, that’s always what it was. I always graded my season on how many picks I got,” Kinchens said.

“Last year was the first year I had to switch my mindset to, ‘You can’t get the ball on every down.’ … There’d be games where I had great games but didn’t get my hands on the ball too much, and I’d be down on myself because that’s what I value.”

For a second straight year in 2025, Kinchens turned in a two-interception game against the Seattle Seahawks, this one keying a 21-19 win. The game encapsulated the Rams’ vision for their defense: force quarterbacks like Sam Darnold to choose either taking more hits or rushing throws into coverage. There, Kinchens would be waiting like a snake in the grass.

That model had a limit last season, though. The Rams had a potent pass rush, but they lacked a singular game-wrecker up front like Donald. Down the stretch, quarterbacks such as Darnold, Bryce Young and Caleb Williams found ways to extend plays and avoid the rushed throws, only to pick on mismatches against the Rams’ outside cornerbacks.

That highlighted Kinchens’ physical limitations, forcing him to react to players who had the ball in their hands rather than when it was in the air. As a result, he allowed 24 of 29 passes to be completed for four touchdowns when targeted.

Kinchens saw his playing time jump to 75 percent of the Rams’ defensive snaps last season and finished fourth on the top-10 scoring defense in tackles with 84. But those two interceptions against the Seahawks were his only ones of the season.

The Rams’ 31-27 NFC Championship Game loss to the Seahawks, in which Darnold threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns, became the launching pad for a new defensive structure. The Rams traded for two-time All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, and then signed his Kansas City Chiefs running mate on the outside, Jaylen Watson. They added some championship pedigree to their younger secondary, as well as physical players who could tackle on both pass and run plays in ways Kinchens and others wouldn’t have to clean up.

But the biggest splash came when the Rams sent Jared Verse and a haul of draft picks to the Cleveland Browns for two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.

“Most of the time, you only have a few blockbusters every few years,” Kinchens said as his smile lit up. “We had two in a couple months.”

A Rams pass rush that saw Kobie Turner and Byron Young combine for 19 sacks will now add a player in Garrett who can line up everywhere, and who just set the NFL’s single-season sack record with 23.

“That’s two less seconds to throw the ball,” Kinchens said of Garrett’s arrival. “We make jokes about the D-line and how we’re just flat-footed at 15 yards and ready to break on something. They don’t have too much time. The quarterback has to make a decision right away.”

It’s also possible the Rams may see the return of Donald, their three-time Defensive Player of the Year who is weighing a comeback. If it happens, the Rams could have a third-down pass rush of Garrett, Donald, Turner and Young, with all the stunts, twists and overload pressures that defensive coordinator Chris Shula loves.

And when they put six defensive backs on the field in dime settings, hands could be constantly after the ball. That’s when Kinchens turns into a shark smelling blood.

“He can be All-Pro. He really can,” Lake said. “We have some good players in the safety room, but I believe truthfully that he can be a 10-pick guy. Seriously. The stuff that I see, and obviously with our pass rush and those things, I would not be surprised if he has at least five this year.”

The last time the Rams defense practiced against their offense, Matthew Stafford was rushed into a throw across the middle that was tipped, and Kinchens snatched it out of the air for a pick.

Kinchens is the young member of a secondary moving toward its prime. Lake, Curl, McDuffie and Watson signed for a combined $183 million in guarantees over the past calendar year. Lake and Curl, in particular, represent plenty of what Kinchens is trying to become in terms of tackling, diagnosing plays and becoming more versatile. He is the inverse of them, which is what the Rams want.

That’s why he kept his offseason simple. He worked out in the weight room and on his cardio nearly every day, but left football training for the season, focusing instead on Pilates and hot yoga as well as new hobbies such as tennis and boxing.

He doesn’t enter this season as the star of the defense. He instead wants to be lurking, just like a snake in the grass.

“Over the past few years since I’ve been here, outside of Verse, we didn’t have that quote-unquote superstar on the defense. It was just a bunch of guys playing together,” Kinchens said. “To have two of them now? It’s crazy. It’s just going to help me maximize my role. It’s going to make my role a lot easier, of course, having (McDuffie) on the outside and of course Myles rushing the passer along with the rest of the guys.

“It brings some more space for me to make some plays.”

And that’s always been the space that makes him feel alive.

from Ranking NFL quarterbacks by trait: Best arm, accuracy, more

Dan Orlovsky

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49521144/2026-ranking-best-nfl-quarterbacks-top-10-trait-skill-arm-accuracy-rushing

You’re going to hear us talk about quarterbacks a lot on “NFL Live” over the course of the 2026 season. There will be debates about all of them, from the best in the game to the borderline starters. But for a third straight year, I’m narrowing the focus here in the preseason. Who are the best signal-callers in the NFL at individual skills?

Does anyone boast a better arm than Josh Allen? Does Joe Burrow or Matthew Stafford have the more refined mechanics? Is Lamar Jackson still the gold standard in QB rushing?

I ranked the top 10 quarterbacks by seven different traits: arm strength, ball placement, mechanics, decision-making, pocket presence, second-reaction creativity and rushing ability. These lists are based on current performance and expectations for the 2026 season. It is how I would rank the QB group at this exact moment. I included only starters and leaned on what I see on tape to form the rankings.

Arm strength

1. Josh Allen, Bills
2. Justin Herbert, Chargers
3. Caleb Williams, Bears
4. Matthew Stafford, Rams
5. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
6. Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers
7. Drake Maye, Patriots
8. Joe Burrow, Bengals
9. Lamar Jackson, Ravens
10. Dak Prescott, Cowboys

There are different kinds of arm strength. Everyone immediately looks at deep balls — the 60-yard Hail Marys down the sideline. It’s all about who can throw the rock the furthest, right? You need a live arm to connect on those shot plays, no doubt. But I focus more on passes into tight windows in the intermediate areas of the field and the pure power throws from what I call “funny body” positions. Quarterbacks don’t have the strong base to fall back on here; there is no loading up and driving through the pass. Instead, they need to rely almost entirely on their arm to get the ball where it needs to go with velocity.

Allen is still No. 1 in this department. His ability to get zip on his throws from uncomfortable positions really stands out. He just flicks his wrist, and the ball is suddenly in his receiver’s hands on a rope. Not every QB1 can do that, and yet he does it with consistency.

But there are some challengers for his top spot this year. Herbert gets real pop on his throws by driving it. No one has completed more tight-window balls over the past five years than Herbert (162). Williams got legit consideration for No. 1, too. He made some miraculous passes from unorthodox positions in 2025, including a 40-plus-yard strike to the end zone late in the divisional round — while back-pedaling.

Mahomes can wing it with the best of them, and Stafford and Maye are both elite on downfield balls. Stafford completed 37 passes of 20 or more air yards last season, easily the most in the NFL. And I also want to call out Mayfield — I still think he has the most slept-on arm in the NFL. The one quarterback I really wanted to get into the top 10 was Trevor Lawrence. He also has some underrated arm talent and makes difficult throws look easy. Hey, it’s tough to limit these lists to just 10 guys.

Ball placement

1. Matthew Stafford, Rams
2. Drake Maye, Patriots
3. Sam Darnold, Seahawks
4. Joe Burrow, Bengals
5. Jared Goff, Lions
6. Jordan Love, Packers
7. Josh Allen, Bills
8. Lamar Jackson, Ravens
9. Brock Purdy, 49ers
10. Dak Prescott, Cowboys

How do you find the best quarterbacks in ball placement? Their receivers are never truly considered “covered.”

I say this every year in this space, but it’s worth refreshing: Accuracy and ball placement aren’t the same thing. Accuracy means putting the ball on the receiver so he can make the play. Ball placement means putting the ball on the receiver in the perfect spot so he can make the play — and no one else can. The names at the top of this list — including some MVP candidates last season in Stafford and Maye — routinely keep the ball away from the defender. It’s all about precision.

Let’s start by addressing a big shift at the top. Burrow was the top-ranked QB in ball placement on each of the past two lists I’ve put together. He’s now No. 4. He’s still extremely good in this area, able to pin the ball to his receivers. But injuries did cost him more than half of the 2025 season, and it opened the door for some others to move up the list a little bit. Fair or not, I’m factoring in time on task. And Stafford came out every Sunday and fired bull’s-eyes with conviction.

If you’re looking at the stats, Maye would have a pretty good case to be the new No. 1, too. He settles for second here, but there’s no knocking his league-best 72.0% completion rate and 9.1% completion rate above expectation (per NFL Next Gen Stats). And unlike every other QB in the top five, he wasn’t playing with an All-Pro receiver. Maye was especially good with trajectory going downfield, dropping it in a bucket. I can’t wait to see what he does with A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs in 2026.

Goff is sneaky good in this trait, and we see it at all levels of the field. Purdy displays incredible touch, layering the ball in. His 10.7% off-target rate was fourth-best in the NFL last season. Love and Prescott have an impressive ability to float the pass in and set their receiver up for yards after the catch. It’s another list that was hard to sort through at the bottom, but I think every name on here is deserving.

Tua Tagovailoa has been a mainstay in the ball placement top 10, and he was all the way up at No. 2 in 2024 when I first started doing this annual project. But he has declined a bit here, and his QB1 battle in Atlanta disqualifies him, anyway. Geno Smith also slid out after making the list in back-to-back years; he didn’t look like the same quarterback last season at 35 years old.

Mechanics

1. Matthew Stafford, Rams
2. Joe Burrow, Bengals
3. Daniel Jones, Colts
4. Jared Goff, Lions
5. Dak Prescott, Cowboys
6. C.J. Stroud, Texans
7. Caleb Williams, Bears
8. Jayden Daniels, Commanders
9. Josh Allen, Bills
10. Lamar Jackson, Ravens

It’s neck and neck between Stafford and Burrow. Things that matter here:

Clean, smooth throwing motions from start to finish

Strong bases that keep the QB in rhythm and firm

Repeatable processes that don’t change from rep to rep, even when things get chaotic around the QB

That last one is key for Stafford and Burrow. Defenses don’t know what’s coming because every throw looks exactly the same coming out. It’s amazing consistency. The tight connection between Stafford’s upper and lower body allows him to pull off all those no-look throws. Defenses can’t tell the difference until his release, and bam, the ball is going somewhere unexpected.

You might be surprised to see Jones at No. 3. I was, too. But watching the tape again, I was taken aback by how good his mechanics were in Indianapolis last season. The Colts ran many different forms of RPOs, and that means his mechanics need to be sound. They were.

Goff, Prescott and Stroud are such pure passers, with beautiful, natural motions. Daniels’ mechanics have shades of Stroud. And I was impressed with how much Williams improved here last season. He might be more known for the off-platform plays, but he’s solid from a mechanics standpoint. I had a hard time leaving Justin Herbert off. He probably should be on the list. Aaron Rodgers was also a tough cut, even in Year 22.

Decision-making with the football

1. Josh Allen, Bills
2. Matthew Stafford, Rams
3. Jordan Love, Packers
4. Drake Maye, Patriots
5. Jayden Daniels, Commanders
6. Dak Prescott, Cowboys
7. Lamar Jackson, Ravens
8. Joe Burrow, Bengals
9. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
10. Jalen Hurts, Eagles

Here are the league’s top problem solvers. Being a good decision-maker means making the right choice when things are going to plan, but it also means making the only choice when things are falling apart. Find the correct outlet, but avoid mistakes, turnovers and negative plays.

Last year, I put Allen at No. 2 on this list and said that his “decision-making improved [in 2024] more than any other NFL quarterback improved in any trait.” Well, he’s moving up again. He makes good decisions both in and out of structure. He threw 10 interceptions and lost three fumbles last season, but his tape shows an ability to read the defense and avoid getting baited into trouble.

Maye and Love leaped into the top five. They ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in EPA per dropback last season (Maye was first at 0.27, just beating Love’s 0.22), and they were both in the top 10 in interception rate (Love was sixth at 1.4%, slightly better than Maye’s 1.6% in 10th). Daniels, meanwhile, was already solid as a decision-maker, but he should keep growing in the new Commanders offense.

I haven’t really talked about Mahomes yet. Some might see decision-making as a question mark on his otherwise impeccable scouting report. But that would be discounting just how much is asked of him as a decision-maker in Kansas City. He threw 11 interceptions last season, but he was constantly trying to find plays when they weren’t there.

It was another list that could have included Trevor Lawrence. I also entertained Jared Goff, who threw eight picks all last season.

Note: Stafford is not ranked top 10 in these categories: | Pocket presence | Second reaction | Rushing ability

Zooey wrote:

Yeah, I just think that position is so important, and the Rams – to their credit – have just plugged guys in there from nowhere, and it’s basically worked out okay for them. I dunno. But I sure would have loved to have Creed Humphrey instead of Tutu Austin.

They’ve had some bad luck at center. That’s of course after the Rich Saul to Doug Smith days. (Though in the GSOT days, McCollum was pretty good in pretty much the same way Shelton is now.)

For example in 2012 they signed Scott Wells, who had done well with the Packers. He then became a series of injuries, including fluke ones like getting a rare fever from a tick bite. In 2009 they signed Jason Brown from Baltimore. He was a good free agent signing. Then his play dropped off as he lost interest in the game, so he quit football to become a farmer. As a farmer he donates most of his crops to charities to feed the poor.

Shelton’s actually pretty good. He’s not a physical speciman, but he’s a film junkie and communicator who reads defensive schemes effectively and has the OL in the right protections. An opposing defensive lineman recently said that this Rams OL plays well together as a unit–it was offered as a big compliment. Ryan Wendell the OL coach deserves a lot of credit for that, but it wouldn’t be true if Shelton weren’t effective at what he does, which is essentially to be the smart communicator at the heart of the line.

💻 @trent_mcduffie

The new #RamsHouse defensive back on going up against Matthew Stafford in practice and what it'll be like facing off against Patrick Mahomes this season:#NFL pic.twitter.com/hfwwV8ECUa

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) August 12, 2026

The Cowboys defense looks different and it starts up front. Meanwhile, the Rams D-front, even not fully stocked, is nothing to play with. pic.twitter.com/qlzG4PGsKD

— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) August 12, 2026

from PFF, 2026 NFL offensive line rankings: https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-offensive-line-rankings-2026?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhtwitter&utm_content=null

11. Los Angeles Rams

LT: Alaric Jackson
LG: Steve Avila
C: Coleman Shelton
RG: Kevin Dotson
RT: Warren McClendon Jr.

Eleven guards earned PFF grades of 75.0 or better in 2025, and Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson were the only two teammates in that group. Avila has improved throughout his three seasons in the league and could make himself some serious money with another strong campaign in a contract year. There are still some lingering questions about whether Alaric Jackson will face a suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, and that would be a big blow to this group.

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.
.
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.

wv wrote:

It seemed to me, Aaron had already lost-something in that last year or so. He was still great but he was past-prime. Now, add two years more of just natural aging. He’s definitely never going to be ‘prime Donald’ again. He must know that. So, what are his expectations?

If Donald comes back….

then it doesn’t matter if he’s not in his prime. It would be Donald + Garrett + Young (in his prime) + Turner (in his prime) + Fiske (who may be stepping up) + maybe even Stewart. With a secondary behind them better than any AD ever worked with before.

I can see it now. At the end of the season, both Garrett and Donald apologize for getting only 15 sacks each. Yeah, they say, it was a great year for the defense, but both wish they were as good as their prime years, they both feel like they let the team down….

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
Sean McVay said something cool recently. The Rams have “as much leadership from the players” as he’s ever seen.

Talent is one thing, but the Rams have high-character players on their roster.

…

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2026/08/10/rams-sean-mcvay-leadership-roster/91245769007/

McVay made a strong statement about the leadership in Los Angeles. He says there’s as much leadership from the players as he’s ever seen.

“I like the vibe of this group. I think this group has as much leadership from the players as I’ve ever been around,” he said on “Rams Camp Live” last week. “There’s a great humility and work ethic, and these guys enjoy competing. Love the way the coaches are positively pushing them. It’s a good feeling and I think the real challenge will be when we inevitably have some adversity, how do we handle it? But I do think we’re building skills in that arena to be able to handle it well.”