LA Rams must resist myopia over personnel decisions

We’re good to wait, up to a point

Of course, the Rams could take the advice from social media and cut players. Or even worse, use a bad play or game to justify benching a player. But who takes those snaps? Who is a guaranteed upgrade? We easily commit to what we don’t like, but we seldom find those who are willing to commit to the upgrade, better fit, or optimum alternative. And the use of negative reinforcement ultimately creates a team whose focus is uniformly upon not making mistakes.

A player on the bench will never improve. A player cut from the roster will only help another team. That is the trap of cancel culture, a continuous stream of players who should be released because they had a bad play or game. Carried to the extreme, the roster ends up with no role players, only starts. Who gobbles blockers for the team if the only measure is pass rush? Who tackles the running back after a two-yard run if the only reason to keep a player is tackles-for-losses? Who gets better if the penalty for failure is to stop playing?

More options available

The Rams coaching staff have plenty of options at their disposal. Player rotations can be modified on the defense. If a player is stuck in a specific role, he could see action in a different down and distance situation. Finally, there is always the option to alter a player’s role on special teams.  In the end, each player possesses talents to benefit an NFL team. It’s up to the best coaches to unlock those talents by putting players into roles of success on the football field.

Young players deserve the benefit of the doubt, particularly when trying to determine their responsibilities in a new role for a new defensive scheme from a new defensive coordinator. This is a work in process and likely will be for most of the 2020 NFL season. Reinforcement and coaching improve players, not some fear of getting benched for messing up on a play. Players want to perform well. Good leadership removes the obstacles of preventing that from happening. And the LA Rams are a great team to play for.