Raheem Morris & Aaron Donald Express the Growth They've Seen From Leonard Floyd

Rams' teammates and coaches weigh in on Leonard Floyd's fast start to the 2021 season.

Nicholas Cothrel | Oct 22, 2021

The Los Angeles Rams are led by two of the game's best defenders: Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey.

But another player that makes the Rams defense what it is – Leonard Floyd – who’s off to a notable 2021 campaign.

Floyd, who signed a noteworthy contract extension that will pay him $64 million across four seasons, has gotten off to the best start of his career as he continues to set a distinct presence rushing off the edge alongside Donald

Through six games, Floyd has registered 4.5 sacks with 25 tackles. According to Pro Football Focus, he's pressured opposing quarterbacks 25 times, ranking top 10 among edge rushers.

On Thursday, defensive coordinator Raheem Morris was asked about Floyd's play this season, and he sang his praises to great lengths.

“The silent assassin that is quietly warming up to me and coming to me more, being more vocal," Morris said. "If you give him a challenge, he responds like no other. The first play of the game was a great result of it. The night before the game you try to give him the keys to the game and you talk about how you're going to move forward and how you’re going to do things. And I told him flat out, ‘Hey, I'm going to call this pressure and you're going to be the guy. You're going to come off the edge. You're going to get past 19 (Giants WR Kenny Golladay) really solidly and grab a tackle or whatever the case may be. Or you get the tackle and you'll beat him. You'll go around him and get a sack fumble.’ And he absolutely did that. He responds that way. He responds to the great challenges as far as setting edges."

Floyd delivered in a major way last week, recording his first multi-sack performance on the season.

While some players lead vocally and other lead by example with their play on the field, Floyd is more of the latter. He isn't a big raw-raw guy but rather, he sets the tone with what he does in games and throughout practices, leading by example.

“We just call him a barnyard bully," Morris said. He's kind of one of those guys who comes to work and you know exactly what (he's) going to do. He's going to go hard. He's going to take the field like it's his last plate every single time. He's going to come off of that edge. He's going to roll. He's going to do everything he can to win that football game and whatever it takes to win that snap.

As for Floyd's teammates, they too see a guy evolving, taking things a step further than previous seasons.

“He is like a silent assassin," Donald said. "He flies around and makes a ton of plays. It's fun to see him out there working. Having two years to be with him, to grow, us learning off each other, playing with each other well. He's having a lot of success.”

In Week 7, Donald and Floyd will get a shot to sack their former teammate, Jared Goff, with the Detroit Lions coming to town. The duo of Donald coming from the interior and Floyd dipping around tackles off the edge, pose a complicated dynamic for offensive lines to slow down. The pass rush pairing of Donald and Floyd will attempt to bring Goff to the turf on Sunday, adding to their combined sack total of eight.

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Nick Cothrel is the Publisher of Ram Digest. Follow Nick and Ram Digest on Twitter @NickCothrel & @RamDigestSI for more Rams coverage.

Published Oct 22, 2021

NICHOLAS COTHREL

Nick Cothrel covers the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated.