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https://www.dailynews.com/2018/06/0...rs-savors-what-the-rams-defense-might-become/
Michael Brockers savors what the Rams defense might become
By MARK WHICKER
AP Photo/Chris Carlson
THOUSAND OAKS – The sacking of the quarterback is not always an unconditional victory.
The Rams trailed Atlanta, 13-0, in the second quarter of the NFL wild-card playoff game five months ago. A Coliseum crowd edgily waited to find its voice.
With 6:28 left in the second quarter, Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald responded to the snap and met each other at the body of quarterback Matt Ryan.
The Falcons punted and the fans let loose. Hardly anyone noticed the way Brockers was limping off.
“Going for the sack, AD was going low, I was going high,” Brockers said, after he came off the practice field last week. “I guess he just pushed my MCL in. I was just lucky I didn’t have to have surgery. If we’d played the next week, I probably would have tried to get out there.”
Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG
The Rams didn’t play the next week. Atlanta did, after a 26-13 victory, and the Rams’ breakneck season ran into a wall.
Brockers did not come back, and the Falcons hung onto the ball for 19:39 in the second half. They ran the ball 24 times in that half, often to where Brockers would have been. They opened that half with a 16-play drive and ran 12 times. All of that kept a baseball cap on Jared Goff’s head, instead of a helmet.
“I think it’s all about starting over,” Brockers said. “It hurts to lose like that. We had to pick ourselves back up. But we’ve got a lot going for us. It’s Goff’s second year with this playbook, it’s Todd Gurley’s second year, it’s the second year for a lot of us.
“There’s deeper meaning, deeper details in what we have to do. We need to play faster.”
But the Rams spent their offseason making sure the opponent plays slower.
They brought in cornerbacks Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Sam Shields. Then Brockers was waiting for one more call. The coaches kept telling him the Rams were close to signing Ndamukong Suh to defend the middle.
“There’s usually a lot of hype during free-agent season,” Brockers said.
Then the call came. Suh will indeed be playing next to Brockers. The possibilities began to show themselves during the Rams’ OTAs.
L.A.’s defense improved significantly during the first season of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. Its run-stopping did not. Five different teams averaged 5 yards per rush or more against the Rams. They gave up 15 running touchdowns and could only hold the foes to 4.7 yards per rush, second worst in the NFL (to the Chargers).
Suh has either been first or second-team All-Pro five times. He will play between Donald and Brockers in the 3-4. According to Pro Football Focus, Suh was the second-best defensive linemen against the run last year, Brockers was 10th and Donald 12th. There will not be a more credentialed three-man front in the NFL.
“Somebody’s going to have to deal with Suh,” Brockers said. “Somebody’s going to have to deal with AD. Coach Wade does a good job of not taking away anybody’s fastball. I think it’s exciting. We just have to figure out what each of us likes to do.”
What Brockers would like to do is win. He is the only 7-year Ram on the roster who isn’t a kicker. He played with Bennie Logan, Barkevious Mingo, Sam Montgomery and Drake Nevis on LSU’s line. He has a genial, big-brotherly air, which is no coincidence.
Brockers’ mother Tiffany is a single parent of five in Houston. Michael was the oldest, and he made sure the other four had their school clothes ready and their homework done while Tiffany worked two jobs. Then he worked at a burger joint at Hobby Airport.
“We had to do whatever it took,” he said. “It became a team thing.”
Brockers went out for football at Chavez High because he was big, not because he was strong. The coaches called him “Goo.” He worked himself into the hearts of recruiters and went to LSU. He came back to visit the family, but Tiffany had been forced to move everyone to a more dangerous part of town. So Brockers turned pro after his redshirt sophomore year, and the Rams picked him 14th in the 2012 first round.
“The first thing I did with the money was buy them a house,” he said. “It’s out in Pearland, which used to be out in the country. But I didn’t want them to have to worry about somebody breaking into the house.”
The Rams have assembled as many locks as they can. As long as they can avoid each other, they have a chance.
Michael Brockers savors what the Rams defense might become
By MARK WHICKER
AP Photo/Chris Carlson
THOUSAND OAKS – The sacking of the quarterback is not always an unconditional victory.
The Rams trailed Atlanta, 13-0, in the second quarter of the NFL wild-card playoff game five months ago. A Coliseum crowd edgily waited to find its voice.
With 6:28 left in the second quarter, Michael Brockers and Aaron Donald responded to the snap and met each other at the body of quarterback Matt Ryan.
The Falcons punted and the fans let loose. Hardly anyone noticed the way Brockers was limping off.
“Going for the sack, AD was going low, I was going high,” Brockers said, after he came off the practice field last week. “I guess he just pushed my MCL in. I was just lucky I didn’t have to have surgery. If we’d played the next week, I probably would have tried to get out there.”
Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG
The Rams didn’t play the next week. Atlanta did, after a 26-13 victory, and the Rams’ breakneck season ran into a wall.
Brockers did not come back, and the Falcons hung onto the ball for 19:39 in the second half. They ran the ball 24 times in that half, often to where Brockers would have been. They opened that half with a 16-play drive and ran 12 times. All of that kept a baseball cap on Jared Goff’s head, instead of a helmet.
“I think it’s all about starting over,” Brockers said. “It hurts to lose like that. We had to pick ourselves back up. But we’ve got a lot going for us. It’s Goff’s second year with this playbook, it’s Todd Gurley’s second year, it’s the second year for a lot of us.
“There’s deeper meaning, deeper details in what we have to do. We need to play faster.”
But the Rams spent their offseason making sure the opponent plays slower.
They brought in cornerbacks Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Sam Shields. Then Brockers was waiting for one more call. The coaches kept telling him the Rams were close to signing Ndamukong Suh to defend the middle.
“There’s usually a lot of hype during free-agent season,” Brockers said.
Then the call came. Suh will indeed be playing next to Brockers. The possibilities began to show themselves during the Rams’ OTAs.
L.A.’s defense improved significantly during the first season of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. Its run-stopping did not. Five different teams averaged 5 yards per rush or more against the Rams. They gave up 15 running touchdowns and could only hold the foes to 4.7 yards per rush, second worst in the NFL (to the Chargers).
Suh has either been first or second-team All-Pro five times. He will play between Donald and Brockers in the 3-4. According to Pro Football Focus, Suh was the second-best defensive linemen against the run last year, Brockers was 10th and Donald 12th. There will not be a more credentialed three-man front in the NFL.
“Somebody’s going to have to deal with Suh,” Brockers said. “Somebody’s going to have to deal with AD. Coach Wade does a good job of not taking away anybody’s fastball. I think it’s exciting. We just have to figure out what each of us likes to do.”
What Brockers would like to do is win. He is the only 7-year Ram on the roster who isn’t a kicker. He played with Bennie Logan, Barkevious Mingo, Sam Montgomery and Drake Nevis on LSU’s line. He has a genial, big-brotherly air, which is no coincidence.
Brockers’ mother Tiffany is a single parent of five in Houston. Michael was the oldest, and he made sure the other four had their school clothes ready and their homework done while Tiffany worked two jobs. Then he worked at a burger joint at Hobby Airport.
“We had to do whatever it took,” he said. “It became a team thing.”
Brockers went out for football at Chavez High because he was big, not because he was strong. The coaches called him “Goo.” He worked himself into the hearts of recruiters and went to LSU. He came back to visit the family, but Tiffany had been forced to move everyone to a more dangerous part of town. So Brockers turned pro after his redshirt sophomore year, and the Rams picked him 14th in the 2012 first round.
“The first thing I did with the money was buy them a house,” he said. “It’s out in Pearland, which used to be out in the country. But I didn’t want them to have to worry about somebody breaking into the house.”
The Rams have assembled as many locks as they can. As long as they can avoid each other, they have a chance.
