Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › Working to Increase the Points & running yards
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November 11, 2016 at 7:57 pm #57794
znModeratorPractice Report 11/9: Working to Increase the Points
Myles Simmons
It’s no secret — the Rams have struggled offensively this season, particularly over the last two games. And so while it’s a team game and Los Angeles is looking for more takeaways from its defense, and perhaps a significant special teams play, the club needs its offense to score more points.
“It’s our job to score points, and it’s frustrating for all of us,” offensive coordinator Rob Boras said. “We believe in what we’re doing. We believe in one another. I’ve said before, what this team has gone through since leaving St. Louis and as much time as we’ve spent together — these guys genuinely like, and I’d use the word love, each other. And I know as men, that’s not a word used very often.
“So they’ve got to look each other in the eye, and we’re all frustrated, but they understand that the guys in the room can get it done,” Boras added. “And that’s the challenge that we have, and these guys are willing to accept that challenge.”
Los Angeles is currently No. 32, scoring just 16.3 points per game. Boras said one of the keys to the club’s improvement will be to resist the urge to press and keep focusing what should bring the team success.
“What we always talk about is that you have one play to play,” Boras said. “If something good or bad happened on the previous play, you get about 12 to 13 seconds between the end of the play and the huddle to let it go and move on to the next play. And that’s part of the mental toughness we’re always challenging the guys to play with.”
“You just can’t press and panic — just play,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “We’re making the plays on the practice field. Granted, it’s different than on Sundays. But just go out and just play. Relax and play. But don’t hurt ourselves.”
Boras also said the club has been trying to be as creative as possible in order to try to get explosive plays — the kinds of plays that usually lead to points.
“We’ve lined up with Todd [Gurley] in the backfield last week a couple times, just trying to do some things that way to take advantage of our talent, to maybe give the defense some un-scouted looks, and try to put our guys in the best position as possible,” Boras said.
It’s clear from the team’s attitude in and around practice the despite the recent results, players are in good spirits and believe a turnaround is imminent.
“It’s the guys I come to work with each and every day that makes me feel this way because these guys know that we can go out there and win every week,” wide receiver Kenny Britt said. “That’s a confidence builder in each other. And you don’t see anybody moping around because we know we’re always an inch away from taking a W home. And it’s always us. So we realize it’s us — and that’s the only thing we ned to change, is how we execute.”
If the Rams’ offense is to get going this week, quarterback Case Keenum will more likely than not be a significant part of the reason why. In Los Angeles’ four-game skid, the signal-caller has completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,179 yards with five touchdowns and eight interceptions.
But that doesn’t mean Fisher has lost faith in his starting quarterback. Indeed, he’s been making sure Keenum is in a good place mentally throughout the week.
“He’s fine. We’ve had several conversations this week about it, and he’s fine,” Fisher said. “That defense, Carolina’s defense, is a good defense. And we made some plays, we just didn’t finish them. Case is fine mentally.”
“We don’t have to be anything other than who we are,” Keenum said of his talks with Fisher. “We all have got enough talent, we all have got enough drive, enough will, enough intelligence to get the job done. It’s just a matter of executing and getting it done. We’ve got to flip the switch, and execute, and move the ball.”
One element of his game Keenum said he’s been working on is his pocket presence. The quarterback said there were a few moments he might have been able to avoid a few hits had it been better in last Sunday’s game against the Panthers.
“I think my pocket presence was where it needed to be. I think I could’ve prevented a few sacks, a few batted balls just trusting my protections. Stepping up when I need to,” Keenum said. “Sometimes, I make it tough on my tackles. So, definitely worked on that this week.”
This Sunday will bring another significant challenge in the Jets, who boast a solid defense that uses multiple fronts. Their top defensive linemen — Sheldon Richardson, Muhammad Wilkerson, and USC product Leonard Williams — are tough matchups from both a run and pass standpoint. And then New York has cornerback Darrelle Revis with his 28 career interceptions on the outside.
“They’ve got a great front,” Keenum said. “Their D-line — again — is one of the best in the league. So we’ve got our work cut out for us up front. Revis has been doing this a long time. He sees a lot of stuff, so [have to] know where he’s at. And their defense is good. They disguise pressures they do well.”
INJURY REPORT
The Rams have five players listed on their first injury report of the week.
Running back Todd Gurley (thigh), defensive tackle Michael Brockers (groin), cornerback Trumaine Johnson (ankle), defensive back Lamarcus Joyner (back), and wide receiver Nelson Spruce(calf) did not participate in today’s session.
November 12, 2016 at 3:02 am #57830znModeratorAttacking a Strong Run Defense
Myles Simmons
As a team, Los Angeles ranks No. 29 in rushing through nine weeks of the 2016 season. To say that’s unexpected would be an understatement, particularly given how the club finished No. 7 in the same category last year and features a healthy Todd Gurley in his second NFL season.
That’s why getting Gurley going is an important factor for the Rams’ second half of the season.
“We’re looking [for] overall improvement. We want to see the arrow go up with respect to the whole football team — and that includes Todd, and that includes his touches, and that includes his production,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “But that’s an offensive team-oriented challenge that we have to face and we have to meet.”
“Just make sure I’m doing the things to help me out as far as helping out [blockers] as well,” Gurley said of his objectives heading into the final eight games.
The 2015 offensive rookie of the year currently has 451 yards rushing with three touchdowns. But over the Rams’ last three games, Gurley has averaged just 14 carries while the Rams have averaged about 44 passing attempts. Last week against Carolina, Gurley had just two carries in the game’s second half.
That’s not the ideal distribution for Los Angeles’ offense, and Fisher said this week Gurley’s reduction in carries has been in part because the club has been behind and faced so many passing situations. But it’s an issue L.A. has been working hard to correct this week.
“He’s feeling good,” Fisher said. “The are down for a lot of different reasons, but we’d like to see the numbers increase — out of the backfield as well as the carries.”
“Part of it is, we’ve got to do better on first and second down, and stay on the field, and sustain some drives,” offensive coordinator Rob Boras said this week. “I know what the numbers are. At the end of the first half last week on first and second down, we had nine runs and 10 passes, and we had seven third downs, and then four plays in two-minute. Then when we got behind two scores in the second half, we had 20 plays of two-minute there at the end.”
And that doesn’t help a running back in terms of trying to get into a rhythm — be it Gurley or Los Angeles’ usual third-down back, Benny Cunningham.
“For any runner, and especially a guy like Todd and/or Benny, it’s the more carries they’re going to get, that the more that they’re going to settle in,” Boras said. “Not only as a runner, but as the blockers — the O-line, the tight ends, and the fullback if that be the case. Part of that again is staying on the field, and sustaining some drives, and eliminating three-and-outs, and that’s obviously a stress what we’re trying to get done.”
As a strong runner for much of his life, Gurley knows what it takes to excel when he does get into a rhythm and receives multiple carries in a row.
“Obviously, being a running back, you want the ball,” Gurley said. “So, you’ve just got to be mentally tough in getting those carries play after play. And the biggest thing with that is, that’s when endurance comes in. You start seeing stuff when you’re tired. So you have to make sure you’re doing the same thing that first carry that you’re doing at that 25th carry.”
And while Gurley would surely like better results than he’s had this season, it hasn’t changed the way he’s approached going about improving.
“I’ve said it before, I’ve been impressed with Todd as much success he had last year, and how well he handled the success last year as a 22 year old, or whatever he was last year. I think he’s handling what’s happened this year just as well,” Boras said. “Again, that’s a sign of his character and what he’s all about. I’m not saying that he’s not frustrated, but he’s not showing it. He’s a team guy. He’s willing to do protection-wise, route running – whatever it’s going to take for us to get first downs and ultimately score touchdowns.”
It seems like the Rams have faced some of the toughest defensive fronts week after week, and they’ve all loaded the box to stop the run. That’s going to be the case this Sunday, too, as L.A. takes on the Jets — currently No. 4 in run defense.
“Obviously, they’re very athletic,” center Tim Barnes said of the Jets’ front. “They play really hard, fast. You see some of those guys, they’re running down plays — so you know what you’re dealing with. Big guys, but they’re very athletic. They’re playing at a high level right now.”
“Just have to stay consistent, read your tracks, and just stay patient,” Gurley said.
New York is also multiple with its defense, employing both even and odd fronts depending on the situation. That’s can be a challenge for any team in terms of preparation.
“You have to really get into your playbook. And you do that every week, but especially when you have different looks for everything like we do, you just have to make sure everyone’s on their game together,” Barnes said, stressing the Rams have been focusing on communication. “We’re going to be away, so we’re going to have to communicate in the noise — things like that. We know that we have to do everything together correctly.”
And given the Jets strength against the run, might it mean a bit more if this was the week where the Rams finally broke out in a big way?
“Absolutely. And we want to get the run started bad. It’s something that’s bothering everybody,” Barnes said. “It means something to us. So we just want to make sure that we do everything we can to get it going.”
“That’s our focus. They know it and we know it. It’s easier sand than done,” Fisher said. “We have to finish plays and we have to find a way to hand the ball off to Todd and Benny late in the game. That’s how you win games at the end.”
November 12, 2016 at 6:12 pm #57982znModeratorTodd Gurley still stuck in frustrating cycle of Rams’ offense
Jack Wang
THOUSAND OAKS >> This Rams season has truly been a test of Todd Gurley’s patience.
Patience, first of all, with the questions. Week after week, reporters pester the running back with similar queries: Why aren’t you as successful as you were last year? Are you getting frustrated? Is this finally the breakout week?
This cycle will continue until Gurley again maximizes his superstar talents, but when exactly that happens remains maddeningly unclear after eight games. To be sure, much of the fault does not lie with the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year — as both his coaches and teammates have said, week after week. But with a top-five rushing defense looming this Sunday against the New York Jets (10 a.m., FOX), it’s difficult to imagine that the Rams have the answers to finally help him find his rhythm.
Not only did Gurley get a season-low 12 carries last Sunday, but the team gave him consecutive carries just once in their 13-10 loss to the Panthers — on the second and third plays of the game.
“You’ve just got to get your mind right,” Gurley said. “You never know what the play call is. Sometimes, like I said, I’ve had times in college where I got the ball five times in a row, and you know you’re going to get it again.
“But, you just got to man up and do your best.”
The former Georgia star must exercise his patience in other ways as well. While the Rams’ offensive line has done him no favors — it is rated as the league’s worst run-blocking unit by Pro Football Focus — the former No. 10 overall pick has also missed some of the rare openings. It was a reality that he hinted at Friday when asked about the need to exercise patience as a running back.
“If the play is not designed to hit outside,” he said, “then don’t make up in your mind, ‘Oh, I know it’s not going to be up inside, so I’ll just go outside.’ Just making sure you’re on the same track as everybody else, because once you start to predetermine stuff, that’s when you know you’re not on the same page as your linemen, you try to bounce it outside, you get holding calls. You just want to stay consistent.”
ROAD TRIPPIN’
The quirks of NFL scheduling have made road warriors out of the Rams, forcing them to play five of their first eight games away from the Coliseum. The next month offers little respite: Three of their next four take place on the other side of the Mississippi.
At least the rigors of travel are easier than they used to be — particularly when it comes to pregame prep and in-flight nutrition.
“In the old days, it was a hamburger and fries and who knows what was going to go on,” said Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. “It’s a lot better now. It really is.”
Williams credited head coach Jeff Fisher, athletic trainer Reggie Scott and head chef Anthony Zamora for optimizing the process for long trips. That process involves everything from tweaking practice reps throughout the week — the Rams started practicing earlier on Friday to adjust to their 10 a.m. kickoff on Sunday — to how the training staff fuels its players.
“It’s all about hydration, especially these long trips,” Zamora said. “Because up in the air, at high elevation, you lose more water. So I’m handing out hydration electrolyte packets before we take off. Really just trying to make sure guys are loaded up.
“Some of them, they’ll get nervous and can’t eat in the mornings. Making sure they’ve got enough carbs, water to prevent cramping and that sort of thing. It’s really just making guys eat. You can imagine it’s a lot of nerves, anticipation of Sunday.”
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