Rams OC Mike LaFleur focused on resolving red zone woes, not facing brother on opposite sideline

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Outside of a chance to bring the whole family together, Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur isn't flustered knowing his brother, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur, will be on the opposing sideline Sunday.

Mike LaFleur's bigger concern this week is trying to get the Rams' floundering red zone offense on track after struggles inside the 20-yard line again proved costly in a 24-18 loss at Chicago.

“We’re all in this thing together,” LaFleur said Thursday. “There’s no panic from it. It’s been a small sample size.”

Scoring touchdowns in the red zone has been one of the glaring weaknesses amid the Rams' 1-3 start. They are operating at a 41.2% clip, having produced seven touchdowns on 17 chances.

The optimist in LaFleur points to the number of trips inside the 20, which is tied with Washington and Philadelphia for second in the NFL and only trails Detroit (18). But the realist recognizes the points left on the table were the difference in defeats to the Lions and Bears.

“Of course, in this league when you kick field goals like we have, you get the results that we got on Sunday,” LaFleur said. “We have to be better down there, and we will be.”

There is no one obvious cause for the Rams' issues, which makes it all the more frustrating on the heels of a 1 for 4 showing against Chicago. One trip was undone by a play call that put tight end Colby Parkinson too close to the sideline and allowed the defender to force him out of bounds. An offensive pass interference penalty did in another. The third was scuttled when receivers couldn't get separation on first-and-goal, putting the offense off schedule and unable to recover.

“There’s less grass to defend technically for a defense so if you want to get granular with it, I feel like windows become smaller," quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "There are definitely some things that make it a little bit tougher, but if you execute well down there you can usually find your way into it. We just haven’t done a good enough job of that the last couple of weeks.”

The injury absences of receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua seems to be magnified in the red zone. Kupp, who will miss his third straight game because of an ankle injury, and Nacua, who is on injured reserve after aggravating a training camp knee injury in the season opener at Detroit, are both creative and physical route runners who thrive in short and intermediate spaces.

There are also the Rams' offensive line ailments, with starters Steve Avila (knee) and Jonah Jackson (shoulder) both out of the lineup.

Those situations shrink the already thin margin for error inside the 20.

“When you get down there, your execution, everything has to be tighter,” LaFleur said.

That was clear on their lone touchdown drive, which saw the offense string together multiple authoritative runs by Kyren Williams leading to him a 3-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to get Los Angeles within two points.

Under normal circumstances, LaFleur might reach out to his brother, whose Packers are 2-2, for suggestions on how to get things on track. Not this week, however.

“I guess we say a little less to each other on Monday and Tuesday in terms of schematics and all that stuff, but still talked to him yesterday,” LaFleur said.

That change in routine is becoming just that — routine. This is the fifth time the LaFleurs have faced off since Matt became the Green Bay head coach ahead of the 2019 season. They split two games in 2019-2020 when Mike was an assistant with San Francisco. Mike was victorious as the New York Jets' offensive coordinator in 2022, but dropped last year's matchup in his first season with Los Angeles.

“It seems like we play every year right now," Mike LaFleur said. "The only thing I look forward to, outside of the challenge that we have on Sunday, is getting to see my nephew that gets to come into town. That’s about it.”

But that didn't stop LaFleur from getting in one little dig.

“My mom likes me more, so she’s cheering for me," he joked.

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Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur looks onto he field during the first half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford looks over the Chicago Bears defense with guard Logan Bruss (60) snd offensive tackle Alaric Jackson during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford sets up to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford hands the ball off to running back Kyren Williams during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman who says she worked as a hair-and-makeup stylist for Garth Brooks alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday that he raped her in a Los Angeles hotel in 2019.

The woman does not use her name and goes by Jane Roe in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. Brooks forcefully denied the allegations in a statement and acknowledged he tried to get a court to stop Thursday's lawsuit from being filed.

The woman says in the lawsuit she had worked for Brooks' wife, country singer Trisha Yearwood, since 1999, and had started also working for Brooks in 2017.

She said the assault occurred when she traveled from Nashville to Los Angeles with Brooks, who was performing with soul singer Sam Moore at a Grammy Awards tribute to Moore in October 2019.

Brooks normally traveled with an entourage, but the two were alone on his private jet, and he booked just one hotel suite for both of them, the lawsuit says.

The woman alleges that in the suite, he appeared naked in the doorway to the bedroom and raped her.

The suit says that he then proceeded as though nothing had happened and expected her to do his hair and makeup immediately after.

The woman's lawsuit alleges that earlier in 2019, when she was at Brooks' home, he had appeared naked in front of her, grabbed her hands, and put them on his genitals.

Brooks filed a preemptive lawsuit in federal court in Mississippi last month, in which both him and the woman are anonymous.

In court filings in that case, the plaintiff, going by John Doe, says the allegations are “wholly untrue,” and he first learned of them in July when she threatened to publicly sue him unless he gave her millions of dollars.

He asked a judge to stop the woman from “intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and false light invasion of privacy.”

“For the last two months, I have been hassled to no end with threats, lies, and tragic tales of what my future would be if I did not write a check for many millions of dollars,” Brooks’ statement said. “It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face."

Brooks said he filed the case anonymously “for the sake of families on both sides.”

“I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be," his statement concluded.

The woman's suit also says Brooks exposed himself to her many other times and talked about sexual fantasies with her and sent her explicit text messages.

She said she was forced to keep working for Brooks because of financial hardship, which he knew about and took advantage of.

An email to the woman's attorney asking whether she had reported her allegations to police was not immediately answered.

The 62-year-old Oklahoma-born Brooks was the biggest star in country music of the 1990s, with hits including “Friends in Low Places" and “The Thunder Rolls.” He brought arena-rock theatrics to his concerts and a pop-music sensibility to his recordings. He had huge success that went beyond typical country audiences.

He married fellow country star Yearwood in 2005. There was no immediate response to a message to a Yearwood representative seeking comment on the lawsuit.

FILE - Garth Brooks speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Tennessee Titans new NFL football stadium, Feb. 29, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)