reporters at camp … WEEKs 3-4

10 Observations from Day 9 of Training Camp

Myles Simmons

https://www.therams.com/news/10-observations-from-day-9-of-training-camp

1) The Rams were not in pads for the first time since the fourth day of training camp. Coming off Thursday’s game, L.A. got back to business on a lighter note. Being back in Southern California, it was considerably less humid for Saturday’s session than it was throughout the time in Baltimore.
2) Los Angeles began with a special teams walk thru, then separated by field for both offensive and defensive walk thrus. This is one of the first times L.A. has done a walk thru to start a public practice, which also made it one of the first times inside linebacker Mark Barron has participated in a session. Head coach Sean McVay has previously said that Barron receives the walk-thru reps beside signal-caller Cory Littleton, while Ramik Wilson takes the practice reps.

3) During offensive individual drills, the Rams used multiple quarterbacks to have each skill player catch a pass in the rhythm and timing of the play. All the running backs, wideouts, and tight ends were involved, as were all four quarterbacks. At one point, punter Johnny Hekker was even involved when the Rams used three wideouts, a tight end, and a running back as eligible receivers. Hekker does have to keep his fake-punt arm ready, after all.
4) The Rams quarterbacks, wide receivers, and cornerbacks also went through one-on-one drills. Notably from the period…
Wide receivers Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods began the session with completions on a comeback route and a fly route down the right sideline, respectively.
Cornerback Troy Hill did a nice job to break up a pass in the middle of the field between quarterback Jared Goff and wideout Cooper Kupp. The Eastern Washington product tried to shake Hill with a move in the middle of the field, but the cornerback stayed with Kupp nicely.
Later, though, Kupp got Hill back by shaking him with a nice move to catch a pass in the middle of the field. He drew some “ooos” from the crowd with that one.

5) In 11-on-11 — with the first-team offense competing against the first-team defense — Goff made solid completions to Cooks and Kupp. The signal-caller connected with Cooks on the first pass of the period, hitting him on the left side of the field. Then Goff hit Kupp on the left side, making the completion through a tight window just out of safety Lamarcus Joyner’s reach.
6) Joyner, however, would get his during a later period. On another pass intended for Kupp, Joyner undercut the wideout’s route on the defense’s right and picked off the pass with a leaping interception. His defensive teammates were pumped on the sideline.
7) Later in 11-on-11, tight end Tyler Higbee made a particularly impressive catch. The play may have been a sack in real life, but Goff was able to get a red-zone pass off to Higbee. The tight end showed off his vertical, secured the catch, then got two feet in at the back line of the end zone for a score.

8) With the offense backed up to nearly its own goal line in a move-the-ball drill, Goff got the unit down the field quickly with consecutive completions to Woods and wide receiver Mike Thomas. Both receptions came on deep crossing routes.
9) Kupp made the last catch of practice for the fist-team offense, snagging a low pass over the middle. Not a surprise when it comes from him, but he did have a few nice catches on Saturday.
10) At the end of practice, McVay pulled the team together and was fairly animated in the huddle. He would tell reporters that at the time, he was explaining to players why he wasn’t quite pleased with the way practice unfolded.
“I think all the guys would agree, we’ve got to have better urgency from the start,” McVay said. “That’s just the bottom line. We can say what we want about when we got back, but however you want to cut it, we’ve got to be better than that.”

8/13

Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
#Rams back on pads today. And you can already feel a totally different vibe compared to yesterday

#Rams McVay impressed/w leadership after Saturday’s poor practice: “That stuff that goes on in the locker room is really powerful. And when you’ve got the right guys in those key spots that can influence and affect a locker room in the right way, you know you’re in good hands.”

#Rams Sean McVay said WR Josh Reynolds is out for about a week after suffering an ankle tweak Thursday and CB Aqib Talib sat out practice Sunday after getting tabgled up with Robert Woods in a Red Zone drill Saturday. Talib sounded much more for precautionary reasons

Ramik Wilson… has looked good all offseason and camp.

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Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
Play of the day Sunday came courtesy of cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, who played outside of his normal nickel position with Aqib Talib sidelined, and got his hands on several passes. During 7-on-7, Robey-Coleman intercepted a deep pass from Jared Goff that was intended for Brandin Cooks. Earlier in the workout, during 11-on-11, Robey-Coleman nearly intercepted a ball that tipped of Cooper Kupp’s hands and later he dropped a pass thrown by Brandon Allen.

. Talib and receiver Robert Woods got tangled up on a play near the goal line on Saturday and both players ended up on the ground. McVay said Sunday that the decision to hold Talib out was more “precautionary” than anything. “He’ll be okay,” McVay said.

Sean McVay would not reveal to reporters if he intends to play starters on Saturday against the Raiders. He said he wanted to inform his team of the plan first. (If I were betting, I’d say no starters…..)

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Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Aqib Talib has a minor ankle issue, McVay said. Didn’t seem serious. Josh Reynolds will be out at least a week with his own ankle issue.

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Gary Klein@LATimesklein
Lamarcus Joyner: “The way you repay a coach that takes care of your body, takes care of your mind and takes care of your spirit, is when you come out there, be ready to go make plays.”

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#Rams rookie OT Joseph Noteboom looks the part. pic.twitter.com/GfIAGWoJMg

— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) August 12, 2018

• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by zn.

10 Observations from Day 10 of Training Camp

Myles Simmons

https://www.therams.com/news/10-observations-from-day-10-of-training-camp

1) As usual, Los Angeles began practice with a special teams period. On Sunday, the period included Johnny Hekker and the punting unit working against a scout team. On some attempts, All-Pro returner Pharoh Cooper fielded the kick and gave a return, while on others special teams coordinator John Fassel handed him a ball to give an exact look.
On the last rep, left tackle Andrew Whitworth — fresh off stretching on the other field — started at the line of scrimmage, faked a swim move as if he were a gunner, then ran down the field as if he were part of the punt team. And he was one of the players leading the pack.

2) With pads back on, the Rams went through one-on-one drills with quarterbacks, wide receivers, and cornerbacks with the line of scrimmage close to the goal line. Notably from the period…
Wideout Brandin Cooks got things started with a nice catch in the middle of the end zone against cornerback Troy Hill. Head coach Sean McVay would later say that cornerback Aqib Talib (ankle) was held out of practice for precautionary reasons.
Wide receiver Mike Thomas couldn’t quite pull down a fade on his first rep, but was able to snag a comeback route in the front right corner of the end zone for his second.
Receiver Cooper Kupp used a nice move to shake off slot corner Nickell Robey-Coleman. Kupp went to the outside to make a reception, as Robey-Coleman bit on the inside move.
Quarterback Sean Mannion connected with wideout Pharoh Cooper in the back of the end zone on the right. Cooper opened his arms Gladiator style to celebrate, and the crowd responded with a cheer.

👐 @KingTutt_chdown 👐#RamsCamp pic.twitter.com/xM7mOFhQVs

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 12, 2018

3) Overall, Robey-Coleman had a strong day in the slot. He intercepted a pass intended for Cooks down the left sideline in 7-on-7 with the first-team offense competing against the first-team defense. At first it looked as if Cooks would be able to make the reception, but the ball went out of his arms and into Robey-Coleman’s for a turnover.

🚨 @slotgod23 INT 🚨#RamsCamp pic.twitter.com/UtDuDX1BAw

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 12, 2018

4) During a red zone 7-on-7 period, Mannion connected with Thomas on a pass at about the three-yard line. The ball placement allowed Thomas to lower his shoulder and get past a defender into the end zone. At this point, the Rams were going second-team offense vs. second-team defense.
5) McVay set up a scenario where the ones on offense and defense went against one another in a two-minute drill. With 57 seconds left on the clock and only one timeout, the offense needed a field goal. Quarterback Jared Goff connected with Cooks in the middle of the field to set up Greg Zuerlein for a long — but makable — attempt from 53-yards out. Because there were no officials on hand and Zuerlein’s kicks were so high, there was some question as to whether or not the league’s 2017 leading scorer made his first attempt. Fassel then had Zuerlein kick again, and the result remained a bit of a mystery. Zuerlein, however, did clearly nail his 54-yard attempt from the previous special teams period, for what it’s worth.
6) Defensive lineman Ethan Westbrooks made consecutive nice plays during an 11-on-11 period with the first-team defense competing against the scout offense. First, Westbrooks shed a reserve right guard to come in and make a tackle for loss on running back Malcolm Brown. Then Westbrooks made his way into the backfield to tip a screen pass, blowing up the play. Having registered 2.0 sacks against the Ravens on Thursday, Westbrooks has continued to make an impact.
7) On another ones-vs-ones compete drill, the offense won with a one-play drive. Goff connected with wide receiver Robert Woods, who was wide open on the right side, for about a 20-yard touchdown pass. On Rams Camp Live following practice, right tackle Rob Havenstein called the play his “Fuego Moment” of the day.

8) On a later 11-on-11 play, Goff connected with Brown on a pass over the middle that ended up as a touchdown. Brown was lined up wide to start the play, giving the fourth-year back out of Texas an opportunity to show his versatility.
9) Robey-Coleman broke up a pass late in the session with the first defense taking on the scout offense. Cooper was the intended red-zone target, but Robey-Coleman was there to swat the pass away. Aside from his interception, it was Robey-Coleman’s second PBU of the day. It was a banner session for the for the USC product, who pumped his fist in celebration after his final pass breakup.
10) As they have a few times during training camp, the Rams finished Sunday’s practice with an extra 11-on-11 period for younger players. It’s an opportunity for many of those who wouldn’t otherwise get reps during practice to become more acquainted with the playbook. That’s especially important as those players are likely going to receive the most snaps during preseason games.

8/15

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Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
#Rams offense has struggled big time today.

Defense had a really great day. Goff wasn’t sharp.

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Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Rams’ defensive front is all over the O-line today. Samson Ebukam just pushed Whitworth back into Goff, who took an accidental tumble to the ground.

Rams ran close to 100 plays in today’s scrimmage-like practice. Sean McVay’s least favorite probably was when Jared Goff accidentally got knocked down. “To say I was holding my breath… I think it would probably be a little more than that,” McVay said.

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Ryan Kartje@Ryan_Kartje
One takeaway from watching the Rams defense during camp: This Suh fella sure looks like he has a future in this league.

Greg Zuerlein just hit a field goal in practice from 59 yards that I’m pretty sure would’ve been good from 70. Greg The Leg is back.

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J.B. Long@JB_Long
The offense hasn’t had many moments today, but Kupp just won vs Talib. Nice shot by Goff over the middle. #LARams

Sometimes watching this @RamsNFL defense work in camp, I can’t believe they can still add the reigning defensive player of the year to the mix.

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Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
Rams just finished about a 90 minutes scrimmage. Ndamukong Suh was the standout for me. He could’ve taken Goff’s head off a few times.

The Rams held a modified scrimmage (no tackling) for 90 minutes Wednesday, running about 100 plays – mostly starters vs. starters and backups vs. backups. Ndamukong Suh stood out. He batted down a pass, then later sacked Jared Goff twice. Suh has had a solid camp, but this is the first time he stole the show.

Rams playing 11-on-11 and rookie DT Sebastian Joseph-Day stood up C John Sullivan — looked like Sullivan had a word and then things got heated. Joseph-Day just got spoken to on sideline. (You know, don’t hurt veteran center type stuff…)

Sean McVay says he still hasn’t determined how much – or if – starters will play Saturday against the Raiders. Again, I’d be shocked if they play.

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Full pads at Rams practice today. Second-to-last practice of training camp. pic.twitter.com/VjzSVjEzfu

— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) August 15, 2018

Jared Goff accidentally gets hit and goes down during Rams simulated game, but quarterback is fine

Gary Klein

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-training-camp-20180815-story.html

During a prolonged scrimmage at UC Irvine, in the penultimate training-camp practice, linebacker Samson Ebukam had rushed on the outside and battled with left tackle Andrew Whitworth. The 6-foot-7, 330-pound Whitworth took a few steps back and accidentally collided with Goff, knocking the franchise’s most important player to the turf.
The anxiety was palpable.
A mass exhale ensued as Goff slowly got to his feet.
“To say I was holding my breath, I think it would be probably a little bit more than that,” coach Sean McVay said.
The bump that sent him sprawling might be the most contact Goff absorbs until the Sept. 10 opener against the Oakland Raiders on “Monday Night Football.”
Goff and other starters were held out of last week’s preseason opener at Baltimore to avoid injury and almost certainly will not play against the Raiders on Saturday at the Coliseum.
They might get snaps in the third preseason game against Houston but, in keeping with standard NFL practice, they are on track to sit out the final preseason game at New Orleans.
Rams quarterback Jared Goff prepares to make a pass at the Rams training camp at UC-Irvine on Monday.

So Whitworth’s contact with Goff qualified as dramatic.
“I literally just stepped back and tried to move out of the way and thought someone was at my feet,” Whitworth said. “And it was Jared behind me.
“In practice you’re always worried when you’re running into each other and guys are falling all over the place. But he’s fine. And, you know, at least now he’s got a hit for the preseason.”
McVay said the Rams ran about 100 plays during the scrimmage setting. Veteran center John Sullivan and rookie defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day briefly tangled, and tight end Temarrick Hemingway and a defensive player mixed it up for a moment during a workout that featured a trip to the locker room for a mock halftime.
“It was good just getting used to sitting down for 10-12 minutes and coming back out here and getting it going right away, like we do at halftime,” veteran cornerback Aqib Talib said. “It was a great situational day.”
The Rams will practice Thursday morning and then break camp. They will practice the next two weeks at their facility in Thousand Oaks.
Whitworth is completing his 13th NFL training camp.
“When you’re an older player, every one of these camps you really savor ’em and really enjoy the moment,” he said. “For me, it’s been fun and it’s been challenging.
“You’re out here every day with a young football team and, really, a group that’s just getting better and better.”

Kicking in

With kicker Greg Zuerlein coming off back surgery, the Rams re-signed Sam Ficken as an insurance policy.
Zuerlein appears physically sound — he kicked a 57-yard field goal Wednesday — but Ficken said he was glad to be in camp. Against the Ravens, Ficken converted an extra point, kicked off once and also punted once.
“Any time that a team retains your services, I think that’s a good thing,” said Ficken, who made two of three field-goal attempts last season. “I’ve been on the opposite side of that, so any time you’re signed with a team is a good opportunity for you.
“Regardless of the situation here, I’m going to go out there and try and prove myself and do the best I can. So far, so good, so we’ll see what happens.”
Ficken knows he is auditioning not only for the Rams but also for all NFL teams. If Zuerlein finishes the preseason soundly, the Rams would probably cut Ficken, giving him an opportunity to sign with another team.
“I don’t try and think too far ahead — it’s day to day,” he said. “I think that’s the best way to approach everything at this position in this situation.”

Etc.

Tight end Gerald Everett (shoulder) and receiver Josh Reynolds (ankle) remain sidelined. … Tailback Justin Davis is nursing a hamstring injury. If he does not play Saturday, rookie John Kelly will get extended opportunities. … The Rams announced that they are requiring mobile or physical hard-stock tickets for home games at the Coliseum. Print-at-home or PDF tickets will not be accepted at games because of new NFL policies, according to the team. Tickets will include a suggested gate for entry. Team and stadium officials are urging fans to use suggested gates to avoid problems accessing seats because of renovation construction.