The Los Angeles Rams tend to give their backup players most of the reps in preseason games, and assistant coaches assume more responsibility as well.
In their 31-21 win over the Dallas Cowboys last week, offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur called the plays on offense and inside linebackers coach Greg Williams did the same for the defense.
Now as they prepare for their game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, Rams head coach Sean McVay will once again give up his role to Aubrey Pleasant. He served as the Rams’ head coach in a preseason game last year, and now will get the opportunity to do so again.
Pleasant thanked McVay and the Rams for allowing him to continue to grow as a coach with opportunities like this, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“No question (it’s helped me with the bigger picture of what it would be like to run a team),” Pleasant said after Tuesday’s practice. “You can only imagine what it’s like to actually go through this process, but to actually get the due diligence to be able to go through it. In life, you’re provided platforms and you’re provided opportunities, and I couldn’t be more thankful to be able to do this with a team that gave me my first opportunity as a position coach, which is now giving me my (second) opportunity in a head coaching role.”
In his head coaching debut last year, Pleasant led the Rams to a 13-9 win over the Chargers and received the game ball from McVay.
Pleasant is entering his seventh season with the Rams across two stints and second as assistant head coach and passing game coordinator. He was elevated to assistant head coach last year after serving as defensive backs coach in 2023.
Pleasant is one of the most respected voices in the Rams locker room and Saturday’s game will give him another chance to gain experience as a head coach while hopefully guiding the team to another victory.
Kyren Williams credits Rams head coach Sean McVay
The Rams accomplished one of their biggest goals when they agreed to a contract extension with Kyren Williams last week.
Negotiations took longer than expected, but Williams did not hold out and expressed confidence that a deal would eventually get done.
Williams credited Rams head coach Sean McVay for always believing in him and keeping him in the right mindset during difficult points of his career.
