Adam Scheftner reporting that Puka left practice today with calf injury

https://www.threads.com/share/BAswxIiHQ5/

Rams are

# 1 team offense
# 1 in passing
# 3 in team defense

This is a weird season.

Rams started flat today, should’ve won this game.

I still have faith that this team will once again peak in Nov and Dec and be 8-4 in the first week of Dec.

The Raiders started 3-0… they will be 3-4 next week like the Rams.

Colin Cowherd on Rams vs Bills…

I agree with everyone praising Kyren Williams on that last TD… that was a great play.. fought through 4 Eagle players… … a great stiff arm behind the LOS and dragged two different Eagles to get into the end zone while holding the ball on a final desperation strip…

I listen to this game on Rams’ radio today…

JB Long, Maurice Jones Drew, and DeMarco Farr made this a very memorable game…

They ripped special teams…,. and were concerned of Stafford’s play through 3 1/2 quarters of football….

They both praised the defense and Kyren Williams and are convinced Meavis is gone this week. .

Fred Flinstone’s Water-Buffalo next Monday…

GO RAMS!!!!

Rams cut the X Man …. practice squad guy to field punts……

URL = https://www.therams.com/news/rams-waive-wide-receiver-xavier-smith-week-4-2026-eagles

Rams waive wide receiver Xavier Smith; wide receiver Alex Bachman expected to step into punt returner role

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – The Rams on Friday waived wide receiver Xavier Smith.

Smith, 29, primarily served as the team’s punt returner through the first three weeks of this season, and all throughout last season, also spending time in the role during his first season with the team in 2024. He averaged 9.4 yards per punt in 50 returns across 34 games played, with longs of 38 in 2024, 31 in 2025 and 19 this season.

While miscues on special teams in recent weeks have not fallen on Smith alone, he did have a costly one last Sunday night against the Broncos when he fielded the ball at the Rams’ own goal line and returned it 10 yards with 14:08 remaining in the third quarter. The ensuing 3-and-out off of that steep starting field position in their own territory, and the Broncos returning the ensuing punt 28 yards to the Rams’ 42, gave the Broncos what would be their best starting field position for an offensive series all game in a sequence of events that turned the momentum in Denver’s favor.

Speaking with the media prior to Thursday’s practice, Rams special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone said Smith “has been consistent,” but also that there had been no thought about replacing him as the team’s punt returner. Given the time Smith punt in throughout training camp and into the regular season, Ventrone was confident Smith “would do the necessary things to be able to sustain at that position for us.”

McVay said Friday morning that the Rams were not thinking about making a change at punt returner at the time Ventrone spoke to media Thursday afternoon. But after taking a step back to “evaluate the totality of our group” and determine “what’s the best way to try to be able to put together all three phases,” McVay felt the decision to move on from Smith was in the best interest for the team.

McVay said they made that decision later Thursday night, then he met with Smith Friday morning. McVay said “there were some decisions last week that we’ve got to make better decisions, we got to be able to field it, and that doesn’t mean I love (Smith) any less. But we need better production from that position that he was playing a critical factor in.”

McVay said wide receiver Alex Bachman, who is currently on the team’s practice squad, will step into the punt returner role. Asked if he anticipates long-term trying to work some guys out to see if they might be fits at punt returner, McVay said “I think I’m interested to see how Alex does.”

“We’re always looking at if there’s way of improving the caliber of our team,” McVay said. “Those will be avenues that we’ll always explore within whatever parameters that we can do that within, and so I would certainly never say no. But I am also optimistic that I think we’re gonna see some good stuff from Alex on Sunday.”

As much as the Rams needed more from the punt returner role, that still didn’t make the decision to move on from Smith easy for McVay, given the relationship the two had built since Smith joined the team as an undrafted free agent signee in 2023. Joining an NFL team was a big deal for Smith, who had initially quit playing football after high school and spent 2016 working with Amazon before ultimately applying to Florida A&M University and successfully trying out for the school’s football team as a walk-on in 2017.

Ultimately, though, McVay felt the responsibility to the team to make a change there.

“Number one, very appreciative of Xavier Smith,” McVay said. “I think when you look at his journey, there’s a lot of cool things that are reflected in sports of overcoming odds and doing some different things, and I love him, appreciate the person. The hard part is, and you tell him and you tell the team, is that ultimately my job, and it’s one of the worst parts of it, but it is a part of the job responsibility, is you try to use your values and principles to make decisions that are best for the collective, even if it sometimes doesn’t benefit people that you’ve developed relationships with and you care about. And we just need better production out of that position. That’s you know exclusively what it was.”

yeah, the charger / raider game was a very good game….not exactly the holy roller game, but a tight game…

SoFi crew scrubbing the logos in the endzone and midfield, swapping, rebranding all the store merchandise and hanging championship banners to transform the stadium for tonight’s game….

GO RAMS!!!

in the past 5 years, only 16% of teams that start 0-2 make the playoffs….

Espn.com

LOS ANGELES — Star defensive tackle Aaron Donald is coming out of retirement to try to help the Los Angeles Rams win another Super Bowl.

Donald agreed to a one-year, $20 million deal with playoff incentives that can raise the total value of the deal to $30 million, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The Rams announced Donald’s return but did not disclose terms.

Ty Simpson “Razor Sharp”

Fearsome White…

Check out this Dick Enberg intro…

i’m not sure if the Knicks had a strong “Clutch Gene” or if the Spurs had a bigger “Choke Gene”

Spurs gift wrapped it in game 2, game 4, and game 5. … Spurs average age = 23… 2nd youngest team to play in NBA finals and it showed with the lack of routine execution in the final moments of each game…they blew it big time.

at the onset of the NBA playoffs, I wanted to see the Knicks win it all,……outside of the Yankees, I’ve always been infatuated with New York……, but as this final series evolved, I found myself pulling for the Spurs to extend the series.

I’m not sure what’s more surprising… picking a TE no one predicted to picked … or having Tavon Austin chanting St Louis before announcing the pick…. maybe he announced the wrong player?

These changes seem so subtle that I don’t see a real difference from the last few seasons…

i want the Hadl to Harold Jackson unis, the Elmendorf, Isiah Roberson and Fred Dryer unis, the Haden and McCutheon unis…, Ferragamo to Waddy, Dickerson and his googles, Everrett to Ellard, Chandler to Kinchen, that ended with Warner to Bruce in Georgia and in 1999…..

the entire world wants the 1973 to 1999 unis back.

i’m 63…. i’ve been working in high-tech sales since 1983…. i retired from HP after 34 years but i’ve been working for an electronics distributor for the past 5 years with no plans to retire soon.

BTW, GRITS once called the HP switch board looking for me to further discuss a Post Distpatch thread…. “hello can i speak to Joe Mad aka Roman Van Brocklin?”

have any of you got a call from a poster to discuss a thread?