Rams DC Brandon Staley says no change in preparation for Kyle Allen
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley said his group’s preparation for Sunday’s game against the Washington Football Team will mostly remain the same now that Kyle Allen is the starter.
Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera announced on Wednesday that the organization has benched Dwayne Haskins, a first-round selection in last year’s draft that according to Rivera didn’t show enough in 11 starts over two seasons to merit holding onto the job.
“We gave Dwayne every opportunity to be our starter,” Rivera said. “He’s kind of plateaued. We’re looking for a spark.”
Haskins was replaced in the lineup by Allen and has fallen all the way to No. 3 on the depth chart, with Alex Smith now serving as the No. 2 quarterback. Haskins likely will not be active on game day against the Rams.
“Not a lot is going to change,” Staley said about the quarterback switch. “They still have an offense that you have to defend certainly stylistically. He’s a different player than Dwayne, so you have to go back in inventory to his career in Carolina. And there will be elements that are different stylistically between the two players.
“But from an offensive standpoint, you still have to defend the other 10 guys, and we kind of have an inventory of 12 games from Carolina to see how he was featured in that offense, and then we’ll move forward from there.”
This offseason, the Washington Football Team traded a fifth-round selection in this year’s draft to the Carolina Panthers for Allen, reuniting him with Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner
In two seasons with the Panthers, Allen completed 62 percent of his passes for 3,588 passing yards, with 19 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 15 games played, including 13 starts. Allen was sacked 46 times, posting a nose-pinching 64.4 passer rating.
“There’s a lot of good tape on him,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “He did a lot of good things. He’s got some comfort and familiarity with (Washington Football Team offensive coordinator) Scott Turner and running the system that they want to be able to activate.
“So Kyle is a good football player, and we’ll be ready.”
