Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › 7/30 … Snead (vid)
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July 30, 2015 at 3:31 pm #27771
znModeratorJuly 30, 2015 at 8:19 pm #27780znModeratorSome Wagoner/JT Post Presser Tweets
RamBill
Nick Wagoner @nwagoner
Rams GM Les Snead says whole team, save OL Cody Wichmann, passed conditioning test and ready to go. Includes WR Brian Quick (shoulder).
Quick is cleared to go but Snead indicated #Rams will “ease” him back into the mix.
As we discussed/wrote the other day, Snead says #Rams will be cautious with Todd Gurley’s return. Likely individual work to start camp.
Asked Snead if there’s need to settle center competition sooner than later, he said #Rams would like that but unlikely for true competition.
Jim Thomas @jthom1
Some highlights from Rams GM Les Snead’s Thursday media session: Team is talking w/Nick Foles agent about contract extension. . .
Snead says decision to draft so many offensive linemen (5, counting supplemental draft) was as much a reflection of talent available.. as a conscious effort to get younger on O-line.
If new QB Nick Foles stays healthy, Snead says Rams can be playoff contender: “I would anticipate that.”
When asked if he feels more pressure entering 4th season in St. Louis: “Never think about it.”
Snead says this is most talented team in the four years he and Jeff Fisher have been w/Rams: “I anticipate us contending for the West.”
Snead says it’s “definitely realistic” to think that a new deal for Foles can be in place by the end of this season.
July 31, 2015 at 12:26 am #27786znModeratorSome quotations from Snead. Taken from an article that is just Snead’s press conference typed up. I edit it down to just the quotations.
http://www.bnd.com/sports/nfl/st-louis-rams/article29568511.html
On Foles:.
“The interesting thing is from the first day in all those phases, the first day you go in the building and throw with receivers and no coaches, whatever phase that may be, it seems like from that day that skill group was like ‘Wow, we love this guy,’’’ Rams General Manager Les Snead said Thursday at Rams Park. “It’s not like he had been the quarterback here for two years; you had a case of his first day at school, hello to everybody, we don’t know each other. He kind of took charge there.
“You can tell those guys will battle, he’s done a nice job with leadership. That’s the biggest thing I can say about him. Great guy.”
Foles’s possible extension:
“I always put it in perspective,” said Snead, who confirmed he’s had talks with Foles and his agent about a contract extension with Foles in the final year of his current deal. “It’s one thing if you’ve been around three years and you walk in (and say) ‘Hey, let’s go.’ This guy is walking in the locker room and doesn’t know anybody and (says) ‘Hey, let’s go.’ It’s a little tougher.”’
On the trade:
“That’s one of the big reasons going back to Sam, it would have been hard to let Sam go and not have a replacement,” Snead said. “Because we’ve kind of lived through that. Once Nick became available, that made it very intriguing because he’s actually taken a team to the playoffs.
“I’m not saying it’s all him, but he was part of a good organization, good team, good coaching staff, and they did what they had to do.”
On Gurley doing drills in the heat:
“It’s harder,” Snead said. “It’s the same distance, (but) it’s more stressful. All the strength and conditioning (guys) will tell you that the stopping and starting more…St. Louis can get hot and that day was hot. I called that a South Alabama day where you woke up and it was (hot and humid). That was the most impressive thing. The thing about Todd is he’s a large man coming off an ACL, it’s really hot and he’s rolling.”
“He still needs time,” Snead said. “But in this scenario … like we’ve always said there’s no black and white answer. It’s all gray, so you have to kind of measure him on a weekly basis to see where he’s at. How he’s getting stronger and also how he’s recovering and how everything’s handling (with) increased intensity. As all that meshes together, that will determine the date.”
Could Gurley be ready for the season opener?
“That would be a false black and white deadline,” Snead said. “We’ll kind of see how it goes from there.”
July 31, 2015 at 1:12 am #27787znModeratorSnead believes this could be the Rams’ year
By Jim ThomasLast year at this time, Rams general manager Les Snead talked about the third year being the charm, citing examples of other rebuilding jobs in past NFL seasons around the league that clicked in Year 3.
Well, you know the story. Quarterback Sam Bradford suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Rams’ third preseason game, and things went downhill from there. The result was a 6-10 record, the worst finish in the three years of the Jeff Fisher-Snead regime in St. Louis.
Year 4 for that tandem is now upon us, and Snead remains as optimistic as ever.
As Fisher told the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday, Snead told a media gathering Thursday at Rams Park that he feels the 2015 edition is the most talented of the four Fisher-Snead squads.
“You know what? I actually do,” Snead said. “I’m not going to speak about it a ton because you’re tired of hearing about it. But you started in a pretty deep hole here.”
That was a reference, of course, to the roster he and Fisher inherited after the 2011 season and the fact that the Rams had gone 15-65 from 2007-11.
“But since ‘12, we’re third in win-percentage improvement, only behind Denver and Seattle,” Snead said. “It’s an interesting stat – we just started a lot lower down the hill than they did. But it has shown some progress.
“And there’s some adversity. You didn’t plan on 25 straight (games) with your backup quarterback. You’ve gotta always overcome it. The league usually wins about 26 percent of the games with a backup QB, and in that time we won 40 percent. And we’ve done all this with a young team.”
Those are interesting numbers. But the only numbers that matter are the wins and losses – more precisely, having more wins than losses.
“We’re close,” Snead said. “I can feel it. . . . I anticipate us contending for the West. I’m planning on it, expecting it, and not scared.”
The thought of facing Seattle, Arizona, and even a depleted San Francisco roster twice a year in the NFC West can be scary. But with a defense that returns basically intact, a new quarterback in Nick Foles, and a roster than can be characterized as young but seasoned, Snead feels this can be that long-elusive “over the hump” year for the Rams.
With a healthy Foles, Snead feels the Rams can be a legit playoff contender.
“I would anticipate that,” Snead said. “Nick’s won 63 percent of his games. . . .Once Nick became available (via trade), that made it very intriguing because the guy, he’s actually taken a team to the playoffs.”
Snead, by the way, said contract extension talks with Foles are ongoing and that it’s “definitely realistic” to think Foles could have a new Rams contract by the end of the 2015 season.
Switching to defense, Snead said he expects to see a dominant group.
“They did a heck of a job last year, when they tipped and turned and got to gel,” he said, referring the second-half surge last season. “It was fun to watch. The goal is to carry that over into this year, and sooner rather than later. . . . I don’t know if I’ve been around a defense like this one.”
The defense may have to carry the squad early in the season as Foles settles in, Todd Gurley completes his knee rehab at running back, and the ultra-young offensive line adjusts to life in the NFL.
“You would love for them, as we gel on offense, to be the bell cow,” Snead said. “Just on paper, that would be the ideal scenario. The defense kind of pulls some weight as our offense gels, and then once they gel – let’s roll.”
But as is the case with Fisher, Snead could feel job pressure if the team doesn’t contend in the West or make a legitimate playoff push.
“Never think about,” Snead said. “I get what you’re saying: It’s Year 4 of your tenure. But you’re actually more jacked about it because you actually feel good about the foundation and where we’re going. It just hasn’t occurred yet.”
With a 20-27-1 record over three seasons here, there’s no time like the present.
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