IRVINE, Calif. -- When Raheem Morris coached defensive backs in Washington, he constantly told his players that they were the "bus drivers" of the team. The ones who made everything go. This was during a three-year period from 2012 to '14. Aubrey Pleasant was Morris' assistant in the final year of that stretch, and now he coaches cornerbacks for the Los Angeles Rams. He brought that term with him.
"For him, it was an idea," Pleasant said. "I wanted to take it as a lifestyle."
Pleasant drills this into his cornerbacks, as does Ejiro Evero with the safeties. "Be the bus drivers," they'll tell them, in the meeting room, during drill work, from the sidelines. When the team returns to its permanent facility in Thousand Oaks, California, this month, Pleasant will emblazon the slogan on a wall somewhere. It comes with a lot of responsibility.
"We set the intensity; we set the tempo," Rams slot corner Nickell Robey-Coleman said.
"Out of every position, we have the shortest room for error," Pleasant explained. "If you have the shortest room for error, are you going to let someone else drive the bus, or are you going to drive it?"
Rams defensive backs have been driving the bus throughout training camp. They celebrate the most, talk the loudest. They're good, and they aren't afraid to tell you. During what became a very physical joint practice with the neighboring Los Angeles Chargers on Wednesday, it was three of Pleasant's cornerbacks -- Robey-Coleman, Trumaine Johnson and E.J. Gaines -- involved in three altercations. Pleasant didn't like that so much. He wants to see fire out of his group, but he pleads for composure.
"There's always a line," he said. "There's always a line."
Johnson felt Chargers receiver Dontrelle Inman crossed it on Wednesday, by repeatedly jamming his hand through his facemask off the line of scrimmage. Johnson ripped off his helmet and shoved Inman in the face. Robey-Coleman snuck up from behind and pushed Inman to the turf, then the Chargers' Keenan Allen body-slammed Robey-Coleman in retaliation. Gaines was involved in the next two, emerging bloodied and sent to the locker room for the rest of the afternoon.
They say it brought them together.
"It strengthens that bond a lot," Robey-Coleman said. "When I've seen my teammates have my back, when I have Trumaine's back, following the code, the team code, when I see that, I'm looking on film and I'm like, 'Man, he's got my back.' It makes me give my all. It makes you sacrifice. It makes you sacrifice for your teammate. It lets you know that somebody cares; that your peers care. And that's what sometimes matters more than what a coach says -- your peers giving you that ultimate respect."
Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said during the spring that his secondary is "stronger than people think," and it is seemingly showing up during the summer.
Robey-Coleman and Kayvon Webster, who is expected to start, have brought energy and ferocity to a group that includes Johnson, Gaines, and safeties Maurice Alexander, Lamarcus Joyner and Cody Davis. Behind them are promising young players such as John Johnson, Troy Hill, Blake Countess and Mike Jordan, among others. The Rams appear to have some real depth in their secondary.
"Man, it's crazy," Gaines said. "I think everybody in our secondary can play on a team. That's just the scariest part. It’s really a good thing on our team, but it's a love-hate thing because everybody can't make it."
They're also in a scheme that gets the most out of them. Phillips' defense provides "very simple and effective concepts" for the secondary, Robey-Coleman said. Pleasant sees "an attacking base defense that allows them to focus on technique and discipline, instead of over-schematics." The responsibilities may change, but the technique never does. It also allows them to play fast and free.
"Some defenses have a philosophy of bend but don't break," Pleasant said, "and that's not us."
Gaines returned a Jared Goff tipped pass for a touchdown early in camp and made one of Wednesday's best plays, batting away what would've been a leaping catch by Cooper Kupp. He said he's had a chip on his shoulder since the start of camp. But others are bringing an edge, too. Like Trumaine Johnson, playing under his second consecutive franchise tag and striving to prove himself as an elite cornerback heading into free agency. Or Webster, primed for a starting job after four long years on the sideline. Or Robey-Coleman, a feisty, 5-foot-8 slot corner who has given this group a spark. Or Joyner, who's preparing for an expanded role and once compared a career in the NFL to a life as a lion.
"It's vigorous and violent," Joyner said, "but it's short-lived."
The secondary keeps driving the bus.
"Whenever we get down out there, the DBs have to make plays in order to pick everybody back up," Gaines said. "That's what we've done this whole camp."