SIGNING: Rams Sign Cornerback After Losing Ahkello Witherspoon, Week 2 Winners/Losers, PFF Grades!

SIGNING: Rams Sign Cornerback After Losing Ahkello Witherspoon, Week 2 Winners/Losers, PFF Grades!

The Rams have signed a quarterback and we have everything you need to know, plus week two winners and losers. And Shawn McVey had some very interesting comments about the tush push leading into the Rams Eagles week three matchup. That’s coming up next on Locked on Rams. You are Locked on Rams, your daily Los Angeles Rams podcast, part of the Locked On Network. your team every day. What is up Ramy and welcome to another episode of Locked On Rams, your daily podcast covering your Los Angeles Rams. Free and available rev podcast. Locked on Rams, part of Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. We’re also available over on YouTube. So, if you haven’t yet, do us a huge favor. Hit the subscribe button, hit the notification bell. If you watch every single episode, hit the like button, drop a comment down below. Podcast listeners, write us a review or read on the show. My name is Doug McCain. You can follow me on exit Instagram at dmac_la. I’ve covered LA sports for over a decade, 247 sports, bleach report, Dodgers Nation. As always, I’m joined by the Rams prealf and postgame show host for the Rams flagship radio station, ESPN 710 LA. He’s in his 11th season covering your Los Angeles Rams. also the host of the DeMarco and Travis show on ESPN LA in the afternoons. Travis, lots to get into on this episode. We got a winners and losers. The Rams made a signing. We’re going to break down Shawn McVeyy’s comments on the tush push and how that could change a little bit, could come at the right time for the Rams in week three. But first, today’s episode of Locked on Rams is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. All right, Travis. So, anytime there is a player acquisition, a signing, that always is the top news cuz you want to know who the heck is this guy. And yesterday, Shawn McVey made it very clear that they were going to bring in someone for death because of the severity of the Aello Witherspoon injury. Initially, we didn’t have a timeline. Of course, anytime it’s a broken clavicle, it’s going to be significant, but 12 weeks is what we were told. And at that point, you need to go out there and look externally. And they did that by bringing in Trey Brown. Quarterback Trey Brown. He has been added to the 53man roster. They announced that today. And Brown, a little bit of his history. He’s a fifth year veteran. He played four seasons with the Seahawks. He was a fourth round pick out of Oklahoma in 2021. Spent all four years with the Seahawks. Had a career-high seven games, started a career-high seven games in 2023. Two interceptions, 34 tackles that season. So, this is not someone who is a a a guy that projects to be a CB1 or CB2. This is a pure dep piece. Yeah, I I think this is one of these, you know, you need to have somebody that you can at least have some, you know, fundamental confidence in. Maybe not a guy that’s going to make, you know, Rams fans jump up and down or go buy jerseys or anything like that, but it’s a guy that’s had some success in the league. It’s a guy that’s played in the league. I would assume it’s a guy that the Rams are pretty familiar with, having seen him in Seattle for uh the time that he was there. And, you know, I I think the the good organizations, and I would certainly throw the Rams into that bucket as well, are are always keeping an eye on guys like, you know, could we use that guy? Could we use this guy? and they’re they’re circling some guys for moments like this where one of your guys goes down and you know 12 weeks is a long time but it’s not the whole season. So you’ll get Witherspoon back at some point assuming that he heals on schedule and you know like you said Brown Brown is a a a depth piece. I think that you’re going to see the guys that we’re a little bit more familiar with right away but you know who knows what happens next. You lose another guy and the next thing you know that Brown’s right in there and all of a sudden he’s playing real snaps. So every guy in the NFL that puts on a uniform on a Sunday afternoon ends up getting in games. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him in Philadelphia and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if I by the time they come back to play Indianapolis in a couple of weeks if you see him even more. Yeah, there’s always surprises. There’s always guys that get opportunities and for Brown, interestingly enough, he was signed by the San Francisco 49ers in free agency, but they released him last month and he was temporary placed on the IR. So for this signing, it does tell you that he is healthy enough to play again, which is a good thing. 510, 185 pounds. So he doesn’t have that size that you loved with a Kella Witherspoon, but he definitely had some moments in 2023. He had a uh I I went back and I watched the tape. Uh but no, uh he did have some some really good moments there and there were some upstra, pass coverage grade. I mean, things like that. So, it’s not like he’s just been this like journeyman who has played low-level football his whole career. Clearly, the Rams see something in him. And I think the guy who really benefits from all this is Darius Williams. I said it yesterday that he really looked good. He was sticky. I mean, he caused a pass breakup and his limited action. And it’s not like you went out there and said, “Oh, Aello’s gone. Where is he? This team is really missing a beat with Darius Williams out there.” And hopefully that is the conversation next week and moving forward is that hey, he stepped up and he’s provided what he was supposed to when they originally signed him. Yeah, I I think so. And and he looked pretty good against uh Tennessee last week. But I think that’s an important part of of the equation, right? that looking good against Tennessee and a rookie quarterback and a team that doesn’t have a ton of weapons on offense is a little bit of a different animal than what they’re about to see this week in Philadelphia with AJ Brown, with Devonte Smith, with Jaylen Herz, with Seaorn Barkley. just a team that is loaded with weapons. And I think we’ll get a much better sense of exactly how vulnerable that Rams secondary is, exactly how effective that Rams front is because this is the team that they were they’re trying to catch. This is the team that everybody in the NFC is trying to catch. And yeah, they they they stood up pretty good against Cam Ward who was playing in his second game, but that’s not what they’re getting this weekend. They’re getting the very best of the best. This is the only team that, you know, the Rams are 9-0 against everybody not named the Philadelphia Eagles in their last nine games and they’re 0 and2 against the Eagles. Those the Eagles are the only team that have beaten them in in in a really long time. So, you know, we’ll we’ll see. They the Eagles like to keep the ball on the ground and not, but they they got a ton of weapons on the outside. So, that Rams secondary is going to be tested and and tested by some of the best. They absolutely will. And you just have to hope that the guys that are in there stay healthy. The last thing you want is safeties guarding those kind of receivers and that can get really tricky. But yeah, I mean the Rams are are good on that end. I don’t think it’s going to make or break their season. But and that is an extended period of time. I think the next question becomes do you just wait for a Kella Witherspoon and when he comes back is he still going to be a part of this mix because that is a very long time to mix and then this team is going to have an identity by then. So hopefully we hope they won’t forget about this guy throughout the course of the season. No, I don’t think they’ll forget about him. But I also think that this is where the Rams aggressiveness becomes a real part of of what may happen next. Like you and I talked about this yesterday, the everyday probably heard it, which is the Rams go for it. When when they when they kind of feel like they have a shot and and I think that they feel like they have a shot. I think that having seen what we’ve seen through the first two weeks reinforce the idea that this is a pretty good team. Phil Philly will be another litmus test. But if they think that they’re a corner away, if they think they need secondary help and that’s the difference between winning the division and, you know, winning getting the top seed or getting a top two seed or something like that, they’ll go for it. They’re not just going to sit around and wait for a killer Witherspoon to come back. They’ll they’ll welcome him back with open arms when it’s time for him to come back in, but they’re not a that’s nothing we can do about it. There is stuff they can do about it. We’ve seen them do it before. They’re aggressive and I would be really surprised if they weren’t at least looking around. But, you know, how aggressively they’re looking around, time will tell, but I’d be really surprised if they don’t have a player or two or three or four that they’re at least calling about, thinking about, and considering if in fact, Sunday afternoon, Sunday morning doesn’t go well. Yeah, they’re always going to be opportunistic. They’re always going to see what’s available. You mentioned that it is the Titans. It’s not like they’re going up against Jamar Chase and T. or anything like that. But when they were lined up as 101’s, Darius Williams, Kobe Durant, they didn’t give up any catches. Zero reception on four targets, had two pass breakups. The one miraculous catch they did allow was on a well, probably the throw of the year really from Cam Ward. So, I mean, that was on Emanuel Forbes Jr. That was actually pretty decent coverage there. But I think what they’re in is the evaluation phase, right? They’re trying to assess this group and depending on how well they play, I think that’ll determine if they do want to go to that war chess and explore something. I think one of the teams I’m looking at is of course you got the Eagles. There’s other teams in this league in this conference, but it’s the Green Bay Packers. And the Green Bay Packers, they said, “Hey, we’re going to go out there and trade for Michael Parsons, a guy that maybe the Rams were rumored to possibly be a destination for, but there was nothing really ever there.” The Rams kind of one up them with another player, knowing that, hey, this is a team we could face down the line cuz we know in this league the top talent wins. like the top talent at prime positions really wins. Jaylen Ramsey is a perfect example at what position, right? So, they’ve done it before. It wouldn’t shock anyone if they did it again. I I I like your point about Mike Parsons that the Packers is similar to the Rams in in other seasons and I think similar to the Rams in this season, they’re like, we’re we’re really close. Like, we’re we’re we’re really close. Are we better than Philadelphia? Maybe, maybe not. Are we better than the Rams? Maybe, maybe not. But if we added a player like Parsons to it, are we are we right there? Yeah, let’s go for it. And and they did. And you’ve seen what Parsons has done in the first couple of weeks. I don’t know if there’s another player like Michael Parsons that’s going to shake loose between now and the trade deadline, but you know, the the Rams are always in the mix, but I think you’re right. I think a team like Green Bay has shown that when you kind of when you kind of feel like you got your chance, you got to shoot your shot. And and they did. And it feels like they’re right near the top of the list, too. I think Philly and Green Bay are kind of one and 1A and then the Rams probably slot in somewhere behind that. Um, but you know, there’s we still got some time to see what that roster is going to look like before you go into that final push. Absolutely. By the way, what do you think of the the Did you like the all-white package jerseys? I call the white cheddar jerseys. I mean, I don’t mind them. I don’t mind them because they’re white. They’re not bone. I’m not a huge bone fan. I love bone’s kind of grown on I the all bone is I like I I think I’m one of the last hold outs that’s anti-bone, but uh it’s uh Yeah, I do like the Packers white. It’s clean. Michael Brocker’s he said his favorite combination was the blue with the bone pants. Like I was like, dude, if I had like 40 guesses, I wouldn’t have get you know what I mean? Like that. Give me Give me the blue jersey with the yellow pants. I think you you can’t miss with that. Can’t miss for sure. By the way, do you know that the Packers, they’re the last team that has not transitioned to the new Nike jerseys and they’re still using the jersey manufacturer, the Ripin facility in Wisconsin. They from the ‘9s, like a a random store called the Ripin facility in Green Bay in Berlin, Wisconsin. This near there, they make and you see the little holes. They’re using the same jerseys they wore like in the 90s. Today, they just put the Nike logo. I don’t know, blows my mind. I know you’re a jersey guy. So, shop local, DMAC, right? You got you you got to you got to you got to you got to buy what’s in season. And apparently what’s in season in Green Bay is the ripping factory. All right. I didn’t know that. That’s what’s up. That’s what’s up. But coming up, some winners and losers is a very surprising PFF grades. Shamves, you have to take those with a grain of salt. I totally agree. But that’s coming up next on Locked on Rams. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more IHS top safety picks plus awards than anyone else. That as of August of this year from footwork to breath work, athlete sweat, all the details. You ever met me one of these guys? They are all about the details. And Mazda, they bring the same intention to how they craft every single model. You can make everyday drives feels like anything but from smooth handling to intuitive controls. Like players, they sweat every single detail because when you make every move count, impossible becomes irrelevant. Mazda move and be moved. And welcome back to Locked On Rams. Thanks for making Locked On Rams your first listen every single weekday. free and available wherever your podcast locked on Rams part locked on podcast network your team every day also a special shout out to those every listeners out there watching listening to every single episode of Locked on Rams cannot thank you enough tons of new viewers tons of new listeners lately and don’t just listen to one episode don’t just listen to two or three don’t watch one two or three watch every single episode we drop and then you will be a part of that everyday listeners club and you’ll be the most informed Rams fan in the game so definitely join every listeners club and you won’t miss a about your favorite football team. All right, Travis, here in our second segment, do some winners and losers from week two. Yeah, let’s start on the positive side. And this is kind of a sneaky winner. I mean, we talked about a lot of these guys right out of the gates, right? The Pukas, the Devontes. How about Davis Allen? Type in Davis Allen with Kobe Parkson out with the injury with Terren Ferguson. He made some plays, special teams, kind of getting in the mix, but Davis Allen, I think, is firmly tight end, too. And he’s had this touchdown machine. He caught Stafford’s first touchdown last week, got a touchdown where he stretches and hits the pylons, shows massive triceps there. I think it might be that dude in the red zone. Yeah, look, go ahead and cash your ticket if you had uh, you know, Davis being the guy that would lead the team in receiving touchdowns after a couple of weeks. It It’s remarkable. Um he he’s been really good. I like that play that you talked about at the goal line. That was an incredibly athletic play. Um it’s interesting. I you know I I think we both kind of made a mistake when you’re talking about Terrence for example. He’s going to be the guy. They never use those guys. When they get tight ends, those guys sit on the bench for a long time. They don’t play very much. When they went out and got Hunter Long, he doesn’t play. They go and get Kobe Parkinson. He doesn’t play. They go out and get Davis Allen, he doesn’t play. no reason to think that Terrace Ferguson was going to come in and be a big part of this offense right away. It it takes some time for those guys to get on the field. And Allen is the guy that, you know, has been in the system for a little bit. It feels like Matthew Stafford’s getting some trust in him. Sean McVey is getting some trust in him. And, you know, you and I have talked about it a million times. a guy. That’s the position that we’re waiting to see get unlocked because you just know they’re going to be open with Dvonte doing what Dvonte does, with Puka doing what Puka does that there’s always going to be an option or an opportunity I should say to find that tight end and and Davis Allen has really taken advantage of it. It’s been really good to see. Yeah. Yeah, and I do think that at some point we’re going to see Terence Ferguson worked in. And look, he’s a rookie, he’s a tight end, so those two things kind of work against you early on, but that’s just kind of how Shawn McVey does things. And I fully expect at some point if things go well, he’ll get some more opportunities. But as far as it was nice to see Higgby, too, get in the mix as well. He got his first passes of the season. He had four catches for 37 yards. Had a nice little 20 yard there. But Davis Allen is almost becoming the Rams version of Chris Carter, right? All he does is catch touchdowns, right? And he has two catches this year, both touchdowns, right? I don’t think he’s going to Yeah, exactly. Right. I I don’t think he’s going to be a guy that’s going to recommend that everyone has to have a fall guy or anything like that. But I mean, I think with Davis Allen in this offense, you’re seeing kind of a more diversified group. And it looks like an exciting group. It really does. And give him credit because he just kind of found his niche and he’s kind of also done the thing that you really need to do and that is win over Matthew Stafford. It feels like he’s looking for him in those situations. Catch the ball. Catch the ball and make plays and they’ll come back to you again. And they’ll come back to you again. And like you said, he’s they’ve thrown him the ball a couple of times this year. Both of them have gone to the end zone. I I would be really surprised if Matthew Stafford when they get into that red zone area if he’s not thinking, okay, look, I I’m always going to look for Devonte and Puka, but I know that I have a third pretty good option in Davis Allen. I I I hope it continues like that. I I’m op I’m I’m I’m I’m optimistic that like you said we’re going to see Terence Ferguson at some point. You know, having watched him a lot at Oregon, you know, he’s a he’s a special athlete. He’s different the way that he can run, the way that he can create some space right there. I think he’s a matchup problem, but like we’ve talked about on on locked on Rams before, the the tight end position is maybe outside of quarterback the most demanding position that they they have on that field. They’re asking him to block like a tackle when when he’s in on the in the run game. They’re asking him to run routes like Puka Nakua and Devonte Adams at like a wide receiver. It is a ve and and you’re the hot guy, right? Like you’re the guy that determines we’re going to move you from the left to the right. We’re going to move you. Your piece is the moving piece that has to be done on the fly in real time. It’s a complicated job and uh hopefully Ferguson gets up to speed because I’ I’d really like to see him go and and Allen’s been great. No shade to him at all. Absolutely. And an 89.4 PFF grade. That was the highest on offense. And then for the first loser, first horns down, of course, they’re winners in life, but as far as just how they performed this game relative to the other players, Puna Ford, I kind of saved this segment for some deeper cuts, right? And Puna Ford’s a guy that we talked a lot about in the offseason. Kind of one of these moves almost on the margins, kind of a a missing piece type of player considering the Rams defense, especially stopping the run game, their struggles with that last year. Wasn’t a great afternoon for Puna Ford. you’re expecting to see a little bit more from him. And you look at Tony Pard, he hit 92 yards on 4.6 yards per attempt. If that game was a little closer, you would be a little more concerned about the Rams run defense. And Puna 40 finished the week with just one tackle and it wasn’t for a loss or anything like that. So, want to see more from Puna. Well, like you said, this is the Tennessee Titans and Tony Pard, right? This is a team that I I know had rebuilt their offensive line during the offseason and they’re, you know, probably trending in the right direction, but it’s certainly not one of the great offensive lines in in the NFL. Well, look what you get next, right? Like, if you’re struggling against Pard and Tennessee, what does it look like against Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles? We we saw it last year where Barkley felt like he had a million runs for a million yards. They just did not have an answer for him. Puna Ford brought in I I think in large part to try and slow down some of what we saw from Barkley last year and you know that they have to find a way to may maybe not eliminate that because Barkley’s such a great player but at least try to reduce the the effectiveness of Barkley and if you’re having a little trouble with with uh with Paul or Barkley’s a Barkley’s a different sort of athlete. So I’m I’m I’m curious to see what’s going to happen against Philly. Yeah, that’s going to be a major test. And if he flexes his his run stopping muscles during that one, I’ll be forgotten in that week two game. But it’s something to monitor for sure. As far as winners go, I think one of I think not only just for this game, but I think if you’re going to list out the big winners so far to start this season in two games, it’s Byron Young. I mean, Byron Young has absolutely leveled up. He has three sacks now on the season, had two against the Titans. And I think the biggest thing, too, was it’s a 20-6 game. It’s uh it’s it’s a a close game and he had a strip sack on Cam Ward and that led to basically the knockout blow by the Rams. So that was such a meaningful play. They went on to score 13 fourth quarter points after that play and all the talk was about Jared Verse and being a potential defensive player of the year and he’s still getting his season going. Well, Byron Young has been the star on defense even even more productive than Vers Fisk or Kobe Turner. Yeah, I I think that one plus one equals two in that regard. I I think one of the reasons that Young has been as good as he has, and he has, and this is no nothing negative on Byron Young at all, they’re paying a lot of attention to those other guys. They are paying a lot of attention to Jared Verse. They’re paying a lot of attention to Kobe Turner. They’re paying a lot of attention to Braden Fisk. And Byron Young is doing exactly what he should do in those situations. and he’s taking advantage of the opportunities that the offense is giving him. If they’re going to single him up, he’s going to win. He’s going to win a bunch in those situations. And this is what, you know, this is what Aaron Donald did for so many of his teammates for years and years is that Aaron Donald was such a good player. And Aaron Donald was such a problem for offenses that you had to throw so many resources at him to just try to at least slow him down a little bit that it created opportunities for Michael Brockers and and Dominican Sue and and uh uh uh Floyd and and all of these other guys, you know, that came through at various points on this team. Dante Fowler, like so so many of these other guys that would thrive because Aaron Donald would soak up so much attention. And I think the same thing is happening with guys like Verse and Fisk and and Young is eating because of it and it’s great to see. Yeah, we got Michael Brockers on the squad show and he basically said, “Hey, Aaron Donald not only helped me on the field, he put money in my pocket, right?” I mean, he definitely his house is bigger, his cars are nicer, his clothes are nicer, like all those things, right? And Jared Vers has that kind of potential, too. And I think for him, it’s not been the start that we had hoped. It’s just two games. But I also want to mention this, he was in and out of the game. There was some talk he was dealing with a concussion type of issue with Jared Verse and he ended up with three pressures. Did have a missed tackle which is something you look at with him considering his struggles in that area. Kobe Turner’s a funny thing. This is a a really good example how PFF grades can make you scratch your head. He ended up in the bottom five with a 46.2 PFF grade, but he had four pressures and no missed tackles. He had one sack. So, it’s always kind of funny how how this works. It’s kind of like, like I said, it’s almost like it’s like if you if you get like an A on like a math test, but you don’t show your work. It’s like your teachers like, “What the heck’s going on?” Like, “Can we can they show us their work a little bit?” You know what I mean? Like, the when you see one like that and Turner’s a great example, it’s like, “Yeah, okay. I I I sure whatever you say. All I know is that the guy made the plays that he was supposed to make. I don’t worry about him at all. He’s a really good player. He’s going to continue to be a good player. If you can give him whatever grade you want, I want him on my team. I thought he was fine. And the funny thing though, it’s like the reason why it kind of like it puts your mind in a pretzel is like it’ll give Byron Young a 90 and Byron Young was great, right? I mean, he had he led the team with six pressures, had two sacks, and had a force fumble. So, it’s always interesting for me. I like PFF grades as long as they fit my narrative, right? That’s kind of my number one thing. As long as they do, I love them. Now, I do want to mention a next down, a next horns down. Uh the next loser is 22 Atwell. So lot was made your face man. Come on now. A lot was made heading into the season. Hey, why do the Rams bring back 22 Atwell on a $10 million deal? And Shawn McVey said in the offseason that it was on him to make sure that he would put him in a better spot to have more success. We’ve already seen him essentially get passed on the depth chart by Jordan Whittington, but yeah, in this one really did not have very much of an impact at all. And you look at the season that he’s had so far. I mean, it’s difficult because not everyone could eat when you’re when you have Devonte Adams and you have Puganua, but he didn’t have a one target or one catch. Yeah, I I I think you’re right, Doug. And and I will give him the benefit of saying that it is hard to make an impact when Devonte Adams is getting the attention, when Puka Nakua is getting the attention. We talked about Davis Allen getting some touchdowns along the way that Higgby had four catches. I understand that there’s only so many footballs to go around to different places. And I’m not looking for the guy to get 14 catches a game. I’m I understand that. One, two. Like that that doesn’t seem like a lot to ask. And I understand that there every time it’s, oh, I didn’t do a good enough job of getting him involved. And I know Shawn McVey takes responsibility for all that stuff. This man has not been in the league for 5 seconds. He’s been in the league for multiple seasons. And we’ve really never seen an impactful, you know, play or let me I don’t want to say impactful play, an impactful weeks, months. It is yeah, a play here or there and maybe a game here or there, but for 10 million bucks a season, I’ i’d like to see a lot more. I I I understand that I’m a little uh anti-2 when it when it comes to to him on this team. I I’ve been I that his size, you know, is is not something that I’m excited about. I’d much rather see Whittington out there, but that Yeah. I just He’s just not an impactful guy. He’s going to draw a PI here or there, but I just I I don’t see it. I don’t see what everybody else gets excited about. Yeah. And I think for him, if you are going to get an opportunity, you had to make the most of it. and his one target, he got blown up by Xavier Woods and he dropped in the flat. So when you drop one in the flat you’re supposed to get, they’re going to be hesitant to drop plays for you and Matthew Stafford is going to be hesitant to go to you in those situations. So hopefully, like you said, use them on go routes, try to open things up for other guys, take an occasional shot for him. But I think one thing you love about this Rams team and one thing that a lot of the players that are very productive have in common is if you’re not catching the ball, you’re blocking. If you’re not blocking, you’re catching the ball. here catching the ball over the middle you run you’re running streaks if you’re puking a cool you can do it all right so that’s kind of one thing that you really admire about this group and this team and the players they put on this team is their versatility and with him he doesn’t have that much versatility in his game and that’s why I don’t think he gets the ball a lot but coming up next real quick we’re going to talk about the tush push and look ahead to the Eagles and Shawn McVey had some comments on the tush push that could change the outlook of that play in week three that could help the Rams that’s coming up next a locked on rams. Most people cannot name all of their financial accounts or even what’s in them, what they’re worth, right? Whether it’s 401ks, properties, investments, and when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there’s Monarch Money. 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Podcast locked on Rams part of locked on podcast network your team every day. Okay, Travis. So, Rams Eagles showdown in week three in Philly and one of the storylines is going to be the tush push and that is because if you watch the Chiefs versus the Eagles, not only did they utilize the tush push, but it was clear they got away with multiple false starts. Yeah, they clearly impacted that play. One that led to a touchdown. If you look at this stuff, it’s crazy. the ball’s still on the ground and they’re moving forward. It’s just kind of ridiculous. Shawn McVey did say that he saw some of the things and they’re going to be a talking point because they’re such a good team. And he said that those are some of the conversations that are happening with the league office and that they can’t basically get a rolling start before the ball is snapped. So, he said a lot more than that, but I think the important thing is to point out that at the very least Shawn McVey is presenting that he understands that they’re getting away with something that is unfair. So, if it happens again, you got someone like Shawn McVey mentioning, I think it becomes a bigger issue. I think I think there’s a couple of things going on here. I one, I think he’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to do. I’ll go back uh several years. My goodness, it’s been a really long time now that I stop and think about it. Phil Jackson with the Lakers was a master at this. just an absolute master at getting the officials to look for things that he wanted them to look for by mentioning it days in advance, by mentioning it the night before. Especially when you got into a playoff series when he’d go into that press conference and he’d start talking about, you know, they’re doing this to Shaquille or they’re doing this to Kobe. And then sure as you know what, the next w the next game they weren’t doing that nearly as much because Jackson had put the the information out there and guys start looking for it. I think that’s exactly what Shawn McVey is doing. It’s it’s letting people know, hey, this is and again, the Eagles that those those guards jumping a good full half second ahead of everyone else, it’s just that that that can’t happen. That’s just it’s just an unfair advantage. It’s it’s already not a really a football play. But when you’re giving him that sort of advantage, what what are we even doing here? That’s number one. Number two, Shawn McVeyy’s got got weight. Shawn Mc when Shawn McVey talks, people listen. You know, when it’s somebody, you know, let’s just say Brian Callahan from Tennessee. Brian Callahan can scream till the cows come home. Nobody’s going to listen to Brian Callahan. No one’s going to listen to, you know, Dave Canales in in in Carolina or Mike McDaniel down in Miami. When Shawn McVey says, “Hey, this is going on.” Heads snap. People pay attention. He’s got weight in this league. He’s a made guy, and if he’s saying things, people are going to listen. For sure. Absolutely. That thing is that that’s the number one thing in all this is it’s a high-profile head coach going to a high-profile game that people are going to be anticipating and people are waiting to do the DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, right? Where they’re pointing like, “There it is again, right there. There’s the false start again. Oh, they’re getting away with it because now the Eagles have won a lot. They’re a well-run organization. So, the haters are going to try to point out when it feels like they have an unfair advantage. And go back to the owners meeting. I mean, they’re very close. They’re very close to banding. They need like 24 votes. They got like 22. They were super duper close to finding a way for this not to be an issue. Now, you got this and it’s not policed correctly. It’s not officiated correctly. And they already have a great team and a monster offensive line with Jaylen Herds. It it just it almost feel like there’s something so anticlimactic about it as well, right? It’s not a football play. It It’s a It’s some sort of quasi rugby. I I don’t know what the heck it is. And I I get it. It works. It’s not against the rules. And And I guess that you got to try to find a way to stop it in once in a blue moon. I know Kansas City stopped it once on on Sunday, but yeah, it it just and and here’s the other thing, too, DMac. And and at the end of the day, I think this is important because, you know, all of this stuff, whether we’re talking about the Dodgers or the Lakers or the Rams or the NFL, this is an entertainment product, right? This is something that we have to like watching and this is not a fun play to watch. It’s it’s just it’s stupid. So, I I I do think that it’ll probably be illegal next year, but it’s not going to be illegal on Sunday. So, Rams fans should get used to seeing it coming up in about five days. For sure. No, absolutely. I mean, there’s that famous picture of the ice bowl with Bard Star and he’s going into the end zone and Chuck Merine is right behind him. He’s got his hands up. You know, that was back the everyone thinks he’s marking for a touchdown, but really he’s had his hands up to show the ref that he wasn’t pushing anyone, pushing, right? Right. There was a time when this was not legal. Like, Right. It’s like, yeah, I I agree with you. It’s It’s boring. It’s uninteresting. It it’s somebody’s going to get their legs snapped in half too at some point and then we’ll we’ll adjust it. I I hope that doesn’t happen, but it feels inevitable when you got 8,000 pounds of human beings laying on top of each other. Something bad’s going to happen. So, uh yeah, I I don’t like it either. Hopefully, they can get those last couple of votes to get rid of it next season because it’s it’s it’s not a football play for sure. and we’ll see how it impacts the Rams because you think we’re mad now. Wait till you see how if this Lisa Rams lost it’s going to get it’s going to get mad. We’re mad Travis furious DMAX. It’s not going to be fun. But that’s going to do it for this episode of Locked on Rams. My name is Doug McCain. You can follow me on X and Instagram at Dmac_LA. Until next time, whose house? It’s Locked on Rams house.

The Los Angeles Rams have added free agent cornerback Tre Brown after learning that Ahkello Witherspoon will be out for at least 12 weeks with a broken clavicle. D-mac and Travis break down the signing, winners and losers, and PFF grades from week 2. Plus, how will the “tush push” impact the Rams in the much-anticipated divisional round rematch, and more!

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