Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) is sandwiched between St. Louis Rams cornerback E.J. Gaines (33) and Rams outside linebacker Alec Ogletree (52) in this picture from October 26, 2014.

By Jim Thomas/St. Louis Post-Dispatch


In the moment, Alec Ogletree had no idea what was going on. Neither did defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
And much of the luster was taken off Ogletree’s day because: a.) the Rams lost a game they should’ve won; and b.) he had some hiccups in pass coverage.
But when all was said and done last Sunday at FedEx Field, Ogletree had 18 tackles from his outside linebacker post in the Rams’ 24-10 loss to Washington.
Now, teammate James Laurinaitis has logged a ton of tackles since joining the Rams in 2009 out of Ohio State. But Laurinaitis never had 18 tackles in a game.
Neither did Rams linebacker predecessors Will Witherspoon, or Pisa Tinoisamoa, or Dexter Coakley, or Robert Thomas, or Tommy Polley, or Jamie Duncan.
In fact, one must go all the way back to Sept. 23, 2001, a 30-26 victory at San Francisco, to find a game in which any Rams defender had a higher tackling total. The great London Fletcher was credited with 21 stops that day, the first game for the Rams after the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
“I was shocked when I saw the stats after the ballgame,” Williams said. “I had no idea he had that many tackles. You get used to him doing that. But you know what, he does that in practice, too.”
What does it feel like to make 18 tackles in a game?
“Sore,” Ogletree said, laughing. “It’s fun. I work real hard to go out there and just perform on the field. I didn’t really (notice) the stats until after the game.”
But as Ogletree gets a sprinter’s start on his third NFL season, one thing seems obvious. Teammate Laurinaitis will become the Rams’ career tackler leader Sunday against visiting Pittsburgh. But Ogletree has become the team’s most productive defender.
Actually, Ogletree has finished with more tackles than Laurinaitis in each of his prior two NFL seasons, although he edged Laurinaitis by only one tackle -- 169 to 168 — last season.
But it looks like Ogletree has taken his game to another level this year, and he gives Laurinaitis a lot of the credit for helping him get there.
The physical part of the game has never really been a problem for Ogletree. He can run and chase opponents all over the field, bringing down ball carriers and pass-catchers with regularity, and knocking footballs loose.
But he spent a lot of this past offseason fine-tuning his approach to the mental part of the game.
“Just learning offensive schemes, and what they want to do to the defense,” Ogletree said. “How they’re trying to attack us. I spent time with James, learning from him. He’s one of the greatest that I’ve ever seen as far as learning the mental part of the game.”
The results have been impressive.
“It’s definitely paying off,” Ogletree said. “I’m able to trigger faster and just fly around and make plays.”
But there’s more to Ogletree’s fast start than just those study sessions. A year ago at the start of camp, Ogletree wasn’t in the best of shape. NFL players are finely-tuned, high-performance athletes. You can’t always get in tip-top shape at the snap of your fingers, and Ogletree started slowly during the 2014 regular season.
“He had a lot cheeseburgers in (that) offseason,” Laurinaitis said. “He came in as a rookie as a thin guy, ran around really well. A lot of times after that rookie year — you’ve got a lot of time and there’s a lot of food you can eat. And my man was a little heavy.”
Ogletree doesn’t deny that was the case. He felt like he needed a little break after his 2013 rookie season. It’s not as if he came back to camp in ‘14 looking like a sumo wrestler.
But Ogletree said, “I kind of let my body get away from me a little bit.”
He didn’t make the same mistake this past offseason. He stayed around St. Louis most of the offseason and worked out at Rams Park. Or watched film. And if he needed to freshen up from the rigors of football?
“Cold tub,” Ogletree chuckled.
“He came back into camp this year in phenomenal shape,” Laurinaitis said. “Worked extremely hard. He’s a smart, instinctual player. And I think (against Washington) what you saw is him just flying to the ball.
“He keeps getting smarter and smarter, and so when you combine your instincts with how well he knows the defense, I think you’re really starting to see him blossom.”
Williams says the sky’s the limit for Ogletree.
“Behind the football, running and hitting, he’s as good as any linebacker in this league, and as good as any linebacker I’ve ever had a chance to coach,” Williams said. “That was one of the things that I had to make an adjustment on last year when I first came here because I was planning on playing him at the line of scrimmage too much.”
Ogletree still needs work in pass coverage, an important component of the weakside linebacker — or WIL — position. He sometimes wanders out of position in zone coverage. Against Washington, he got beat off the line of scrimmage by tight end Jordan Reed, leading to a key 29-yard gain on third-and-5 in the fourth quarter.
“I had bad technique and let him get inside of me and keep running up field,” Ogletree said. “It was a bad play on my part.”
But as Ogletree progresses, such bad plays are decreasing. His linebacker coach at Georgia, Kirk Olivadotti, coached Fletcher at Washington. They talked about Fletcher and watched film of Fletcher at Georgia, so Ogletree came to St. Louis with an appreciation for what the former Rams Super Bowl middle linebacker could do.
“He played for what — 17 years?” Ogletree said. “He did it for a long time, so you can’t question that.”
If Ogletree even gets within shouting distance of 17 years, Laurinaitis may be simply keeping that Rams tackling record warm for his teammate.