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Dante Fowler came up with a huge play for the Rams in the NFC Championship Game when he hit Saints quarterback Drew Brees on a passing play in overtime and helped forced a poor throw that Rams safety John Johnson picked off to set up the game-winning field goal.

That kind of impact in the pass rush is what led the Rams to trade a pair of draft picks to Jacksonville to acquire Fowler before the trade deadline in October. Fowler wasn’t playing much in Jacksonville and told Robert Klemko of SI.com that he felt “like they gave up on me” after a torn ACL as a rookie and a July 2017 arrest.

Fowler also believes that the Jaguars thought too much of themselves after making the AFC title game last year. Fowler said “we weren’t humble” and that other teams were hungrier despite how close the Jags came last year. Fowler did not find the same was true of the Rams.

“I’m grateful to work with a group of guys like that,” Fowler said. “We have a lot of star power, guys with accolades, rings, Hall of Fame credentials, but these guys are humble and they put all that behind them. They keep the main thing the main thing.”

Fowler has played much more with the Rams than he did in Jacksonville and that bump as well as his production in the postseason — 1.5 sacks along with the key play against Brees — should serve him well once he hits free agency in March.