WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Rams defensive end Kobie Turner married his longtime girlfriend, Alissa, in March before embarking on a luxurious honeymoon in Italy.
"It was awesome," Turner said. "It was a little gloomy the first week or so, and then Alissa got a little bit of food poisoning. But after that, we turned the corner, hit the Amalfi Coast, (it was the) best time ever."
After embarking on culinary and nature-filled adventures abroad, Turner is back in the Rams' facility with the rest of the team and is ready to get back to work. This offseason, he wants to master his personal role, no matter the context, while understanding everyone else's on the defensive line so they can play cohesively and communicate seamlessly. Entering his third NFL season, Turner has designs on how they can do that.
"The reason why I'm here is to be able to go and win my one-on-one matchups, and also to be able to make the most out of my double team opportunities," Turner said. "So it comes down to knowing my role, knowing in every position what role do I play to be able to help the team thrive.
"It's being able to be a master in my opportunities and doing my role enough so that when it's somebody else's turn, then they can eat."
Turner said that defensive line coach Giff Smith put together film cut-ups of Turner rushing from each position on the line to help him understand what worked for him last year. Turner said he's excited to "hone in" on those specific tactics, some of which he's already noticed. He plans to work with Krav Maga instructor/offensive and defensive line coach Al "Poodie" Carson (who he worked with last season and who went viral for training Aaron Donald with fake knives years ago) before OTAs.
Turner wants to develop the successful trends that jumped out in Smith's film cut up with Carson, because he provides uniquely specific training exercises that break things down "in the body in such a magnified way," Turner said.
"I'm excited to be able to go back to 'Poodie' as well, and to be able to work with him and to bring to him, 'Okay, this is what I'm focusing on. How can we tweak this? What do the body mechanics look like?'"
As he did last season, Turner plans to bring Carson out to Los Angeles at some point to train with the rest of the Rams' offensive and defensive line. Prior to the 2024 season, Turner said that built camaraderie, and helped linemen "truly break down" their crafts.
The Rams' young pass rush generated heavy pressure from the jump last year, but they started turning those into sacks as the individuals on the line got on the same page throughout the season. Turner said that required "extreme ownership" of individual roles along with an understanding of everyone else's responsibilities on any given play.
"Not only do we have an appreciation and a knowledge of the base of (the defense), now that we know each other in a different way and we've been able to work and rush with each other for a year, how do we use that to our advantage? How do the finer details of everything change up just a little bit so that now we're able to rush four as one, five as one, however you want to put it?" Turner said.
The core defensive line of Turner, Braden Fiske, Jared Verse and Byron Young will all return in 2025, although nose tackle Bobby Brown III was replaced with Poona Ford, and outside linebacker Michael Hoecht left in free agency. Still, the base of the defensive front is intact, and Turner is pumped for the addition of Ford.
"He's one of those guys that looks like he plays the the game of football the way that we do it here," Turner said.
He added that, from what he's seen on tape, Ford doesn't get locked up in one gap, has a nose for the football and "knows his opportunities," which is an important aspect of the Rams' defensive line operation. As a leader in the locker room, and a captain in just his second NFL season last year, Turner takes it upon himself to be a prominent voice in that room, which may include getting Ford up to speed.
Last season, Turner had to figure out a leadership style that's "authentic" to who he is as a person while also commanding the respect of his teammates. He leaned on fellow captain Quentin Lake as well as Donald to help him find his voice as a young leader on the team. Turner's ability to "build people up" came naturally to him, but vocally demanding more from his teammates was a transition that he welcomed, and something he's looking forward to developing further in 2025.
"I learned last year that there's a element to it that sometimes showing is not enough," Turner said. "Sometimes, you have to demand stuff out of people. Sometimes, you have to be real with people and tell them the ways in which they're hurting or helping."
