Leonard Floyd Elated to Rejoin Former Bears Assistant
Leonard Floyd is in a new situation with the Los Angeles Rams.
It always helps to have a familiar face around to talk to in a new setting, and he does.
As Floyd tries to fit in with a new team in a new city, he is reunited with his former outside linebackers coach with the Bears, new Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.
"I was expecting him to be a D coordinator sooner rather than later," Floyd said Monday about Staley to L.A. reporters. "I was happy for him when I found out he got the job. I knew he was going to go in and do it the right way."
The right way to Floyd would be what Staley learned in Chicago under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, and then in Denver last year after both left the Bears for the Broncos.
"I believe coach Staley is going to use some of the same things that he learned from coach Vic and bring it to LA, and then go out and dominate," Floyd said.
The Bears have the Rams on the schedule this year in an Oct. 26 Monday night game so they'll get to see how Staley and Floyd do together.
Floyd's sack totals dwindled every year as a Bear after recording seven as a rookie out of Georgia in 2016. He had disappointed in this respect, although he defended the run and covered passes well.
"I'm a guy that can do more than one thing on the field," Floyd said. "I can set the edge in the run. I can drop in coverage. And I'm coming to LA to continue to work on my pass rush, to elevate that even more."
He'll have help. While he had Khalil Mack on the opposite side of the line with the Bears, possibly the premier outside pass rusher in the game, he'll be working with the premier inside pass rusher now with defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
"I'm going to come in and just try to be there at the right tie before he gets (to the QB) because you know he's coming," Floyd said. "Hopefully a couple of them will fall in my lap."
It didn't work this way so much in Chicago.
Perhaps in a new setting Floyd will attain the level of elite pass rusher the Bears had hoped to see when making him the ninth pick of the 2016 draft.
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