QB-Sam Bradford took all of the usual reps a #1 would take. He has a knee brace but it is smaller and less bulky than I expected. His movement seems okay and footwork was not compromised.

He had some really nice passes, one deep out to Britt in particular early on in 7 on 7. However on passes where the receiver ran from side to side and cleared when he came out of the middle Sam clearly had a lot of trouble with his timing and missed almost all of those. There were also two picks up the seam where it looked like he was expecting the receiver to break off and square in. It was either a mis read, not being on the same page or communication problem. What really bothered me on both is that first Bailey and then Givens failed to either fight back for the ball, adjust or make any kind of play on the ball.

The defense definitely looked ahead of the offense in shells.

Hill hit Emory Blake a receiver out of Auburn that was both in camp last year and the practice squad on a really nice timing route early on in practice. To his credit he looks like he has a stronger arm than Clemons and is more patient in the pocket.

Gilbert has some footwork problems especially at the top of his drop, he tends to hop, and shuffle his feet and doesn’t transition smoothly into his release. But the ball does come out quickly and accurately and he has some zip. He apparently missed a read early in 7 on 7 and got chewed on pretty good by the QB coach Frank Cignetti.

Austin Davis seemed to have some promise as a rookie and has totally squandered it, very inaccurate and has gone from a #2 hopeful to camp fodder.

RB-They were in shells and its hard to get any kind of reading on them from that. Stacy was taking reps with the punt return unit and I doubt he stays there.

Tre Mason has quick feet in drills and a bit of a pop for his size

WR/TE-If I had to pick one standout it would be Britt with Quick a close second. I understand all the skepticism over Quick and I share but he stayed low on his cuts and didn’t present such an easy target and even caught a pass in traffic with hands waving all around him. What I saw in Quick last year was that any time a linebacker or corner could jump into his vision and distract him he would drop it….today they tried to do that and he caught it. I make no claims any further than that but………

Quick and Britt went everywhere together, the Rams showed a package with Cook, Kendricks and Quick and Britt. I really hope that package works and prospers. Bailey and Givens both failed to fight back or even make an attempt on a pair of interceptions.

Harkey ran a nice route to the flat and Davis underthrew him badly early only to come right back to him and get a good catch.

Cook got a lot of one-one attention both before practice and after. They were lobbing him a tennis ball back and forth early and he had a coach in his pocket all day long.

Emory Blake flashed at times last year and did today as well.

A tight end named Justice Cunningham a 1st year player out of South Carolina got a lot of reps and was called out by the coaches several times, long dreads and some quicks over the middle. He only goes 258 but has some promise.

Oline-Scott Wells was in a ball cap and stayed on the sidelines most of the day. The Oline went to the sand pit at one point and Jake Long did take part in some of those drills.

I have never witnessed the Rams do this uphill drill where two linemen are pushed up a hill by one guy. I took several pictures of it and they did it right in front of me. The size and strength of those guys is incredible that close.

GRob took reps at LT in team drills but then toward the end of practice they shifted to the rookies battling one-one at the far end of the field. He moved inside and went against Aaron Donald. Donald whipped him badly on the first rep. I always want to see a kid learn from that and he did and countered very well and stymied Donald on the second.. I hope to see Donald take some reps at tackle in that drill tomorrow.

DLine-For the most part it is still wide 9 but they do bring down the DE on the strong side on some fronts and keep the weak side DE out wide.

They have the ability to really mess with itty bitty QB’s in Seattle with Carrington, Brockers, Conrath and even Hayes in the middle.

Except for the one time that Donald was stalemated by GRob he had his way with the camp fodder in the line drills. He even bull rushed Demetrius Rhaney out of Tennessee State at one point and shoved him all the way back to what would have been the QB

Linebackers-Ogletree had an exceptional play in 11 on 11 in pass defense undercutting route with a great drop and tipping it away. From what I have heard Gregg Williams loves above all others Alec Ogletree and TJ McDonald. I have been able to meet a couple of new Rams staffers and all are raving about Williams

DBacks-Brandon McGee had a great play early and then got ripped into later by Brandon Fisher when he blew a coverage, at least he did not look lost like last year.

I have hopes still for Matt Daniels and he looked really good in the special teams drills early on, numbers seem to stack against him though.

Maurice Alexander and Marcus Roberson look athletic and fluid. They are two I really want to see in pads.

Joyner back pedals like a corner and has flips his hips smoothly to pursue.

Special Teams-They have a camp punter named Bobby Cowan………

At some point Daren Bates did something to really piss off the coaches, it was away from me and I did not get a good look at it. I heard rather than saw that Britt was doing some jawing with the defense and some of the coaches…..which is all the better.

Rams rookie DT Aaron Donald shares his appreciation for working alongside veterans Chris Long and Robert Quinn throughout the offseason.

http://www.stlouisrams.com/videos/videos/Robinson-Its-a-head-start/82b946a2-9edf-4cb8-9e32-dfcb08683e4d

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Greg Robinson talks about his familiarity of the playbook, preparing for training camp and adjusting to the speed of the game.

http://www.stlouisrams.com/videos/videos/Robinson-Its-a-head-start/82b946a2-9edf-4cb8-9e32-dfcb08683e4d

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No summer vacation for first-rounders Robinson, Donald

• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/no-summer-vacation-for-first-rounders-robinson-donald/article_8a3a8f47-04dd-5133-bebf-39fb60987cbf.html

Among the Rams’ 2014 draft class, seventh-rounder Michael Sam has garnered more headlines than anyone because of the history-making nature of his quest to become the first openly-gay player to make an NFL regular-season roster.

But when all is said and done, first-rounders Greg Robinson and Aaron Donald will have much more to say about the success of the Rams this season and beyond.

And after the traditional NFL summer break following the conclusion of practices in June, offensive lineman Robinson and defensive tackle Donald reported for training camp this week raring to go.

As is the case with most NFL players, there really wasn’t much of a break during their time away from Rams Park.

Donald said he took a grand total of three days off to relax with his family, including a brief stop in Toledo, Ohio, to visit his brother Archie.

“I went jet-skiing,” Donald said.

(Yes, nothing says “summer vacation” better than jet-skiing in Toledo.)

Other than that, it was all work for Donald back in his hometown of Pittsburgh, working with a local trainer.

“It was a lot of speed work, lot of explosive stuff,” Donald said.

As if he needed to get any quicker.

Donald was so impressive during workouts in June that offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer called him the team’s defensive MVP of the spring. Donald picked up where he left off during the Rams’ rookie practices Tuesday and Wednesday at Rams Park.

To a large degree, Donald was unblockable during one-on-one pass-blocking drills Wednesday. Try as they might, a handful of reporters couldn’t get Donald to brag about himself.

When it was playfully suggested that perhaps Wednesday’s drill was designed to let Donald through untouched, he just chuckled.

As for the Schottenheimer remarks, Donald said: “I didn’t hear it. It’s a good thing just to see that the coaches are starting to see me on the field.”

Oh, they see him all right, and can’t wait to have Donald take his turn in what potentially could be a formidable defensive tackle rotation. Donald’s summer work was designed to help him make the most of his opportunities once the games began.

He did “band” work, in which he worked on his “get-off” — those first steps off the line of scrimmage with the equivalent of a huge rubber-band tied to him to provide resistance.

“We tied it around my ankles. We tied it around my waist. We did a lot of crazy stuff,” Donald said. “Once you take (the band) off, you feel a lot faster. That’s the point of doing it.”

Donald’s summer training regimen also included long-distance running for conditioning, and “parachute” work to help with quickness. (Like a smaller version of the parachutes used to stop high-speed jets when they land.)

“I know we did a lot of barbaric stuff,” Donald said. “If you’d seen it, you wouldn’t believe the stuff we did.”

As for Robinson, he did a lot of traveling over the Rams’ summer break, but it didn’t involve smoking cigars and drinking cocktails on a beach. He split his training time doing work in Oregon, Houston, Florida and his hometown of Thibodaux, La.

Robinson’s month-long break from Rams Park began with work at a Bo Jackson Nike facility in Oregon. Next, he headed down to south Florida, where Rams rookie running back Tre Mason is from, to work out with his former Auburn teammate.

Then came Houston to work with offensive tackle Trent Williams. a two-time Pro Bowler for Washington and former teammate of Sam Bradford at Oklahoma. Williams also was at the Nike facility, hit it off with Robinson and then invited Robinson to work out with him in Houston. Williams is a Texas native. The “facility” where Robinson and Williams worked out wasn’t one of those high-tech performance institutes.

“It was at a junior high,” Robinson said. “We just needed the field. It was pretty cool. I learned a lot from him.”

There was nothing fancy about the Florida workout venue with Mason, either. Robinson called it, “just a little field. … It don’t matter where you get (the workout) in, as long as you get it in.”

Last stop in the Robinson training tour was Thibodaux.

“When I went back home, I just did my own thing (training-wise) and did what I was instructed to do by Coach Rock,” Robinson said.

Every Rams player leaves Rams Park for the summer break with a set of personalized instructions on what they need to work on, compliments of strength coach Rock Gullickson and the Rams’ athletic training staff.

Overall, Robinson said, “there were a lot of different things I worked on, but it was good to just work with different people and learn from multiple people. Some of it was just doing cardio, just trying to stay in shape, and some was more offensive line drills.”

Mentally, Robinson said his head was spinning during earlier practices, not just because of the switch to guard but also learning the playbook. Pass protection schemes can be complex in the NFL, and Auburn did very little passing while Robinson was there.

“It was something new for me, and I did struggle,” Robinson said. “But now I’m at the point where I just stop thinking and just play. It started out kind of difficult but now I’m starting to pick up the plays a lot better.”

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Road show prepared Rams’ Robinson for camp

AP – Sports

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/road-show-prepared-rams-robinson-235217705–nfl.html

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Greg Robinson didn’t stay put the month after the St. Louis Rams cut players loose in mid-June. Wherever he was, the second overall pick of the draft stayed in preparation mode for training camp.

”It was good to just work with different people and learn from multiple people,” Robinson said Wednesday. ”It doesn’t matter where you’re getting it in as long as you get it in.”

The 6-foot-5, 332-pound Robinson was a key component in Auburn’s national runner-up season at left tackle and figures as immediate help at guard for the Rams (7-9).

After OTAs ended in mid-June, Robinson worked out a bit at home in Thibodaux, La. He spent time at Bo Jackson’s Nike camp at the University of Oregon, worked out with a trainer in Miami, Fla., and got pointers from Redskins Pro Bowl tackle Trent Williams in Houston.

Williams knows plenty about protecting Sam Bradford’s blind side, given they were Oklahoma teammates. The two met at the Nike camp.

”He’s a Pro Bowler so many years and he asked me to come out, so I thought it was a good idea,” Robinson said. ”It was pretty cool, I learned a lot from him.”

With Robinson leading the way, Auburn led the nation in rushing and had two players gain 1,000 yards for just the third time in school history. He’s still blocking for Tre Mason, a Heisman Trophy finalist drafted by the Rams in the third round.

Getting picked No. 2 has made Robinson the provider for a fractured family; his dad died in 2012 and two of his siblings have spent time in jail. Though his mother is pushing for a new house and an exit from a tough neighborhood, he’s patiently assessing options for upgrades across the board.

One exception might be the bling earrings he sported at the second rookie workout Wednesday.

”I’m not budging, I’m taking my time,” Robinson said. ”I’ve been talking to a lot of people as far as homes and stuff for my mom and buying cars for myself.

”I have the money to do it but I’m not rushing into anything.”

For now, the Robinson home has become a bit of a mecca. Fame and fortune can do that.

”Things are similar but I can see a difference, a lot of people surrounding the house and stuff like that,” Robinson said. ”It’s a great feeling that I did something positive and I inspired a lot of people.”

Now, he said, the priority is laying a foundation for his career. His future undoubtedly is at tackle, but for now he’s trying to become more comfortable at guard.

”It started out kind of difficult,” Robinson said. ”But now I’m starting to pick up the plays. Now, I’m at the point where I just stop thinking and just play.”

During the rookie workouts, Robinson often went against fellow first-rounder Aaron Donald, a defensive tackle. The two prepared for the combine working out in Arizona.

”We still crack a couple jokes and laugh,” Donald said. ”It’s good to get around guys like that, that I’m close to already.”

Veterans are due to arrive Thursday and the first full-squad workout is Friday afternoon.

NOTES: The Rams announced single-game tickets will go on sale Friday, plus a promotional schedule that includes honoring the 15th anniversary of the franchise’s lone Super Bowl championship team for the Monday night game against the 49ers on Oct. 13. There also will be Robert Quinn and James Laurinaitis bobble head giveaways.

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Donald already impressing at Rams camp

July, 24, 2014

By Nick Wagoner | ESPN.com

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/9850/donald-already-impressing-at-rams-camp

EARTH CITY, Mo. — The St. Louis Rams 2014 training camp hasn’t even officially begun, but rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald already is drawing rave reviews.

Taking part in two practices with his rookie teammates earlier this week, Donald was an instant scene-stealer, especially when taking part in some one-on-one pass rush drills.

During a handful of snaps in Wednesday’s workout, Donald was so quick off the ball that there were moments it looked like some of the rookie linemen were going at walk-through speed while he was going at full speed. Only No. 2 overall pick Greg Robinson seemed to have any success consistently getting his hands on Donald, though even that didn’t slow him down much.

“We are definitely learning a lot,” Donald said. “When they say everybody in the NFL is good, so far I have been seeing that. Guys can move a lot better and once they get their hands on you, they’ve got you, so I’m just making sure I work on my technique so they can’t grab me and get their hands on me.”

Aaron Donald has impressed the Rams coaching staff since he was drafted in the first round in May.It’s probably safe to assume that when the veterans report for the actual first day of training camp on Friday, Donald will see more linemen who do get their hands on him and more consistently serve as more than a glorified speed bump on his way to the quarterback. The true test will come not only against the veteran linemen such as Rodger Saffold and Davin Joseph, but also when the pads come on next week.

Donald played so well during organized team activities that offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer named him one of the most impressive players on the field without solicitation. In the time since Donald departed from the offseason program, he doesn’t appear to have lost many steps.

Donald took three days off to go jet skiing at his brother Archie’s house in Toledo, Ohio. After that, he returned to Pittsburgh for what he calls “barbaric” workouts with a personal trainer. Those workouts included daily sessions consisting of everything from working with bands tied around his ankles, knees, feet and waist, to distance running for endurance, to working with a parachute for resistance training.

All of it was done with the intent to make Donald even quicker.

“(It was) a lot of different things, but helps me being more explosive,” Donald said. “We do a lot of stuff, a lot of crazy stuff.”

Beyond the conditioning and physical work, Donald also paid his usual precise detail to working with his hands. It’s been a borderline obsession for Donald since his time at Penn Hills High, just outside of Pittsburgh. There, Penn Hills defensive line coach Demond Gibson offered regular reminders of the importance of hand technique for defensive linemen.

Gibson knew the value of hand usage as well as anyone after a career in which he played college ball at Pittsburgh and spent some time with the New Orleans Saints in the NFL as well as stints in the CFL and AFL.

With Gibson helping him hone his technique even after going on to college, Donald has always been advanced in his ability to use his hands to gain an advantage. Although Donald is small compared to other defensive tackles at 6-feet and 285 pounds, his heavy hands combine with the aforementioned quickness and leverage to make him a tough block.

“It’s great (to have) hand speed, but at the same time I’ve got the jitters to juke, do a little move and use your hands, it always is going to get those big guys off you,” Donald said.

For a player who thoroughly dominated at the college level, Donald now faces his greatest challenge. The Rams are hopeful that the No. 13 overall pick in May’s draft can contribute right away, even if he’s not technically listed as a starter. In need of pass-rush help from interior of the line, Donald should get plenty of opportunities to get after quarterbacks right away, and he might even be able to avoid the constant double-teams teams threw at him at Pitt.

While Donald’s offseason performance has been enough to draw the attention of coaches and teammates, the soft-spoken Donald has remained focused on the task at hand.

“It’s a good thing just to know the coaches are starting to see me on the field,” Donald said.

• This topic was modified 11 years, 9 months ago by zn.

New book “Blood Sport” alleges Bernie Kosar’s slurred speech resulted from painkillers Browns gave him

By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer
July 19, 2014

http://blog.cleveland.com/livingston_impact/print.html?entry=/2014/07/new_book_blood_sport_says_bern.html

CLEVELAND Ohio –-Bernie Kosar slurs his words because:

He has post-concussion syndrome.
He refused to wear a mouthpiece as a Browns and Miami Dolphins quarterback and suffered severe dental injuries.
He has a drinking problem.
The Browns kept him on the playing field with doses of the addictive pain-killer oxycodone (trade name, oxycontin; street name, oxy, OC, O).

The latter is alleged as the cause in the new book “Blood Sport – Alex Rodriguez, Biogenesis and the Quest to End Baseball’s Steroid Era” by the New York Times’ Tim Elfrink and Newday’s Gus Garcia-Roberts. Excerpts of the book, detailing the doping that made the currently suspended Rodriguez baseball’s No. 1 drug offender, appeared in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated.

The Browns controversially removed Kosar as a television analyst for their exhibition games this off-season, citing sharp criticism he directed at a St. Louis Rams’ backup quarterback last season. Kosar’s sometimes slurred diction has often been criticized by some viewers.

“Blood Sports” says he was steered to the Biogenesis “anti-aging” clinic by Julio Cortes, a defensive end on the 1983 Miami Hurricanes team that Kosar led to the national championship. The connection occurred after Bosch moved his offices in late 2011 to Coral Gables, directly across the street from the University’s Alex Rodriguez Park.

Suffering from a bad back and knees that resulted from a short, violent football career at The U and with the NFL Seattle Seahawks and teams in the Canadian Football League, Cortes visited Biogenesis because he had gone to the same Florida high school, Columbia, as its founder Tony Bosch.

Known as “Dr. Tony,” Bosch had only a two-year degree from a medical school in Belize in Central America and was unlicensed to practice medicine in the United States.

Bosch had gotten good results with a complicated regimen of steroids, amino acids, testosterone, and human growth hormone, prescribed in Florida by licensed doctors willing to be paid for doing so to patients they never examined.

The state, say the authors, became a fertile breeding ground for (the) age-conquering crusade.”

In reality, “anti-aging” was a flimsy euphemism for steroid doping. “The state had always prided itself on its Wild West lack of regulation, particularly in the medical market,” say the authors. “The Sunshine State encumbered (anti-aging) businesses with virtually no rules.”

The book alleges that, along with A-Rod and other elite baseball players, seeking to either regain or increase an illegal performance edge, “a steady stream of ex-Hurricanes and former NFL players started creaking over to Bosch’s office for treatment.”

Among them was Kosar. “After a twelve-season pro career,” say the authors in a sad summary of the Browns’ legend, “Kosar has stumbled through a sometimes-incoherent retirement, marred by batty behavior, bankruptcy and drunk-driving arrests.”

Bosch’s records indicate that Kosar was a patient and that at least one shipment of drugs was made, for which Kosar paid $600.

The authors paraphrase Cortes’ view this way: “Compared to the highly addictive painkillers that NFL teams shovel at players, Cortes says Bosch’s treatments were a healthier alternative.”

In a direct quote, Cortes said, “We can either do this or get back on the oxy. You read the papers about Kosar, and he’s a mess. He’s slurring his words from the medication, from the oxy that the Browns gave him.”

Withdrawal from oxycodone is considered one of the most painful ordeals a drug addict faces, with body aches much worse than the flu and a sensation of pins and needles stabbing their muscles.

The authors conclude: “If he gave Kosar testosterone, Bosch broke the law. But it’s hard to see immediate harm in two ailing middle-aged men snagging testosterone if it helped heal their aches. After all, they had legitimate health problems and were certainly old enough to know what they were getting into.”

Talented Rams poised to make leap
Strong nucleus, Gregg Williams-led defense have St. Louis in strong position

July 19, 2014

By Jeffri Chadiha | ESPN.com

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11230836/st-louis-rams-poised-make-nfl-playoffs-2014?ex_cid=espnapi_public/print?id=11230836

ST. LOUIS — There are plenty of reasons to like the St. Louis Rams as a sleeper during this coming NFL season. One is they play in a division, the NFC West, that has toughened them up. Another is their head coach, Jeff Fisher, knows how to build a playoff contender after spending nearly two decades with the Tennessee Titans.

There’s also the fact that no team has invested more in high draft picks over the past three years than St. Louis. The Rams simply are primed to explode, with this fall looking very much like their coming-out party.

There may be laughter in Seattle and San Francisco, but skeptics should recognize the key components that make the Rams capable of taking a huge leap forward.

The 49ers were once a team in a similar position, stocked with first-round talent and no direction. The Seahawks, last season’s Super Bowl champions, didn’t have a real blueprint for their success until coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider assembled a team built around hidden gems and a smash-mouth philosophy. The Rams enter this season with a team also loaded with youth, talent and enough hunger to take them to places this franchise hasn’t been in years.

This squad still has plenty of players who remember what it was like to go 4-1-1 against NFC West opponents in 2012. That same group also has the appropriate desire after securing just one victory against conference rivals while finishing 7-9 last season.

“We’re in our third year with coach Fisher and [general manager] Les Snead, so we feel good,” defensive end Chris Long said. “Every year we’ve seen improvement. We’ve gotten faster and more physical, and we’ve shown flashes. We’ve beaten some good teams. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with teams that have reached the Super Bowl.”

If the Rams are going to make that leap into playoff contention after consecutive seven-win seasons, two things have to happen. The first involves the maturation of a defense that features one of the most promising front sevens in football. The Rams have athletic linebackers (headlined by Alec Ogletree and James Laurinaitis) and a front four that includes first-round picks at every position (along with this year’s No. 13 overall pick, defensive tackle Aaron Donald). The superstar of the group is fourth-year defensive end Robert Quinn, who finished second in the NFL with 19 sacks last season.

The Rams were solid defensively in 2013 — they ranked 13th in the league in points allowed and 15th in total yards — but they still have significant upside. The arrival of new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams should help the Rams capitalize on that potential. As much as Williams has been bashed for his role in the infamous bounty scandal that rocked the New Orleans Saints and led to his 11-month suspension from football, the man can run a defense. His teams fly to the ball, force turnovers and leave most opposing offenses feeling like they’ve been battling in a 60-minute street fight.

Don’t discount that approach or talent up front when the Rams face Seattle’s Russell Wilson and San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick twice each.

Said Long: “[Williams’] intensity is the biggest thing. He talks about every day being an interview. He’s giving his best all the time and he expects that same attitude from everybody he coaches. He makes guys accountable.”

The second most important variable for the Rams is the development of quarterback Sam Bradford, who is entering his fifth season. Bradford has experienced plenty in his young career — he’s gone from being the league’s offensive rookie of the year to struggling in a new offensive system in his second season to being lost after seven games in 2013 with a torn ACL. Through all those ups and downs, the Rams have remained patient and confident he can be the quarterback they envision. As proof, they point to his numbers in the first half of last season, when he threw 14 touchdown passes and only four interceptions.

Bradford doesn’t have to be exceptional for the Rams to prosper. He only needs be close to what he was before last year’s injury and consistent against the tough defenses of the NFC West. What makes Kaepernick and Wilson so tough is their penchant for making game-changing plays when their teams need it most. Though Bradford lacks their speed and quickness, he does have a cool makeup that suggests he can handle difficult moments when healthy.

The Rams also are encouraged by what they’ve seen from him so far this offseason. “It was very disappointing last year because of the injury he had,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. “But he also knows what he has to do to stay healthy. He’s added some upper body mass, and the days he’s had during OTAs have been huge. He made five of the nine full sessions, and he looked good. He knows what plays he needs to get us into and get out of, and that’s big. We honestly didn’t know how much time we’d have with him in the offseason.”

Like most teams that finish in last place, there are other little advantages that could aid St. Louis early. They open the season against three teams — Minnesota, Tampa Bay and Dallas — that didn’t make last year’s postseason. After that, the Rams will have to prove themselves quickly, with games against Philadelphia, San Francisco (twice), Seattle, Kansas City, Arizona, Denver and San Diego over the subsequent nine weeks. The Cardinals are the only team in that group that didn’t make the playoffs in 2013 — and they won 10 games before being eliminated from contention in Week 17.

There is every reason to think the Rams could be the equivalent of last year’s Cardinals or Carolina Panthers, two teams that enjoyed surprising success with strong defenses and efficient quarterback play.

“I’m hopeful, but without the execution, hope can be dangerous,” Long said. “We have to put the work in, and we have to show more growth. I’m 29, and I’m the third-oldest guy in the building now. We’re at the point where young won’t be enough anymore.”

That happens to be a critical juncture that every young team faces eventually. The bad ones tend to find excuses to keep on losing, while the good ones find an identity. The Rams already have enough pieces in place to know who they have to be this season. The only thing that matters now is putting them all together.

//

http://www.101sports.com/listen-live/
http://www.101sports.com/2014/06/22/rams-mission-otas-conclude/
Rams on a Mission as OTAs Conclude

School’s out – temporarily – for the St. Louis Rams.

The team concluded OTAs with a dose of levity via a punt-catching competition between the offensive and defensive lines, the final leg of a three-week session that proved lighthearted and spirited at once. “We told the guys you’re not going to compete for the division here over the next couple weeks,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “The only thing you do is set yourself back. So it was a step-by-step process, we got everything in, and we came through it very, very healthy. We got the rooks caught up, which was good.”
Rams quarterback Sam Bradford

Rams quarterback Sam Bradford

One of the principal participants, in fact, managed to exceed initial expectations in the area of reps. Rehabbing starting quarterback Sam Bradford went through several seven-on-seven drills and even tackled the hurry-up offense on occasion, among other duties.

“I was really happy with everything that went on during the OTAs,” Bradford said. “A big part of it for me was obviously physically getting back out on to the field, seeing how my knee reacted. It’s been fantastic. We were actually able to do a little more than we anticipated, so that’s very positive.”

As Bradford nears full health, the Oklahoma product is aware of the albatross hanging over the headquarters in Earth City: The club hasn’t sniffed the playoffs since he assumed the controls in 2010. Yet the former Heisman Trophy winner remains adamant about not letting outside criticism alter his training for the all-important season ahead.

“To be honest, I don’t pay attention to any of it,” Bradford told reporters recently. “I don’t read the papers, I don’t listen to the radio, I don’t watch the news. I’m focused on what I do here in this building. I know the preparation and time that I’ve put in. I know I’m doing the right things. “Maybe it hasn’t paid off yet and we haven’t taken that next step, but I know that what I am doing is a process. Just be patient. I think this year we are going to take that next step.”

In the run-up to April’s draft, Fisher and general manager Les Snead took great pains to reaffirm the organization’s faith in the fifth-year signal-caller. And it wouldn’t surprise the man at the helm if No. 8 were to register a Pro Bowl-worthy campaign at last. “Oh yeah, there is no doubt,” Fisher said. “He has got the vision, the decision-making ability, the arm strength, the mobility to put up great numbers.”

Bradford’s drive to enter the upper echelon of professional throwers remains stronger than ever. “I think every quarterback has that mindset,” Bradford said. “You have to believe in yourself and you have to be confident. “I’m confident in all of my abilities. I don’t try to compare myself to anyone. You guys do a great job of that, but I believe in everything I do to get myself ready to play and I’m confident when I step on the field on Sunday that I can help us win.”

It’s officially summer, with Rams players and coaches alike scattering in various directions until rookies report July 21.

“I’m actually looking forward to it,” Bradford said. “Nothing cool. I’m just going to go back to Oklahoma, continue the rehab process and get ready for training camp. Come in as strong as possible.”

Fisher took a more coy approach when addressing his plans. “I’ll probably disappear for a while,” he said. “If I told where I was going I wouldn’t be disappearing.”
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams

While personnel are encouraged to take advantage of the break from the gridiron, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams may find the lull in the action a bit harder to absorb.

“I’m happiest on the field. I’m happiest out here,” Williams said. “I’m happiest competing. In the meeting room, it’s good too, when the players are around. In the offseason when the players aren’t around and the coaches have to suffer through me … they were so happy when the players got here because they got a break too because now I can start stressing the players instead of stressing the coaches.

“But it is fun. This is where I’m happiest. Again, in the state of Missouri, back in my home state, here in St. Louis, I can’t tell you how happy I am. This is a good group of guys to be with.” National types recognize the Kirksville native’s zest for the game, too.

“You can maybe look at Gregg as being one of the best acquisitions this offseason,” ESPN’s John Clayton, a recent guest on “The Fast Lane,” said. “But then when you put (rookie defensive tackle) Aaron Donald in that nickel package with how young it is, and how good it is, and how talented is … I was surprised, when I was looking at the numbers, that the Ram numbers weren’t better last year. They got the sacks, but they gave up a lot of yards.” Clayton continued.

“Now I think that you can see, it’s going to start shutting people down. And that’s going to be the nature of what Gregg Williams is going to do. He’s going to get those guys thinking, ‘Hey, we don’t want to concede anything on this defense.’”

Here’s the full training camp schedule of practices open to the public:
Friday, July 25 at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 26 at 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 27 at 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 29 at 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 31 at 5:30 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 1 at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 2 at 12:30 p.m. (scrimmage at Edward Jones Dome)
Monday, Aug. 4 at 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 5 at 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 7 at 3:30 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 11 at 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 12 at 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 14 at 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 20 at 3:30 p.m.