Simmons: First Day at Cal Lutheran

Rams News & Notes: First Day at Cal Lutheran

Myles Simmons

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Rams-News–Notes-First-Day-at-Cal-Lutheran/c62adfd9-10c0-48c3-beb6-95d3d4d7d2f9

The Rams have seemingly trained and practiced all over Southern California since the offseason began in mid-April. But they are now entrenched at their facility for the next few years at Cal Lutheran, where the team took the field for the first time on Monday.

It was only a walk-thru, but it was still a significant day. Aside from the relocation process, the session marked the first of the regular season.

“It feels good,” linebacker Alec Ogletree said. “We went through camp, OTAs and all that stuff. And now it’s the real thing, so we’re definitely excited about being out here at Cal Lutheran and getting ready for the season.”

“We’re settled in. We know we’re going to be here for a while and looking forward to it,” right tackle Rob Havenstein said. “Definitely going to set up some roots here. This is going to be our base of operation for a while and we’re excited to be here.”

The facility is set up in such a way that maximizes its square footage. Many features are new, but some made the move from the midwest, particularly in the locker room. The lockers themselves and the player stools that sit in front of them both came over with the team.

“It’s crazy how something that had nothing there has all of this already,” offensive lineman Rodger Saffold said. “And you’ve even got bits and pieces of the old locker room, old weight room, training room. It just makes this thing really great for us and knocks a big weight off your shoulders knowing that you’re taken care of now.”

“This right here is pretty comfortable. It’s real complimentary to everyone’s needs,” defensive lineman Will Hayes said. “And now we’re in a place where we can be stationary and we don’t have to worry about our every move anymore. So that’s a good thing in itself.”

That the team can finally settle in just as the regular season starts is no coincidence. While preseason is important to get everyone ready, it’s more about general preparation than a specific opponent. Now, each week truly counts.

Still, the Rams have by and large been able to set aside any notions of the relocation process bing a distraction since it began.

“We’ve already been in Cali — we just have been in multiple spots. That’s not really a big deal to a lot of us — most of us,” wide receiver Tavon Austin said. “Coach Fisher and [the staff], they kept us with a good mindset on it, not really worrying about travel and all that. So we already knew we were back in cali. It was just about us getting to the regular season games.

“Football is football,” Austin continued. “The living [situation] might be a little bit different, but at the same time, when we step on that gridiron, it’s green — just like an away game to a home game. So it doesn’t really matter.

“You just know at the end of the day, it’s your job. You’ve got to come out and get ready to play. San Fran is not thinking about, ‘Well, these guys are relocating, they’re probably going to be tired on Monday night.’” Hayes said. “They’re expecting for us to come out there and fight and give them a good game.”

Anytime there’s a divisional matchup, it’s going to be a challenge for both sides because of the familiarity between opponents. While San Francisco has a new head coach for the second year in a row, much of the personnel remains the same.

“It’s going to be a dogfight,” defensive tackle Aaron Donald said. “A divisional game — a team that we know, they know us. So it’s going to be a dogfight. So it’s definitely going to be a game to watch.”

And the fact that the matchup will be the backend of the Monday Night Football doubleheader may give the matchup that much more intensity.

“We get to play on Monday night. We haven’t really had a chance to do that much since I’ve been here,” Ogletree said. “But it’s definitely something that’s very exciting for us, to be able to go out there on Monday night and hopefully win the game.”

To do it, the Rams will prepare in a space carved out just for them — the first they’ve had in a long time.

“They’ve done a really nice job of getting everything in here and everybody settled in,” Ogletree said. “We’ve got everything that we need.”