Rams Team Report: Inside Slant: 9-26

St. Louis Rams – TeamReport
From Globalpost .com

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/thomson-reuters/140927/st-louis-rams-teamreport

NFL Team Report – St. Louis Rams – INSIDE SLANT

Every year, the random nature of the NFL schedule gives teams their bye week at usually different times. Last season, the Rams had their bye after Week 10. No such luck this year, as they are in a group of six teams that have the earliest off week possible, after Week 3.

Asked about the early bye week after practice Wednesday, head coach Jeff Fisher said, “Coaches never complain about their bye weeks when they come, they never do. It is a little unusual. It’s probably the earliest, I think. I’ve ever had one. So, you make the most of it.”

The Rams will have practice another Thursday and then disperse for a CBA-mandated four days off before reconvening to begin preparations for the Oct. 5 game at Philadelphia.

Fisher liked what his team accomplished Wednesday. “We had a really good session today,” he said. “Looking at some things that we need to do better and we’re also working some of our younger players into practice. What happens typically is you get going the backups that don’t get the reps and so this bye weeks is a good time to get them some reps. This week, basically, is about guys that need the rehab get the rehab, guys that need to recover get to recover and then guys that need the reps, the technique work, get that. You kind of handle everybody a little bit differently this week.”

An early look at the Eagles can also be advantageous. Added Fisher, “The staff is addressing some of the things that we need to work on. Whether that’s third down or third and long defensively or the red-zone stuff, or the two-minute stuff. We’re going to look at all of that. The specifics in the run game. Protections and what we’re doing defensively. And then we carry that over on to the field. We’ll do a little bit of some things on Thursday that we haven’t been able to work on just because of the nature of the preparation weeks. Read option, we’ll start taking a look at Philadelphia.”

Fisher was most disappointed by the loss to Dallas because the Rams had 26 first downs, 448 yards and was 8-for-13 on third down, but frittered away a 21-point lead. He knows the team played good enough to win, but found a way to lose.

He said, “I see a team that’s improving, that probably played its best game of the year in all three phases. That had four or five critical errors on offense and defense that cost us the game. It’s hard to overcome those type of things. I think, as I said to the team and as we agreed wholeheartedly with the staff, we took a step forward. I thought we played much better than the previous two weeks, which is encouraging. We just have to continue to build from that.

“We’ve got some time to make some little adjustments and look at what we’re doing and get some things corrected and continue to improve. They’re playing hard, they’re playing physical, and they’re mad. And that’s good.”

———————————————–

NFL Team Report – St. Louis Rams – NOTES, QUOTES

–Head coach Jeff Fisher was openly critical of the officiating in the loss to Dallas and didn’t back off after practice Wednesday. The Rams were penalized eight times for 119 yards, while the Cowboys lost just 15 yards on three infractions. According to research by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the 104-yard differential was the most in any game the Rams have played since they moved to St. Louis in 1995.

“Believe me, I looked at them,” Fisher said Monday. “We had several of them that are not fouls, probably four in particular.”

On two, a roughing-the-passer penalty against defensive end Eugene Sims and a defensive holding call on Sims, Fox TV analyst Mike Pereira, the league’s former director of officiating, said both were not penalties.

Fisher also claimed there were more than a dozen instances of offensive holding by the Cowboys that weren’t called. The Rams have just one sack after three games following a season in which they had 53. Defensive end Robert Quinn had 19 last season, but has been shut out thus far.

Asked Monday if he knew how many offensive holding penalties there have been in the first three games, Fisher said, “I think we’ve had one in three games. How many have been missed? The hold that was missed on Minnesota’s touchdown pass on Rob, that was missed. That was a touchdown. We had the false starts that weren’t called on the touchdown last week at Tampa. Then we had this hold on the touchdown (against Dallas). So, technically we’ve had three defensive touchdowns scored against us that were improperly officiated. Again, that didn’t create a 1-2 start. We look at what we can control.”

Fisher did say, “The penalties didn’t create our turnovers. The penalties didn’t cause the interception return for a touchdown. We weren’t penalized when we fumbled the snap at midfield. So we can control the things that we can control, and we didn’t do it well enough to win this game.”

Still, his frustration is evident. Asked Wednesday how penalties can be reduced, Fisher said, “Reduce the penalties? Well, we just get them to call penalties and not throw flags when there’s no infraction. That’ll significantly reduce it.”

Then, when asked how those penalties can be reduced, he dead-panned, “You’ll have to talk to New York. I’ll take care of our issues on the field here.”

–With defensive end Chris Long sidelined by ankle surgery, William Hayes has been starting and undrafted free agent Ethan Westbrooks has been seeing the field after being uinactive in Week 1.

Asked about Westbrooks, Fisher said, “He’s averaging 15-20 plays a game which is good. He’ll help to keep Will fresh and we need that. Will played very well last weekend and part of that is because he’s fresh and Ethan allows him to do that. He’s coming along, he’s got the versatility. We didn’t move him around inside like we did in the preseason but Mike’s (line coach Mike Waufle) done a good job with him.”

BY THE NUMBERS: 69 – The number of pass attempts against the Rams this season, easily the lowest number in the NFL. Oakland is next with 85. Nine teams are in the 90s and the remaining 21 teams have at least 100 attempts against.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “I think we’re mostly graded on wins and losses. So we’re 1-and; 1-that’s the way I look at it. Our football team’s 1-and-2 and we’ve got to find a way to get some wins. So that’s really the only stat that I look at. It wasn’t good enough. We didn’t get the job done. Just wish we could’ve made one or two more plays and a got a ‘W.’ ” – QB Austin Davis, asked about his thoughts on his passer rating after two starts.

———————————————–

NFL Team Report – St. Louis Rams – STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

PLAYER NOTES

–RB Tre Mason has been inactive for each of the first three games and coach Jeff Fisher said he’s close to being active. Said Fisher, “We’re working him in. He’s doing a nice job on special teams right now and so he’s got a pretty good feel for what we’re doing. There’s always that chance, yes.”

–C Barrett Jones is working to get back on the field after missing time because of a back injury. Jones was running well on the sideline during practice Wednesday.