Greg Gaines and Ernest Jones are not LA Rams secrets any longer

The 2021 NFL season certainly has been a rather rough ride so far for the LA Rams roster. In particular, the Rams roster seems to be afflicted with excessive injuries, paired with a fast-paced outbreak of COVID-19, that has forced the team to go off-script and depend heavily upon their backups.

LA Rams head coach Sean McVay loves to preplan, to script the preparation and performance of his team so tightly that there is little to the imagination, and nothing off-script, come game day. But the 2021 NFL season has had other ideas.

While not getting much press, the LA Rams have been hit hard this season with injuries. As such, the team has been forced to make in-season roster adjustments that have transformed the team repeatedly almost every week. That rapid and constant amount of remaking the team’s persona had taken its toll, resulting in a three-game losing streak where the consensus of the NFL analysts concluded that the team had lost its way, and was no longer playing to its identity and strengths.

Rams turning the corner now

But that proved to be a temporary condition.  Eventually, the Rams began to commit to running with the football. Now, powered by the running game, the offense was able to force defenses to overcommit to either the run or the pass and was able to take advantage of their miscues with surgical precision.

But it was not that easy on defense. The Rams secondary swapped out defensive backs in fruitless attempts to compensate for losing both John Johnson III and Troy Hill to the Cleveland Browns in free agency. But even as the defense worked to shore up the back of the defense, things were happening with the front seven that would prove to be huge.

The Rams were about to entrust Greg Gaines and Ernest Jones with starting roles. Thankfully, both have proven to be more than ready for their expanded roles in this defense.