Stetson Bennett, DC Chris Shula & OC Mike LaFleur Address The Media As Rams Kick Off Week 2 Of OTAs

Stetson Bennett how has it been so far and um what has this last year been like for you uh you know it's been um it's been cool to get back uh you know great to see the guys you know went with them last year um great to get back to football you know it's what I love and so it's been it's been pretty sweet how has it gone on the field in terms of getting back into the football side of things uh you know nervous the first day um you know he hadn't played football in a while and hadn't talked to dudes in a huddle uh right which is a huge thing and you know you're you're relaying the play to them um a lot of nerves first day but it's gone you know I wouldn't say seamlessly but it's gotten better each day just like you know uh like you try to make it ston what can you tell us about what happened in that Gap from when you were here to when you work uh you know I went I was uh I was home and uh you know as far as what led to that what uh transpired and all that you know I think we're going to keep that in house but um you know it uh it was good you know went back home and you know thank goodness that Les and and Coach McBay and everybody involved you know allowed me to do that did you talk to the coaches uh you know a few times uh not you know they had their job to do you know I was watching them every week and uh but not that often did you expect to be back uh yeah H how did the decision come about to step away like how did you guys reach that decision uh you know there was a you know a bunch of talks and uh you know uh as far as the specifics again what probably keep that between us but you know it was a discussion between everybody and then you know that's what we uh we got to was that a difficult decision yeah of course of course it was but uh you know one we thought I guess necessary time and so yeah forgive me were you safe were you okay yeah yeah yeah yeah is there any part of you that thinks kind of what you've gone through and now that you're act that you can use as other people can use as maybe a learning experience or a model for how to handle uh you know I don't know um you know I think it was you know it was very specific you know to me and um you know in a a generic sense like yeah uh hopefully um you know I think it's you know Made Me Stronger and all that stuff but uh uh you know it's hard to hard to say what what other people could can or or will um you know all I know is that you know I'm doing the best I can every every day to uh to get better and um you know if if if something comes of what happened last year then you know so be it what did you learn about yourself uh I don't I don't know um um I don't know if I learned anything uh that you can just say that you learned something right uh you know was a I don't are stepping away the right it just uh just we just felt like it was what do you feel like that reset did for you STS that time way again oh well it showed me you know how um you know love football um excited to come out here every single day um you know you get to kind of see the world for the first time without football like like first time ever um you know what that might be like what it uh whatever you just don't have it right and so uh you kind of come out here and you you're you're every single day and um I don't know um it it did make me you know like hey this is you know you want to do this and you want to work hard every single day and get better um but it it was it was different without it how did how did you know you were ready to rejoin the team um I'd say that one's probably you know piss or get off the pot you know you kind of had to get back you know at some point um so yeah when you were looking at football for the first time in a very long time not being part of it right what was the emotion did it scare you did it concern you uh you're talking about when I was away or when I when you were away when you you said you looked and saw this I'm not around football for the time uh I'd say um at first I didn't really you know I just I just kind of got away um and then you know you start getting curious again and you start watching it with the with the eye and um start thinking about it that way uh you know I just it it's hard to turn off whenever whenever it starts going again um you know I saw it for you know I think how I've always seen it just a you know a beautiful game that that you know uh create relationships with your teammates uh you know and then and then you go uh and you compete against the best right and find out if you can which um you know I'm excited to get back to doing did the love of this game motivate you to get back yeah yeah of course yep yep um you know love this game loved it since uh you know you you grew up hearing my granddad tell stories about it you know and trying to teach me something in the kitchen right and uh so yeah you kind of kind of got back to that without respecting the fact that you don't want to get into specifics would it be is it would it be accurate to say that it fell under the uh umbrella of mental health just improving your mental health uh yeah yeah I'd say that yeah good welcome back making the ti appreciate Chris Shula you how's it going great how are you all right good good start ready to roll how do you define the difference between taking what you grew up in whether it was Wade Phillips or Raheem to what your thumb print will be on this defense I think it just go it's all about the players so you know we obviously have a lot of new guys that were on boarding right now and we have some you know guys that obviously weren't here with Wade Wade we were especially our you know second and third year with Wade we we had some pretty experienced guys and you know just completely different time in the league and now you're adjusting to the different evolution of the league obviously there's a lot more Tempo there's a lot more motions there's a lot more stuff like that that you have to adjust to and it's that and you're just emphasizing your player strength so right now is we're just trying to get the foundation of our of our stuff installed and and finding out what these guys do well and finding out what we can execute based on the offseason moves we understand where some of the veterans fit in obviously but it looks like you guys are still trying to figure out that big nickel star what goes into that evaluation with what you specifically want to do with that position and what are some uh qualities that you're seeing from some of the guys who rotated through there so far yeah Russ And Russ and DK have been doing have been doing a great job kind of switching in in that spot and you know it's always a spot that um there's a lot of nuances to it it's a guy that's got to be smart he's got to understand the defense um a lot of stuff uh goes through that guy and he's got to be able to tackle he's got to be able to hit blocks but that's all 11 on defense so you know we're just looking for the best best mix of guys and uh those guys have been doing a great job so far how is Jared bur so far he's been great um he's been great he's been as advertised you know he loves football you know he's a passionate guy um he loves coming in every day you know he works really hard he works really hard in Indie he wants to learn and and he showed that he's extremely coachable and you know he had a good first week last week and we'll see the tape today but it looked like seemed like it was another good day what stood out to you watching the film evaluating before the draft about they they both you could tell that they both love football and they both play really hard and that was you know what we were you know in the draft with what we were targeting we want guys that that love football and usually those are the guys just knowing since been here you know the last seven eight years and the guys that love football and that are smart and tough and play hard those are usually guys that typically pan out and get the most out of their their talents and their abilities and the nice thing is with those guys they have a lot of talent as well so hopefully keeps going that direction how do you evaluate that level of football know it's part of a lot of the stuff with the scouts you know you can see it on tape and then a lot of the stuff with the scouts with their you know deep Dives and talking to the coaches and doing all the background stuff and uh you know with those guys it was pretty easy to see um how they run the ball um you know it's hard to hard to not love football when you play like that with that type of effort you've known you've known Darius a long time at this point what's it like having him back here is he the same kind of Darius he is and he's not you know he's obviously way more experienced um I remember when he when he got on board I think it was 2018 in the middle of the season and you know no one really knew who he was we weren't really sure and then he started playing really well on Scout team and we're like wow this guy's got a chance and uh it's it's been a really cool to see the trajectory of his career and then to see him kind of come full circle he's got a daughter now and just see how he's matured and uh you know he feels almost like you know a mentor to the young guys where I saw him in that spot where akib T and Marcus and those guys were kind of mentoring him and you know he's kind of taking that role now so it's been really cool to see you talk about someone with more experience veral rookie other than just their knowledge with the Playbook how do you see that on a daily basis in the practice field of when someone is taking that stuff yeah it's um you just see it really with how they go out like just we talk about being a professional just about having that routine and understanding and just you just understand it's just the guys that are experienced just have that many more reps accumulated and there's nothing you can do to to replace that and you still see obviously still see him flashing um as a rookie and stuff but then there's always going to be stuff where there's going to be growing pains the NFL game I don't think it's any secret is a little bit different than the college game I think um with where some stuff's evolved now obviously there's some stuff that's the same but there's always going to be stuff that's a new experience and learning a new defense and you know when you get a guy I know travius white hasn't been out here yet but when you get a guy like that he has so many experiences he can kind of learn and put it like say like oh this is just like her ass you know whereas like this is like her eyes what we did in Buffalo some of these guys that are brand new as far as rookies you know they might be hearing something for the first time might be completely different from anything they've done before I might what Darius was asked to do in Jacksonville allow you to use him differently compared to the first time you worked with him you know we're going to use his strengths um it was interesting in Jacksonville watching a bunch of his tape uh you know he played off a lot pressured a lot played some more Zone and stuff and you know he's a guy that can do it all so you know we'll see what we want to do and um you know how they keep Rota he's doing a great job so far no no pads obviously uh but going back to verse and Fisk and then throw C in the mix too it seems like there's so much play energy out there Sean we kind of heard you know him complimenting the energy in the level seems like up front they already are trying to set that t you feel that from them and as as young players definitely felt it today you know it's always that fine line of uh you know practicing the right way but also having that edge and that energy you know we you Aubrey Pleasant said it in his DB meeting the other day and it's true it's you know it's hard to have a bad defensive practice when you have great energy that's what defense is about um playing with great energy and we talk about our core fundamentals you know effort to the ball killing blocks tackling takeaways and and that's what we want to be about and um we talk about having great energy it seemed like the front really brought that today as you guys are building the pass rush plan out do you still feel like it's something that's more of like a outside in approach or is it maybe more of a committee obviously understanding who you lost in yeah those guys it's always going to be a committee approach I think you know it's always going to be as far as it's going to be a little different coming up with a plans not having Aaron Donald out there um but it's always going to be a committee approach and emphasizing those guys strengths and um having those guys Rush as a unit Rush together apprciate it looks like you Mike LaFleur guys are uh testing Jordan Winnington quite a bit let kind of see what he can do I guess how do you feel about what he's learned in the meeting room and how how he's maybe applying on the practice field yeah you can tell he's uh first of all all those rookies we're throwing him in a lot of different spots in a lot of different situations maybe some a little bit more than others uh but he's doing a great job you can tell he's really taking what he's learning in the classroom to the field I said it last year about puka but how beneficial for a young receiver to be in that room with a guy like yarbs and then obviously guys like Cooper cup and now puka going into year two and um it's just it's what a what a blessing is for those guys to be around people like them how's uh Steve doing so far at Center um and you know and seeing some interactions in between snaps and then also in the stretch line Sean coming over talking to him seems like he's wanting to be a sponge there yeah oh yeah he's he loves he loves ball you know and it things are never going to be too big for him right and uh good or bad he's just going to move on to the next play and learn from it these are this whole everything about the spring is learning Ops right and so he's out there he's surrounded by obviously Jonah hasn't been out there in the level that uh you know we want for obvious reasons um but but being around him in the in the walkthrough settings obviously um you know just being around that that entire unit has just been big for him and like I told him a few months ago he's not alone in this just because he's moving from guard to Center and there's a little bit more communication responsibility the left tackle to the right tackle to the tight ends us as coaches and and everyone in between you know we're going to be in this with you you know and we'll battle with it Mike was STS in back but having missed that year what do you want to see from him specifically in OTAs and yeah just to come out here and and put his best foot forward every single day it's it's been a pleasure working with him he's in um you know I'm not going to get too much into specifics obviously but he's uh he's in a good place and he is out here um I think uh he is I know he's just he's done a great job being a sponge davone's done a tremendous job getting you know these guys prepped we get that developmental period at the end where he gets the eight extra reps right there and so he's uh he's he's come to work every single day focus with the intent of getting better and that's all you can ask these guys just the you know if their intent is Right which which that's as is right now that's all you can ask and and it's definitely showing with um garoo not eligible to play the first two games how important is it at this point the way the roster set up to have been in a situation totally I mean you never know when it could happen obviously uh we want number nine out there for every snap you know every time and it's early and there's no reason to think you won't be but you you know never know what can happen right and so uh whether it be the quarterback o line receivers the backup's got to be ready to play you know so what he's shown through obviously the fourth practice in in Phase One and phase two again he's getting better every single day and that's just uh going to be what's needed you spent some time with Cooper working out his offseason he's talking about how his body composition changed a little bit do you see that at all oh absolutely I don't you know I'm I'm not the nutritionist I'm not the one doing the uh body fat scans and stuff I try to stay away from that thing anyway so but uh but no he he definitely is is put in the work and I you'll have to ask PUK about some stories in in uh in Cooper's you know front yard and and stuff like that because Cooper trains you know and and and puka does too but it's really puk's first off season as a as a true Pro right that rookie you're you're just spinning you have so much you get drafted next thing you know you're already at a facility following the regiment that uh that we have uh put forward and I know I don't know how many weeks they took off but it didn't seem like much cuz uh when they were kind of walking around here in March and February they looked good from just their body comp and uh you know maybe that's uh maybe that's what I need to do with those guys in off SE do you see a difference in the plays he's able to make his body control yeah I mean again you know I mean football it's best play with the pads on right I mean that's real Ball but this is what we have you know afforded to us right now and uh particularly for puka when when he has the pads on that's when he really is going to shine right because his physical style because of his mentality with that being said you can definitely see see he's made strides you know he's moving better I know he feels more comfortable he's in year two you know and that's what you expect uh from from all the players but you know that you're going to get from puka because he's just made of the right stuff his intentions are right um this was our first time getting to see the new kickoff situation in terms of on field like how drills are going to work and everything um from your perspective you know they're saying it's supposed to lead to more offense and etc etc so from your perspective has that been odd and how have you guys approached that as a group and how's Chase approached that in terms of setting you guys up for maybe more points it it's um it's definitely going to affect us as an offense it's going to affect defense it's going to affect the game at a level that uh we kind of know but we don't really know I'm going to leave that question more for Chase and Sean uh I I typically during that time and with the you know the quarterbacks we're getting ready for that developmental program or I'm you know just kind of debriefing with Matthew we did watch probably for the most uh and it's it's different and it's going to be uh but hey that's it's not like we're at a disadvantage all 32 teams are going through it and um no wo was me we got to figure it out as you guys are putting together a plan for not only this back field but the offense as a whole what does it do for you to have a running back like Blake who is kind of similar in skill set and stature at yeah I mean it's no secret you know what kind of career he had in in college and uh I think what's most impressive about him besides what he can do on the field and what he put on tape at Michigan U and really even since he's been here is just what kind of a man this guy is I mean this is a grown dude um he's he's a sponge like a lot of these guys his intentions are right um you know and again you never want to put expectations on rookies you don't you just hey you just come out you be the best you can be every single day in the meeting room carry to the field he's done that thus far I know that that room just in in particular Ron does such a good job with them just his leadership and um you know him being around the block being around some incredible running backs throughout his career dating back to college and and obviously what he did with Kiren La uh last year but but uh no it's it's good to have them and again the more competition you get the better couple more guys um Sean acknowledged at the draft the other day after the first otaa of you know what's happening to some level behind the scenes with Matthew and his contract just curious if you've seen any difference in him or that I'll answer the second part of it because um no Matthew when when he's at work it's he loves being out on that field like and you guys you know watching today you see the the amount of fun this guy has it is a he you know shows that it is still a child's game and you just happen to make a lot of money be able to do something you know that he's been pretty good at um but no when he when he's in the meeting room when he's on the field he's super positive he's the same Matthew that I met a year ago um cool part for me is you know that's above my pay grade in terms of what what happens next with all that so um you know I know they're they're doing things the right way and we'll go from there you've been a coordinator for a while but this is your year two here with this group and what do you know about this group this ecosystem the job itself specifically that maybe coing in a year ago you didn't quite know yeah just uh got good people you know not just uh not just the players but this this whole building it's just good people and I know I said that and it was pretty clear to see a year ago but a standard has been set by you know ownership by our head coach by our GM and the players thriving that and then the players are able to really take it over uh they're able to correct themselves they're able to coach themselves they hold themselves at a very high standard and it very uh rarely in in my year here gets out of whack you know so um it's uh it's a it's a cool place to you know when you come into work you're excited to do it you know because you want to help these guys in any way possible that you can because of just U the feeling that you have when you enter the place apprciate