Former Rams cornerback Cortland Finnegan recently gave the team the figurative Andre Johnson treatment, taking a few verbal swings at the coaching staff and schemes. And like Andre Johnson, the Rams are swinging back at Finnegan, albeit privately.
Finnegan called the team’s defensive approach in 2013 “atrocious,” adding that former defensive coordinator Tim Walton was “in over [his] head” and that the defense struggled from “game plan to technique to fundamentals.”
A source with knowledge of the team’s thinking tells PFT that the problem with Finnegan had far less to do with the coaching or the schemes and far more to do with Finnegan.
Some believe the Rams actually played better without Finnegan, who eventually landed on injured reserve in November with a fracture of the orbital bone. We’re told that Finnegan initially tried to play with the injury and that, as he struggled, the injury became a crutch.
So he decided to have surgery, and the team placed him on IR. And, per the source, Finnegan never actually had surgery.
While Finnegan currently is saying all the right things in Miami, those who know him predict it’s simply a matter of time before he has issues with the coaching staff there — especially if he struggles and needs someone other than himself to blame for it.