Rams' Desjuan Johnson Has Embraced New Role With Gusto

“It depends on the week," stated Shula on Johnson's role. "We've always done, whether it's [Safety] ‘Tank’ [Jaylen McCollough], [Cornerback] Josh Wallace or guys like that where you can move them around, he's a guy that you can move around.

Depending on the matchup that week, we see him as a guy that could play D-line for us. He's obviously athletic enough to play on the edge, athletic enough to drop and do different things. He's a guy that has a really good skill set and you saw him get in there last week and get some action. He did a really good job.”

Backing of McVay

On Friday, Rams head coach Sean McVay spoke about the overall growth of the outside linebacker room, making sure to mention Johnson and his transition by name. With Johnson being able to play on the outside, the Rams were able to bring Tutu Atwell back off injured reserve by sending Nick Hampton to the practice squad.

“I think natural growth in terms of when you have the right kinds of guys, that repetition becomes the mother of learning. They're being able to apply previous experiences the right way whether you're talking about [Outside Linebacker Jared] Verse, whether you're talking about [Outside Linebacker] ‘BY’ [Byron Young].

I've seen [Outside Linebacker] Josaiah Stewart continue to improve. It was really cool to see [Outside Linebacker] ‘Des’ [Desjuan] Johnson, a guy that had transitioned from playing inside the last few years earning a role on the outside and really making a positive impact on the game last week."

"[Outside Linebackers Coach] Joe [Coniglio] does such a good job of being able to lean in. I think they're also having an understanding of, we talk about 11 as one all the time, but where are those play opportunities on any given snap?

This might be an opportunity to set somebody else up in a rush pattern. In a defensive structure, can you be a little bit more aggressive because somebody can clean it up on the second or third levels? I'm just seeing guys understand, how do I play my role to the best of my ability, but also understand the concepts and the different things that I can anticipate? Not necessarily guess, but anticipate to be able to make my impact for our group as a collective. That's what I've seen those guys do a great job of.”