the reporters on the Miami game (including Thomas & Wagoner)

Observation Deck: St. Louis Rams
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/11024/observation-deck-st-louis-rams-4

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher played coy all week about how much his starters would play against the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.

As it turned out, they didn’t play at all. All 22 likely starters sat out and Miami took a similar approach. From the Rams’ standpoint, that’s completely understandable, given what happened in the first half in Cleveland last Saturday, when five starters left with injuries.

In the battle of the junior varsity squads, the Rams (1-3) jumped to an early lead but couldn’t hang on late as the Dolphins scored 14 unanswered points for a 14-13 win.

Some more thoughts and observations from Thursday’s game:

On defense, the Rams showed a lot of a three-down-linemen look with three linebackers and five defensive backs. Even with backups in, coordinator Gregg Williams was OK with showing a few blitzes. On offense, they spent a lot of time with two tight ends in the game, with little in the way of pre-snap motion or movement.

No. 2 overall pick Greg Robinson received a lot of playing time, starting at left tackle. So much for putting him at left guard and letting him settle in there. It’s fair to wonder at this point if he’s going to start the season as a backup.

Defensive linemen Michael Sam and Ethan Westbrooks continued to make their cases for roster spots. Sam was particularly impressive against the run, which is a good sign for a guy who has mostly showed up as a pass rusher to this point. He finished with six tackles. Westbrooks continued to show his versatility and came up with his second sack of the preseason to go with four tackles and two quarterback hits. Backup ends Eugene Sims and William Hayes did not play, leaving a lot of work for Sam and Westbrooks.

Receiver Austin Pettis has been awfully quiet in this preseason with one catch for 21 yards in the first three games, but he did come up with an 11-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.

With Trumaine Johnson out four to six weeks because of a sprained MCL, the Rams could keep as many as six cornerbacks. There’s likely one spot up for grabs among the group of Marcus Roberson, Darren Woodard and Greg Reid. Woodard made the best case Thursday night, showing good instincts in coverage and solid tackling skills. But he missed a pair of golden opportunities to come up with interceptions that he had in his hands. Roberson also missed out on one late.

Trey Watts didn’t lack for opportunities to make his final statement and answered the call again, flashing the shifty running style that has caught the staff’s eye. He finished with 51 yards on 13 carries.

I thought linebacker James Laurinaitis might get a short cameo just to get a little game action before the regular season but that didn’t happen. Laurinaitis didn’t play in any of the four preseason games as he works his way back from an ankle injury.

It was another solid outing for quarterback Austin Davis, who started against the Dolphins. He finished 12-of-19 for 162 yards and a touchdown for a passer rating of 107.8.

Rams starters sit out loss to Dolphins
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-starters-sit-out-loss-to-dolphins/article_e013230b-388e-544a-a483-1958daa1b77f.html

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. • Michael Sam and Ethan Westbrooks slugged it out one last time for a spot on the 53-man roster.

Backup quarterback Austin Davis put the finishing touches on an impressive preseason, completing 12 of 19 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown.

And undrafted rookie Trey Watts got plenty of work in his late bid to claim employment at running back.

As for the Rams regulars? They were in mothballs watching Thursday’s preseason finale wearing ball caps on the sideline during a 14-13 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

If it were the regular season, seeing a 13-0 lead turn into a 14-13 defeat in the second half would be a bitter pill for the Rams to swallow. But it’s still August, and with this contest turned over to the subs from the outset, this was a battle for roster spots for a couple of dozen Rams.

The headliner on that front obviously was Sam vs. Westbrooks — one last time. Sam was very active in the first half, and according to unofficial press box stats led the Rams with six tackles by game’s end. But Westbrooks wasn’t far behind with four tackles. One of those tackles came on his second sack of the preseason, and he added two quarterback hits.

“I’m gonna have to look at the tape, but Ethan was making a lot of plays every time I looked,” Fisher said.

As for Sam?

“I really didn’t see anything good or bad out of Mike … but he played hard,” Fisher said.

Fisher did say that Sam has shown enough in training camp and the preseason to show he belongs.

“I think he can play in this league — yes,” Fisher said. “As can some other guys on this team that had good preseasons.”

With Sam on the threshold of history as the first openly gay player to make an NFL team, a horde of reporters waited patiently in the visitors’ locker room at Sun Life Stadium afterwards, and then engulfed him when he was ready to meet the media.

“That was a very good day to see that I could play the run,” Sam said. “I was very successful and made some plays and got some tackles.”

Sam said he felt he has shown enough to make an NFL team, be it the Rams or someone else.

“I’m very confident that I’ll be playing on an NFL roster this fall,” Sam said. “I know I can play in this league.”

Before the game Sam tweeted that the game would be his final exam. How did he fare?

“I did good,” he said. “I give myself a B-plus. I’ve very proud of myself, like I said, of how I fought the run.”

Now he must wait until 5 p.m. (St. Louis time) on Saturday to see if he has made the Rams’ regular-season roster.

“You know what, it’s not gonna be like the draft,” he said, laughing. “I’m very confident that I’m going to sleep well tonight.”

Only eight picks remained in the entire draft when the Rams selected Sam late in the seventh round in May.

But draft weekend was no picnic either for Westbrooks. The former NCAA Division II defensive player of the year at West Texas A&M went undrafted.

“I feel like a did well,” Westbrooks said, speaking of Thursday’s game as well as the preseason as a whole. “Let the chips fall where they may. Everything’s in the books right now, so I’m definitely comfortable with what I did this preseason. I’m proud of what I’ve done. So I just wait for the next two days.”

Once again, Westbrooks played both defensive end and tackle for the Rams, only this time in a three-man front.

Fisher must trim 21 players from the roster to reach the regular-season limit of 53.

“This is the hard part about the National Football League right now in the next couple of days,” Fisher said.

Making those roster decisions is complicated by several factors beyond the realm of play on the field, including injuries that will keep cornerback Trumaine Johnson (knee) and center/guard Barrett Jones (back) sidelined for several more weeks.

“Those are things that all fall into play with these decisions,” Fisher said.

At running back, Watts was the busiest skill player on the field for the Rams, carrying 13 times for 51 yards, and catching one pass for 12 yards. He also played all four “core” units on special teams: punt return, kickoff return, punt coverage and kickoff coverage.

“I haven’t had that many reps in a while,” Watts said. “But I enjoyed it, enjoyed just being out there playing football — the game you love.”

After missing the first exhibition game with a hamstring injury, Watts felt he stated his case over the final three contests.

“Whether they want to keep me or not, I just leave that up to them,” he said.

After a scoreless and sluggish first quarter, the Rams got on the board first with a 49-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein with 11 minutes 46 seconds to go in the first half. Minutes later, an interception by Mizzou product E.J. Gaines set up the Rams’ only touchdown of the game, an 11-yard pass from Davis to Austin Pettis.

“It felt good to get my first pick,” Gaines said. “I should have kept the game ball but I was too hyped, so I dropped it.”

On an active night for Zuerlein, he tried a 63-yard kick with 8 seconds left in the half, but barely missed — wide left. In third quarter, he connected on a 53-yard attempt to give the Rams a 13-0 advantage with 5:37 to play in the quarter.

But the Dolphins scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to claim the victory and leave the Rams at 1-3 for the 2014 preseason.

“As far as the game’s concerned, there were some good things in there, (but) you get frustrated at some of the young mistakes,” Fisher said.

The Rams didn’t commit any turnovers, but topped triple digits in penalty yards, with 102 on 14 infractions.

“But all in all, our training room’s empty right now, so that’s good news,” Fisher said.