Anytime their team had a game the following day, Eric Weddle’s coaches learned to expect their phones to buzz deep into the night.
Weddle often stayed up long past midnight studying film of the upcoming opponent and mulling tweaks to the game plan. He’d then text anything from inspirational quotes, to weaknesses he had identified, to ideas for which blitz would best counter a jet sweep.
That is all perfectly normal behavior for a 37-year-old NFL veteran, except that the Los Angeles Rams safety wasn’t texting Sean McVay and his staff.