Rams in Oxnard 8/17

Rams set for California practices with Cowboys amid questions of relocation

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/20429/rams-set-for-california-practices-with-cowboys-amid-questions-of-relocation

There’s no denying that the St. Louis Rams will get a taste of a vastly different training camp atmosphere this week when they work with the Dallas Cowboys in Oxnard, California, over the course of the next couple of days.

Beyond the usual pomp and circumstance of a Cowboys practice, there will be plenty of representation from the team’s Los Angeles days, especially with the looming possibility of the team’s return to the City of Angels. All of that should create something of a circus atmosphere, an atmosphere that Rams coach Jeff Fisher doesn’t seem too concerned about.

In fact, Fisher reiterated over the weekend how much he’s looking forward to the chance to practice with a team as talented as Dallas.

Jeff Fisher said his focus this week in California will be on improvement, not his team’s potential relocation there. AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

“Players are looking forward to it, it’ll be great work,” Fisher said. “I spoke with Coach [Jason] Garrett and put a really good practice schedule together, so we’ll get really good, quality work out there. We’re just going to use this as an opportunity for both teams to improve. ”

Of course, it’s fair to assert that the Rams will be inundated with questions about their potential future home while practicing only about 60 miles north of owner Stan Kroenke’s proposed Inglewood stadium project. In fact, it’s believed that Kroenke will attend the practices, something he has almost never done since he’s been majority owner in St. Louis.

Since the initial announcement of the joint practice sessions in the spring, Fisher and the Rams have been adamant that training with the Cowboys has nothing to do with being in Southern California and everything to do with logistics. Fisher stuck by that assertion again recently.

“Well, I said this numerous times, we felt like our team was in a position to gain some additional experience on the practice field or in a lot of ways, gain an additional preseason game and so we talked to a number of clubs,” Fisher said. “It just so happened from a timing standpoint it worked out that Dallas was our best option. So we did talk to Midwest teams and timing wise it just didn’t work out. From a travel standpoint, with the late game last night and avoiding the late travel back, we felt like with the Cowboys’ availability, this was going to be our best option.”

The Rams did indeed talk to some options closer to home, namely Indianapolis, the team they play in the final preseason game. Had that game been earlier on the schedule, it’s possible the Colts would have come to Earth City to scrimmage the Rams for a few days before that game but it became something of a non-starter when the schedule had Indianapolis as the opponent in the final week of the exhibition slate.

As for the usual scuffles that tend to pop up in these joint practices — see Washington versus Houston circa a week and a half ago — Fisher said he and Garrett have already taken steps to try to prevent those situations from popping up.

“We’re not going to have a problem with that,” Fisher said. “I’ve been talking to Dallas and I’ll have conversations with Jason and Stephen [Jones] and Jerry [Jones]. We’re going out there to get better and compete against them. We’re not going out there to have joint practices that end up being practices on your own because you can’t get along. I mean, it’ll be competitive but, there’s a, I’ll guarantee a respect factor between both teams.”