Raheem Morris: If you get in enough gunfights, you’re bound to get shot

Recently the discussion surrounding Jalen Ramsey’s recent struggles has sometimes hovered around the schemes utilized by Raheem Morris since he took over for Brandon Staley as defensive coordinator in 2021. Morris, who will be facing one of his former teams when the L.A. Rams face the Atlanta Falcons, met with the media on Thursday and discussed his history with that organization, including how it all eventually came apart with the previous Dan Quinn regime.

“Our business is production drive, and that’s never gonna change,” said Morris, as reported by The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue. “That’s just the nature of the beast.”

Morris was not selected as Quinn’s replacement, which ultimately went to Arthur Smith, and he was essentially fired with the rest of the staff. Morris accepts that’s part of the business and likened it to shootouts in the old west.

“In this business, whether you play the game or coach the game, gunfighters get shot. If you get in enough gunfights, you’re bound to get shot. That’s usually what happens.”

Morris has been on the wrong end of a couple of gunfights. He was fired as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach after his third season, in addition to being let go by Atlanta owner Arthur Blank two years ago. After losing to the Buffalo Bills 31-10 in Week 1, Morris’s defense is going to need to make sure they aren’t bringing a knife this Sunday’s game against the Falcons.

The defense didn’t look to dangerous to open the season and it’s bound to be a wild, wild NFC West.