Chris Shula Opens Up About Rams’ Defensive Backfield

“He’s been that way really since he got in the game last year," stated Shula. "We love ‘Tank’ [Jaylen McCollough]. He does a lot of different stuff for us. He’s smart, he's tough, he's versatile and he's a great tackler. Based on the game plan, situationally, we can match him up with certain things and he always makes the most of his opportunities. He always seems to make a big play whether it's a pick, a sack or something like that. He’s just continued to do that. He picked up where he left off last year.”

Quentin Lake

Lake has been phenomenal in coverage and has been the glue the defense has needed, playing a variety of roles based on different packages. Shula couldn't be any happier with Lake's performances.

“To me, he's been the same [since] two years ago when he started playing nickel. Obviously, he had a great year last year. He would've played every single defensive snap on the season besides that last game when we were resting him for the playoffs."

"He’s just picked up where he left off. He has great ball skills, he's a great tackler and he plays extremely hard. He’s really good on the perimeter control and he just does a lot of stuff for us. We love him as a player and to me he's just continued to elevate his game. He’s just gotten that much better because he's a guy that learns from his experiences. He plays tough so we like him.”

Emmanuel Forbes

Forbes has been slowly working to get back into the starting lineup over the past offseason, having accomplished that goal in week one. In week three, Forbes was stress tested, and despite some errors, the Rams still have trust in him because this was the first time in a long time he was put in such uncomfortable positions for his play style.

“He made some good plays and then he was put in some tough positions. At some times we were pressuring the QB and he got put on some isolations. We love Emmanuel Forbes and we trusted him to be able to make those plays.”