LOOK: Rams player practices in blonde Clay Matthews wig
Daren Bates wore a blonde wig in practice to look like Clay Matthews.
By
Will Brinson
•
1 min read
NFL teams often try to mimic players on the other side of the ball during practice. St. Louis is taking it to a new level with Clay Matthews ahead of Week 5's Rams-Packers matchup.
But the Packers decision to impersonate Matthews in practice is hardly normal. No, sir. It's the opposite and it features Rams linebacker Daren Bates wearing a blonde wig and bright red jersey.
Rams LB Daren Bates committed to playing the part of Clay Matthews in practice today with the wig and jersey. pic.twitter.com/OAOr7WDD0l
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) October 9, 2015
The goal was, according to Jeff Fisher, to ensure the Rams know where Matthews is on every play.
"He's a little shorter than Clay," Fisher said. "He moves around; he's watched Clay. I'm sure he grew up watching Clay and has a great deal of respect for Clay. Obviously we need to know where he is every snap so that's why we dressed him up a little bit."
Bates' defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was a little less kind in his appraisal.
"It didn't really look good on him," Williams joked. "He battles looks anyway. He doesn't need any more things to hurt him, for sure."
Fisher's actually done this before, using Sammy Brown to play Matthews in 2012. Fortunately it's not the same wig. That would be gross.
