LOS ANGELES — In the second half of the Rams’ game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday night, cornerback Josh Wallace approached defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
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Wallace was frustrated with himself. He had just missed a tackle for loss on receiver Jaylen Waddle, then was called for pass interference. But he was determined to put those moments behind him, and soon after delivering a quick message to Shula, he did just that with an interception.
“He came back to me after a couple of those plays and said, ‘Hey, I owe you one,’” Shula said. “And then he comes out and gets the pick and says, ‘I told you, Coach.’ He’s unfazed, he’s extremely smart, he’s a true professional.”
Much of the attention directed at Wallace in the aftermath of Sunday’s game was due to the pivotal second pass interference call that went against him, one in which he fought for position on an interception only for the Broncos’ game-winning drive to be extended.
The Rams requested an explanation from the NFL on the ruling, and were told that the play should not have been flagged, head coach Sean McVay said on Wednesday. But Wallace said Thursday he didn’t need that for any kind of closure.
“I kind of moved on after we watched it,” Wallace said. “You really can’t do nothing about it.”
Lost in the controversy was that Wallace actually had a really strong performance against the Broncos after he put those mistakes behind him. He was physical at the line of scrimmage and stayed with his covers, forcing quarterback Bo Nix to make difficult throws.
“Stud. Just complete football player, I thought he played awesome,” Shula said. “Couldn’t say enough good things about Josh Wallace. He comes in, he competes, he can move around, play different spots.”
The Rams (1-2) will likely need a bigger dose of Wallace the next couple of weeks. Outside corner Jaylen Watson left Sunday’s game with a dislocated shoulder. While he won’t be put on injured reserve, Watson won’t play this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles (2-1).
So the Rams will need to call on Wallace to play outside corner in Watson’s absence. It’s a position Wallace played in college, though he has largely focused on safety and nickel corner in his two-plus years with the Rams.
“It’s really just doing my job at the end of the day. All of us are able to play multiple positions,” Wallace said. “We gotta do our job and make plays when they come.”
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One of the benefits of bringing Watson in during the offseason was that it allowed the Rams to tap into All-Pro Trent McDuffie’s versatility and ability to line up at outside corner or in the slot, shuffling the secondary around depending on matchups.
While Shula acknowledged that injuries always lead to some level of reevaluation of rotations and responsibilities, he insisted that the Rams still feel like they can play McDuffie in the slot in Watson’s absence.
“Luckily we got two guys that we feel with [Emmanuel Forbes] and with Josh that can come in and kind of fill those [outside] roles,” Shula said. “We don’t see it as a limitation at all of what we can do with Trent.”
Forbes, however, had a difficult night against the Broncos. He was knocked to the ground on a screen pass that led to a touchdown, not to mention penalties on defense and special teams.
“The competitive stamina to keep competing,” Shula said when asked what the coaching points were for Forbes coming out of Sunday. “We’re just keeping work with him and we trust in him and expect him to go out and make plays.”
INJURY REPORT
Wide receiver Puka Nacua (groin) was a limited participant in practice on Thursday after limited participation on Wednesday. But Nacua said he felt like he had no limitations after practice.
“I’m taking it one day at a time,” Nacua said when asked if would play against the Eagles. “But I felt great.”
Offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase said he was encouraged by what he saw from Nacua – who has missed the past two games – on Wednesday, particularly when he twisted to catch a pass from assistant wide receivers coach Rob Calabrese that went behind him during individual drills.
“He had to pirouette to make the play. You know, Rob Calabrese is usually a pretty accurate guy so I don’t know if he was testing him,” Scheelhaase joked. “But I did think he looked good, progressing along.”
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