Five spot: Morgan Fox brings versatility, adds punch to Rams pass rush

Undrafted Colorado State-Pueblo product proving his worth

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Good morning. As the Los Angeles Rams prepare for a Week 5, road contest against the Washington Football Team, here are some news and notes from this week.

1. Aaron Donald perked up when asked to talk about the impact fellow teammate, Rams defensive lineman Morgan Fox had made through the first quarter of the season.

“I always knew that Fox had the ability to do what he’s been doing,” Donald said. “He’s a great pass rusher. He’s stopping the run. And he is confident, always asking questions and trying to get himself better.

“I know what type of potential he’s got and what he can do, and for him to be out there and actually get to play and show you guys what he can do and the production he can bring to the field and help us (is good to see).”

An undrafted rookie out of Division II Colorado State-Pueblo who signed with the Rams in 2016, Fox is finally getting a chance to play again on a consistent basis.

He bounced back and forth between the active roster and the practice squad his rookie season. In 2017 Fox finished with two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, playing 334 snaps.

However, in 2018 Fox tore the ACL in his right knee during organized team activities, missing the season to rehab the injury. Fox returned last season, finishing with two sacks and 18 combined tackles, but now feels fully healthy after an offseason focusing on regaining his strength and mobility.

“It’s sounds kind of weird, but I think one of the best things that can kind of happen to you if you’re not ready to play is you get that adversity put in your face,” Fox said about the knee injury. “You know that you have to work that much harder to get to that next spot to make sure that you’re on the roster.”

Fox’s hard work shows on the field. He has two sacks, six combined tackles and a pass break-up as a rotational guy on the defensive line, playing in 102 snaps through four games

At 6-3 and 275 pounds, Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley likes Fox’s versatility, with an ability to line up inside and on the edge as a pass rusher.

“He gives you a lot of quickness inside,” Staley said. “Guards aren’t used to dealing with a guy with his type of quickness and obviously, Aaron has that as well. Usually you’re dealing with maybe a bigger, stronger guy. Morgan’s got really good quickness in there and he’s got really good pass rush ability from the inside, so I think that that’s something that he does really well.

“He also knows how to play off people. You’ll hear me say that a lot -- the guys that know how to figure it out on the field, cause it’s not perfect, he can fix problems up there in the front.”

2. The COVID-19 pandemic is not going away. As NFL cases continue to rise, the league has to redouble efforts for organizations to follow protocols to keep everyone safe.

That’s why New England Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty’s comments to ESPN’s Mike Reiss provide a sense of reality and the seriousness from the player's perspective with how the league is handling the situation: It’s about navigating the unpredictable variables of a pandemic and trying to finish the season because of all the money at stake.

“I think outside of here, the people that don’t have to walk in our building -- whether it is the league office, whether it is the NFLPA – they don’t care,” McCourty said. “For them, it is not about our best interest, or our health and safety, it is about, ‘What can we make protocol-wise that sounds good, looks good, and how can we go out there and play games?’ I think what I kind of learned personally throughout this situation is it is going to be up to us as individuals in this building to just really take care of one another.”

With the Tennessee Titans having an outbreak that forced the postponement of games and the Patriots seemingly on the verge of an outbreak, it’s a fair assessment by McCourty. Both teams had their facility’s closed again on Sunday, putting their Week 4 games in jeopardy.

UPDATE: New England's game against the Denver Broncos has now been moved to next Sunday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. So the NFL will have to juggle the schedule again.

The Rams are one of the teams in the NFL that has been fortunate to avoid a major hiccup when it comes to COVID-19 positive tests. But that does not mean head coach Sean McVay will become complacent.

“What’s important is I think everybody, all 32 teams would say that the goal is to be able to have a season,” McVay said. “Keep our players and all their families and everybody in each organization safe from this coronavirus and do everything that we can to be able to keep this season rolling. Have a full season and ultimately be able to get to the playoffs and get through crowning Super Bowl champs. That’s where our focus and concentration is, is doing those things the right way.”

3. At 38 years old, Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth is playing some of the best football in his 15-year NFL career.

According to Pro Football Focus, Whitworth has not allowed a quarterback sack or quarterback hit in 130 pass-blocking snaps, and just three quarterback hurries.

As I wrote earlier during training camp, Whitworth has steadily lost weight the last few years to maintain his agility and flexibility late in his career. Along with that, Whitworth also limits his practice reps during the week so he’s fresh during game days.

That approach appears to be paying off for the LSU product.

“It’s been a good year so far, but there’s a lot of work to do,” Whitworth said this week. “I think that I was intentional in my training this year, being prepared for this early part of the year being different. … There’s a lot of things going on that affect you more than your position.”

Andrew Whitworth:
🔹 130 pass-blocking snaps
🔹 0 QB sacks + hits allowed
🔹 3 QB hurries allowed pic.twitter.com/2CtWkQOcBT

— PFF (@PFF) October 10, 2020

4. They said it: “I think I’m the oldest. Let’s just say it. I think I am. I’m not sure. I just come to work every day with my lunch pail. I don’t feel my age. I feel like I can relate with everybody in the building and we all work together. Everybody gets along and it’s just football. Age is a number. I think your attitude and energy that you bring to whatever it is that you do on a daily basis, I think that defines you a lot more than a number would. I feel good. I felt great.” – Rams special teams coach John Bonamego on being the oldest coach on the staff at 57 years old. Bonamego said he celebrated five years of being cancer free in August.

5. Did you know: McVay has been pretty good on his first 15 scripted plays. According to the team, the Rams are No. 1 in the NFL on points scored on opening drives (21) through the first four weeks of the season.