LOS ANGELES — Watching Rams training camp this summer, you can hear the impact linebacker Nate Landman is having in his first couple of weeks of practice with his new team. Just not every play.
One thing his teammates and coaches have noticed about Landman is that he saves his words for when he thinks they will have the most impact. And then he backs them up with action. Even offensive assistants have taken note, like when Landman promised his teammates they would knock the ball loose in the coming series and then two plays later it was Landman himself punching out a fumble.
“He’s got a great energy about him,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “It’s that really cool leadership of three to four words to the defense when they come out or maybe after we get a big play or something like that.”
It’s a leadership approach that Landman has honed through a football career that has given him no shortage of mentors to choose from. He had a handful of defensive coordinators during his college career at Colorado, three DCs in three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and now is on his third NFL head coach in four years.
As he’s grown as an inside linebacker, a position with a certain amount of leadership expected of it, Landman has learned not to try to rile up his teammates but to pick his moments when to speak up.
“If a negative play happens, you don’t want to make it a bigger deal than it is. And when a positive play happens, you don’t want to get too high to where then a negative something happens,” Landman said. “So it’s just trying to stay even-keeled, so a coaching point or a motivation or something to focus on and lock in, giving the down and distance, or, ‘Hey guys, this is a ball op here,’ or, ‘They’re going to take a shot,’ just kind of helps people reset, helps me reset, where guys can focus back on the situation at hand.”
When Landman was a free agent this offseason, the Rams got an in-depth scouting report from senior defensive assistant Jimmy Lake, who was Landman’s third defensive coordinator in Atlanta. Lake told the Rams’ brain trust about Landman’s physicality, his ability to be in the right spots at the right times.
That has been on clear display in training camp. Landman, who left Saturday’s practice after feeling something in his calf, has filled gaps like a boulder rolling downhill. With the Rams’ ferocious front four absorbing blocks, it’s freed up Landman and second-year backer Omar Speights to clean up in the run game.
“He’s become one of the leaders of the defense and he’s such a vocal guy. He’s a glue guy,” defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. “He can organize the whole defense, he can put a lot on his plate, he’s always in the right spot, and you just feel how physical he is.”
Shula has already entrusted Landman with “green dot” duties as the player with an earpiece in his helmet, receiving the coordinator’s play calls and relaying them to the defense.
It speaks to Landman’s standing already in the locker room, but also to his ability to pick up on the Rams defensive scheme. There was some crossover with his experience in Atlanta last year, with Lake and former Rams coordinator Raheem Morris in charge. But Landman still had to learn new verbiage, something he’s had experience with with all the different coaches he’s experienced since college.
“I know it’s a position of high responsibility and not everybody’s entrusted with that and I take that seriously,” Landman said. I know that the coaches trust me, the guys trust me because we can’t get a play started unless I relay the direct, right call. I have to be talking to those guys in situations, third down here, we can see this here.”
The trust has already been earned with his teammates.
“To be able to come and do that, it shows how often he is where he needs to be at the right time,” safety Quentin Lake said. “Also, it shows how much trust the coaching staff puts on him to be able to lead the defense, call the plays and all that stuff. He’s done an amazing job. … His transition really has been flawless. You guys have seen it, he’s been making a ton of plays.”
Injury report
Rams QB Matthew Stafford (back) is still considered week-to-week, and head coach Sean McVay ruled out the possibility of him practicing on Tuesday against the Cowboys.
DT Kobie Turner was held out of practice Saturday with back soreness.
TE Terrance Ferguson did not practice Saturday with a groin strain. McVay said there was no timeline for Ferguson’s return.
LB Pooh Paul was in pads and practicing after dealing with a calf strain through the first portion of training camp.