Rams' Chris Shula Enjoyed Getting Back to Basics on Saturday

Shula spoke on what he was doing on Saturday while complementing the play of rookie inside linebacker Pooh Paul Jr.

“He was really good, communicated well," stated Shula. "I thought he played really hard. I really thought that whole group did. It was fun because [Inside Linebackers Coach Greg Williams] ‘G Money’ was calling the game so I was the linebacker's coach again. Being able to talk to those guys on the sideline, really good game day demeanors. Pooh Paul's always been a guy, just talking to a lot of his college coaches at Ole Miss that when the lights come on, he shines the brightest. He tackles, he runs, he's physical. When you can play full tackle football with the pads on, that's when he is going to shine the brightest so I thought he did a really nice job with the green dot, especially for missing those first couple weeks.”

Back in 2017, Shula was hired as a member of Sean McVay's initial staff when he took over the Rams. Shula, then assistant linebackers coach, was promoted over and over again over the past nine years before he replaced Raheem Morris as defensive coordinator when Morris became the Falcons' head coach.

Returning to his days as a position coach, Shula had the linebacker room humming with Paul, Shaun Dolac, and Elias Neal putting in solid performances, making tackle after tackle, providing fans with much more confidence in the position room than they had last season.

Following last Saturday's contest, I asked Sean McVay about Neal's play where he gave insight to his thoughts on the room.

"I thought he was good," stated McVay. "He's a run and hit guy, similar to what I mentioned about [Chris] ‘Pooh’ Paul last night. He's physical. He’s tough and he plays that way. He has good range. I think Greg Williams does such a good job with that group as a whole. There are certain guys you just feel on game day and ‘Eli’ [Elias] Neal is one of those guys that you feel because of the physicality and the nature of which he plays. He’s got a great passion and I've really been impressed with his improvement from year one to year two with us.”  

Shula returns to playcalling duties against the Chargers this week before defensive line coach Giff Smith takes the reins against the Browns to wrap up the preseason.