Rookies arrive at camp

Rams rookies arrive at UC Irvine for 1st training camp

Greg Beacham, Associated Press

http://www.vcstar.com/sports/rams-rookies-arrive-at-uc-irvine-for-1st-training-camp-3890c443-8f63-3a56-e053-0100007f865e-388333621.html

IRVINE — Jared Goff showed up to the UC Irvine dorms a bit ahead of his fellow rookies Tuesday, getting a quick start on his first training camp with the Los Angeles Rams.

In truth, the Rams’ quarterback of the future has been trying to get a head start since shortly after the team wrapped up offseason workouts a month ago.

The No. 1 draft pick has been working out at a Westlake High near the Rams’ new home base at Cal Lutheran alongside fellow quarterback Case Keenum, rookie receivers Pharoh Cooper and Westlake High graduate Nelson Spruce and several others. They don’t want to waste a moment in their quest to make the Rams’ homecoming season a success.

“We were out there … just running our routes and getting our chemistry down,” Cooper said. “I had to get into the playbook, myself. (Goff) was calling plays, and I forgot some of them. I went to Jared’s house a couple of times and hit the playbook with him.”

The Rams decided not to make Goff available to the large contingent of media watching the rookies’ arrival at camp Tuesday. Several cameras, including the crew from HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series, shadowed the rookies’ every move, and they’ll do the same to the veterans on Thursday.

Keeping expectations at a manageable level will be a major task for coach Jeff Fisher and the Rams, who don’t want their prize passer to carry any more burdens than the expectations and responsibilities already heaped on his shoulders. The Rams say they won’t be concerned whether Goff or Keenum starts their season opener at San Francisco in early September.

“We’re going to coach (Goff) to be successful, and we’re not going to put him in with a chance to fail,” Fisher said last month after the Rams’ final practice. “That’s the most important thing in developing a young quarterback.”

Goff has several weeks and four preseason games to get ready, and he’ll have plenty of help from the youngsters making the journey with hi.

When Cooper rolled up to campus in a new Porsche with cameras following his every move, his fancy wheels and broad grin couldn’t hide his level of excited anxiety about the weeks ahead.

“About a 10 out of 10,” Cooper said to describe his level of nervousness.

The Rams eased into their first offseason back in California by spending the past six months headquartered at a fully functional training complex at the River Ridge fields in Oxnard. That complex is the Dallas Cowboys’ annual home for training camp, which officially starts Satirday, so the Rams had to pack up and move more than 100 miles southeast to Orange County for their own camp.

The players will share dormitories at UC Irvine for the next five weeks or so — longer than most teams stay in residency at training camp — because the Rams are still putting the finishing touches on their new in-season training complex at Cal Lutheran. The Rams aren’t exactly roughing it on UC Irvine’s beautiful campus, and the players hope this extended trip back to school will build their chemistry.

“I thought I left college, but it seems like we’re right back at it,” rookie tight end Temarrick Hemingway said. “I guess I’ll get my textbooks and start studying for my chemistry test tomorrow.”

The rookies get a few extra workouts before the veterans report, and the Rams hope they’ll make an impact. All but one of Los Angeles’ draftees are offensive players, addressing the obvious needs of the NFL’s worst passing offense last season.

“It’s exciting to be back,” Cooper said. “I’m looking forward to having fun, competing and just making plays out here again.”

Rams training camp opens with rookies reporting to UC Irvine

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rams-723582-rookies-goff.html

Crawford Field at UCI has been transformed into a temporary practice facility for the Rams. Rookies are scheduled to report Tuesday and begin practicing Wednesday.

It’s back-to-school time for the Rams’ rookies, and the syllabus appears rather daunting.

Just a few months after most of them left college, the Rams’ 27 rookies will move into UC Irvine campus housing Tuesday, then hit the field Wednesday for the first of their two practices before veterans arrive.

The big man on campus, naturally, will be quarterback Jared Goff, who made his name at another University of California school, the flagship in Berkeley. Goff, the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL draft, has a secure roster spot but will attempt to win the starting job during camp.

The Rams last camped at UC Irvine in August 1994. Two months later, Goff was born, and in April 1995, the team moved to St. Louis. Now, 22 years later, the Rams have returned for five weeks of practice.

The rookies check in Tuesday and get a two-day head start on the veterans, who arrive Thursday in advance of the first full-team workout on Saturday. The youngsters will need to utilize every practice in order to show coaches they deserve to deserve a spot on the 53-man roster in early September.

Many of the rookies – six draft picks and 21 undrafted free agents – won’t survive the Aug. 30 first round of cuts, which will take the roster from 90 players to 75. Another 18 cuts will come Sept. 3, but that’s when the Rams can establish a 10-player practice squad and keep alive the NFL dreams of some rookies.

The vetting process already has begun. Most of these rookies were on the field in Oxnard, in May for a mini-camp and in June for full-team optional workouts. Some stood out while others made little impact.

The most intriguing battles might be at receiver and tight end, positions critical to Goff’s development.

Only five or six receivers are likely to be on the roster, and fourth-round pick Pharoh Cooper, a standout in OTA practices, looks like a good bet to earn a spot with veterans Tavon Austin and Kenny Britt.

That leaves two spots, and the question of whether returning receivers such as Brian Quick and Bradley Marquez can hold off rookies such as sixth-round pick Mike Thomas and undrafted free agents Marquez North, Nelson Spruce, Duke Williams and Paul McRoberts.

The Rams, who typically carry only three tight ends, drafted Tyler Higbee and Temarrick Hemingway this year, and already have Lance Kendricks and Cory Harkey, who fills a fullback-tight end hybrid role. Higbee and Hemingway missed OTAs with injuries and need to make an early impact.

It will be a week of renewal for the Rams, who camped in Irvine from 1990-92, then again in 1994 (plus stops at Compton College, Loyola Marymount, University of Redlands, Chapman, Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State).

Practices on Wednesday and Thursday are closed to fans and reporters. Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. session is the first one open to the public and will be followed by an autograph session.