How new veteran leaders are transforming Rams at training camp

The Rams won the NFL offseason.They traded for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie.Signed cornerback Jaylen Watson.

Traded for two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award winner Myles Garrett and drafted their future franchise quarterback in Ty Simpson.And that doesn’t even include re-signing their own free agents.But the Rams didn’t just spend the offseason collecting Pro-Bowlers, they assembled veteran leaders that can also help teach the next generation of young players.Sunday marked the Rams’ first day of training camp at Loyola Marymount University, an opportunity for the entire team to get together and practice what football is all about: 11-on-11, the best on offense going against the best on defense.And after that first day, one theme echoed through the noise: The Rams have a bevy of veteran leaders in all three facets of the game that can help teach the younger players.Let’s start with two-time Super Bowl Champions McDuffie and Watson.“They’re true pros,” defensive coordinator Chris Shula said of his new cornerbacks.

“They bring a great perspective to the room.Leadership is influence.”The evidence of that was already unfolding on the practice field at LMU.Young defensive backs peppered McDuffie and Watson with questions between sessions.

Veterans shared ideas instead of holding them close to the chest.Conversations flowed as naturally as the breeze off the Pacific Ocean.“Everybody is combining their knowledge to become the best defense possible,” Shula said.McDuffie, fresh off four seasons with the Chiefs, could have walked into camp with his two Super Bowl rings.

Instead, he left his résumé at the door.“I’m not trying to change the culture,” McDuffie said after practice.“It’s a clean slate.

Let’s come in and build with each other.I don’t think there should be one guy up there that has to talk all the time.

Everybody should have a voice.”That philosophy already existed inside the Rams’ locker room where they...