Rams Jared Verse Talks Lessons Learned From Early Season

On Thursday, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula spoke on his defense and their continued top performances.

Q: How does Nate Landman and Quentin Lake’s connection and communication affect the defense?

“It really feels like they've known each other forever," stated Shula. "They played in the East-West game together in college and in the same conference coming out. They've been pretty close really since Nate got here. They are like two coaches on the field. If those guys ever wanted to coach, they would be excellent coaches and it's great to have them. They're really extensions of the coaching staff. There's a lot of stuff that they're suggesting to us that we do and we're listening to them. It's always back and forth and they take stuff into their own hands. Those are two of the best communicators I've ever been around. We're lucky to have them.”

Q: What did you see on film that led to 49ers' RB Christian McCaffrey having an impact as a receiver in Week 5?

“A lot of different things," stated Shula. "I think when you look at it, every play is its own entity. It depends on when those yards come, whether it’s normal down and distance. The second play of the game I think he had a screen for 15 or 18 [yards]. Some of those plays are check downs and he's just breaking tackles and some of those plays, he's the primary in the route and that's what the hardest thing about [defending] him."

"Obviously [49ers Head Coach] Kyle [Shanahan] is one of the best in the league at getting the guys who are his primaries and getting him the looks he wants and Christian's the primary a lot in that offense run or pass. When he’s not the primary and somebody else is, he's the outlet. He's the outlet where most guys in the league are going to two or three yards and he might break a tackle or slip through guys and he's the best at finding creases and always falling forward. He's making those eight to 10, if not 15 to 20 [yards]. It's a huge challenge and we have to population tackle, and we have to be disciplined in our coverages.”

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