The Rams have lost a handful of games in disappointing fashion this season, falling flat against the Bills, 49ers and Cowboys. But their loss to the Buccaneers was frustrating for a different reason.
They led for most of the game and were in complete control, only allowing a single touchdown to Tom Brady and the Bucs – which was the game-winner with 9 seconds left. Jalen Ramsey expressed his frustration after the game, saying the defense should not have been on the field after already making a fourth-down stop late.
Then on his podcast, “Straight off the Press,” he opened up further about the overall feeling in the locker room. He was blunt in saying there are a lot of “pissed off” players and the mood of the team is “not good” – which he sees as a good thing.
“That game was definitely frustrating and sitting here now at 3-5, we’re in Week 9, it feels like we gotta go. Now,” he said. “It has to be some tension and some urgency and some competitive nature. We gotta get this (expletive) corrected and fixed right now. We do not have time. We can’t spare games. We don’t have games to spare. We gotta go get it right now. It’s like now or never. That’s what it felt like even before going into the game and now it definitely feel like that.
“It pissed us off. The mood isn’t good, which is a good thing. People are pissed off. People are pissed off on the defense, obviously, because we feel like we’ve been playing well enough to win some games. People are pissed off on the offense, obviously, because they feel like they’ve not been able to do what they can do and be a high-powered offense. Definitely, this one hurt. This one hurt because we felt like we had the game in control, especially toward the end of the game and we still came out losing.”
Ramsey is a leader in the locker room, and an outspoken one. But he wasn’t the only player who made their feelings known after Sunday’s loss to the Bucs. He says other players were also frustrated and spoke out about it in the locker room.
Sean McVay even gave a different type of speech than he usually does, which shows how things have changed for Los Angeles.
“Today going into the locker room after the game, there were a couple guys who were pissed off and showed their frustration and spoke on their frustration. Pissed off for greatness,” he said. “And honestly, I think that’s what we need right now on this team. … Going into the locker room today and seeing that vibe from a couple guys, it was one of those moments where it was like, ‘Damn, about time. About time y’all gonna say something, too.’ That’s how it felt in the locker room. Personally, for me seeing some of those guys saying something – even seeing Coach say something like that. Not necessarily having the same type of speech as he’s had in other games. That’s good stuff. That’s good for a football team.”
During the podcast, Ramsey shared that he and Jacob Harris got into a scuffle during practice last week. Harris was on the scout team as Mike Evans, who Ramsey expected to cover most of the game.
Ramsey didn’t feel Harris was giving him “the correct looks” that he needed, so he got on the second-year receiver.
“He had that dog. He came right back with it,” Ramsey said of Harris. “So then we got into a scuffle and the rest of the week, he practiced amazing. It was probably one of the best scout team performances by a receiver that I’ve ever had to go against to get prepared for a game. That’s what we do, though. We challenge each other. And we had to get into a little scuffle and our teammates broke it up and then we go back to practicing and practice hard. That’s what gets you better.”
There’s clearly no quit in Ramsey and he doesn’t feel the team will quit, either. He just wants to see more urgency, accountability and fire as the Rams try to turn their season around. Because even though they haven’t yet crossed the halfway mark, they’re running out of time to right the ship.
