A Lamarcus Joyner position change seems to be one of the inevitable moves as the Los Angeles Rams begin their offseason program.
First-year head coach Sean McVay addressed reporters after the Rams’ first day on Monday, and he fielded a question about Joyner, who has 178 tackles in three years with the club.
Los Angeles last week signed Buffalo Bills free agent Nickell Robey-Coleman, as ESPN.com reported, allowing the Rams to explore alternative ways make a Joyner position change a reality on the field, McKay said.
“You flip the tape on, you look at LaMarcus Joyner; this guy’s a football player,” McVay said. “And you want to find as many ways to get him on the field as possible—whether that’s him at nickel, which I think he’s one of the elite players at that spot in this league—or the safety, I think you see an instinctual player that has a great feel for the game. And I think our coaching staff has done a nice job targeting him so that we’ve got to make sure he’s on the grass and competing.
“Anytime you add depth, like a Nickell Robey does add—he’s played a lot of football—it gives you some versatility to move a special player like Lamarcus around, potentially.”
That flexibility also may be the reason the Rams are now looking to come to a long-term contract arrangement with Trumaine Johnson, rather than trying to trade him and his wieldy $16.7 million contract in 2017.
McVay acknowledged a learning curve for Joyner.
“I think it will be an adjustment,” McVay said. “I think our coaching staff’s done a nice job kind of figuring out ways we can make that transition smooth. But there are some different exit angles when you’re talking about playing a deep half or a middle of the field. But in terms of being an underneath defender, he’s been doing things like that.”
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