Rams Documentary Captures Fiske’s Authentic Reaction

The Rams appear to have dodged a missile in their January playoff loss to the Eagles. Not only did they lose a hard-fought, 28-22 battle to the Eagles, they also lost promising rookie defensive end Braden Fiske to a right knee injury.

With less than six minutes left in the first quarter, Fiske beat Jordan Mailata off the right edge to sack Jalen Hurts and force a punt. However, Fiske left the game and didn’t return, undergoing minor surgery a few days later.

But as keen viewers noticed when Fiske made a cameo as the Rams roasted their opponents in their schedule release last month, he was hard at work in his rehabilitation. And before declaring himself ready to roll, he also pulled back the curtain on his rehab during the first episode of Behind the Grind.

“It was funny,” Fiske recalled for Stu Jackson of the team’s website, “in that episode, it was the first time I'd really like, taken off and ran … But that's when I knew, I was like, ‘Okay, we're feeling good again.’

“Because you go through the rehab process, and a lot of days are monotonous, you're doing a lot of the same things. You get those opportunities to finally let it loose a little bit to kind of see where you're at. And, that day, great to get it on tape, especially for the film crew. But it was cool for me, and just to get that feeling got me juiced up again.”

The Rams are juiced up that he’s back, too. Fiske declared himself ahead of schedule and ready for both the June 16-19 minicamp in Maui, Hawaii, but also training camp in late July.

Including that sack in the divisional playoffs, Fiske finished the year with a -least a shared sack in each of the last four games. During the regular season, the second-round draft pick led both the Rams as a team and all NFL rookies with 8½ sacks.

He was an important addition among the five top-100 draft choices Los Angeles used to replace Aaron Donald in the first season following his retirement.

Fiske and Florida State teammate Jared Verse combined to form a fearsome rookie duo last season. Verse, the only first-round draft choice the Rams have had since taking Jared Goff first overall in 2016, won the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year. Fiske finished third in the final voting, behind Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell. Cooper DeJean came in fourth.

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