LA Rams Joe DeCamillis: “We’ll get better as we go”

You may not have heard much from LA Rams Special Teams Coordinator Joe DeCamillis, but as he stated when he stepped up to the podium this week: “Usually when something rough happens, I’m asked over here”.  So we heard from him today after an eye-roll performance against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2.

What was it about the special team unit that was worth an eye roll? Well for starters, the LA Rams opened another game with the kickoff to ensure they got the football in the second half. But the kickoff return resulted in the Indianapolis Colts taking over first and ten from their own 41-yard line. Yikes.  The Rams later tried to punt the football with 9:21 remaining in the third quarter from their own 41-yard line.  It traveled just 33 yards before going out of bounds at the Colts’ 26-yard line.

Finally, the Rams attempt to punt the football with a fourth down and six yards to go from their own 11-yard line. The snap caromed wildly to the right of Hekker, who did not fall on the ball. The Colts rushed in to recover it as a touchdown, and take the lead in the game by the score of 21-17.

DeCamillis joins the press conference at or about the 11:50 time mark.

In the press conference, Joe DeCamillis is not a bull-shitter. I.e. he doesn’t toss a lot of coach-speak out there that has elements of interpretation.  But he was taken to task a bit over his units’ performance. And he did speak to the challenges of bringing along so many younger players.

He’s as much in a mentor and player development role right now as one of the Special Teams Coordinator for the LA Rams. He wasn’t handed the keys to a well-constructed piece of furniture. Rather, he inherited an IKEA build-it-yourself special teams kit, and he is in the process of determining which part fits where, and whether he even has all of the necessary pieces.