How Will Jamon Brown Adjust to RT?

Myles Simmons

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Mailbag-How-Will-Jamon-Brown-Adjust-to-RT/429c41d4-3f0a-49a4-a112-81a551222fc9

From what we saw during OTAs and minicamp, it seemed like Brown was making a fairly smooth transition over to right tackle.

It’s a position he’s familiar with, having played both the left and right tackle during his college days at Louisville. He said there was some rust to knock off, but with working there for the weeks he did during the offseason program, paired with whatever work he was doing over the summer break, he’s likely in a good spot to handle that position full time.

“I think what you like about Jamon is his demeanor. I think he’s got a great disposition where he’s willing to be coached,” head coach Sean McVay said during the offseason program. “He’s got good movement for a big, physical player. And when he gets his hands on people, he certainly does a nice job of securing the line of scrimmage — whether that’s in the run game or in protection when he jump-sets people.”

While McVay said Brown will enter training camp as the starting right tackle, there may also be competition there from other players. The head coach mentioned Andrew Donnal and Pace Murphy as depth pieces that allowed the club to feel comfortable trading Greg Robinson back in June, so they may be in the mix.

But the other factor to think about is how will the players look different once they’re in pads. The offseason program is important for skill development, to be sure. But it can make it a bit tougher to evaluate offensive linemen because so much of their technique and effectiveness is only apparent once they’re working with pads. So that will be another important element to monitor as training camp goes on.

Rams receiver Cooper Kupp poised to be a starter

By Gary Klein

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-training-camp-20170726-story.html

He walked off the field after his final high school football game without a single college scholarship offer.

On Wednesday, Rams rookie receiver Cooper Kupp arrived at training camp at UC Irvine listed as a probable starter on the initial depth chart.

That’s how much Kupp apparently impressed coach Sean McVay after the Rams selected the record-setting Eastern Washington star in the third round of the NFL draft.

“All that stuff’s speculation,” Kupp said of the depth chart. “I still haven’t done anything yet.”

Kupp was part of a draft class that includes tight end Gerald Everett, a second-round pick, safety John Johnson (third round), receiver Josh Reynolds (fourth), linebacker Samson Ebukam (fourth), fullback Sam Rogers (sixth), and defensive linemen Tanzel Smart (sixth) and Ejuan Price (seventh).

Drafted players and other rookies reported Wednesday. Veterans must report by Friday. The first full-squad workout, one of 15 open to the public, is Saturday.

“My expectation is to come in here and help win games,” Kupp said. “That’s the most important part, the most important statistic.”

The Rams, coming off a 4-12 season, had the NFL’s worst offense the last two seasons.

It is expected to change under McVay, who oversaw a potent passing attack as the Washington Redskins’ offensive coordinator.

In March, the Rams signed free-agent receiver Robert Woods to join a position group that includes veteran Tavon Austin. Then they focused on bolstering their receivers through the draft.

Kupp, 24, stood out during rookie camp and also during organized team activities and a minicamp. He came in with a reputation for preparedness, and it showed.

“I would like people to say that when they describe the type of player I am,” he said. “Someone that prepares like a pro.”

Kupp, 6 feet 2 and 205 pounds, is the grandson of former NFL lineman Jake Kupp and the son of Craig Kupp, a former NFL quarterback. But he did not attract much major college attention.

During his career at Davis High in Yakima, Wash., Kupp said, Yale expressed interest. But that fell through and he finished his prep career unsure about his next step.

“It was tough,” he said of having no scholarship offers. “There’s no feeling like that thought. I believed I could play at the next level, but there’s that voice in the back of your head saying, ‘Well, right now no one else thinks that you can.’

“But that didn’t change my idea. My thoughts were, ‘I can do this. I know I can play at the next level. ’”

Kupp subsequently heard from and visited Idaho State and Eastern Washington.

He signed on at Eastern Washington, was a redshirt in 2012, and then went on to establish Football Championship Subdivision records for receptions, touchdown catches and receiving yards.

Throughout college, Kupp said he studied star NFL receivers Larry Fitzgerald, Antonio Brown and A.J. Green.

“Receiver is an art — there is not one way to do it,” Kupp said. “And all of these guys play the position very differently.

“I draw a little bit into my game from each of those guys.”

McVay and Les Snead, Rams general manager, evaluated Kupp on tape, on the field at the Senior Bowl, during workouts and an interview at the NFL scouting combine, and in private workouts.

The Rams did not have a first-round pick in the draft, a byproduct of the historic trade that enabled them to move up and select Jared Goff No. 1 in 2016. They took Everett in the second round and then tabbed Kupp.

The receiver had already developed a rapport with Goff, who shares the same agent. But even while catching passes from young free-agent quarterbacks during a rookie camp, Kupp stood out.

“Cooper was a guy that consistently showed up,” McVay said after the camp ended.

Kupp continued to stand out when the full squad practiced. After minicamp ended in June, he continued to work with Goff and other players during the run-up to training camp.

Now he is poised to begin preparation for his first NFL season, in an offense that features multiple receivers.

“I understand what we’re trying to accomplish with it,” he said. “I think it fits my game well.”

Facebook vid.

Dani interviews Johnson.

link: https://www.facebook.com/Rams/videos/10156130624098484/

The first post here, with the interview, has been expanded. The first posted version gets cut off so I linked the full podcast.

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Cooper Kupp could become a starter for Rams

By RICH HAMMOND

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/26/rookie-receiver-cooper-kupp-could-become-a-starter-for-rams/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

IRVINE — Cooper Kupp checked in for training camp Wednesday, and a Rams staffer handed him a dorm key, a wristband, a team handbook and, just maybe, a starting job.

It’s been a dizzying ascent for Kupp, who walked off a high school field in Yakima, Wash., six years ago without a scholarship offer. After that, Kupp set small-school college records as a receiver, became a third-round NFL draft pick and now seems to be on the verge of playing a huge role in the Rams offense.

The Rams last week released a list of projected starters, and Kupp’s name was included, along with veterans Robert Woods and Tavon Austin. Kupp seemed aware of the development but, with training-camp practices set to start Saturday at UC Irvine, he quickly dismissed its importance.

“Whatever that role is going to be, I’m going to embrace it,” Kupp said. “I’m going to attack it, and outside of that I’m going to let everyone else speculate on hypotheticals. I’m just going to focus on what I can control and strive to be part of something special here.”

The Rams clearly have high expectations for Kupp, a sturdy, 6-foot-2 receiver who they drafted out of Eastern Washington with the No. 69 overall pick. Throughout the summer’s rookie mini-camp and OTA practices, Kupp consistently drew attention as a standout at a position of great need.

For one thing, Kupp can catch the ball, which might seem basic, but not to anyone who watched the Rams struggle with dropped passes last season. Kupp has the toughness to play inside, as a slot receiver, and the question is whether he has enough speed and strength to play on the outside.

Work ethic isn’t an issue. Kupp said that, leading up to the draft, he studied the three major NFL offensive systems, from which all modern schemes have descended, and that be believes he fits well in the system of new coach Sean McVay.

Kupp also lives approximately 15 minutes from quarterback Jared Goff, so the two developed chemistry by running routes together after the Rams’ summer program ended in mid-June.

“I believe it’s not worth doing if you’re not trying to be the best at it,” Kupp said, “and football is something I believe I was made to do. So I’m going to put everything I have into it. There were times, growing up, where I wasn’t the biggest or strongest or fastest. I put in a lot of hard work to try to keep up with my friends and be a part of that group and achieve the things I wanted to.”

That attitude has carried Kupp far. As a high school senior, he had interest from Yale, but that fell off, and after his final game he didn’t have a scholarship offer. Eastern Washington and Idaho State eventually stepped up, and Kupp picked the former and set small-school records for receptions and receiving yards and touchdowns.

Some draft analysts believed the Rams reached to draft Kupp in the third round, but the move made sense for a team that had just lost receivers Kenny Britt and Brian Quick to free agency.

If things go to plan for the Rams, they will move Austin to an outside role and try to use him as more of a deep threat, and Kupp could fit into the slot role. By listing him as a starter, the Rams have set the bar high for Kupp, but his focus remains narrow.

“Coming into this, the goal is to get better every day,” Kupp said. “That doesn’t matter whether it’s offseason or in season. When I got to bed at night, the thoughts running through my head are, did I do what I needed to be the best me?”

MOVING IN

McVay and General Manager Les Snead are scheduled to speak with reporters Thursday, and all players are expected to be checked in for training camp by Friday afternoon. It remains uncertain whether star defensive lineman Aaron Donald, who missed part of the optional offseason program because of contract negotiations, will report for the start of camp.

CTE was nearly ubiquitous among former NFL players who donated their brains to science

The NFL issued a statement saying the league “will continue to work with a wide range of experts to improve the health of current and former NFL athletes.”

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-football-cte-brain-20170725-story.html

In a group of more than 100 professional football players whose brains were examined after their death, new research has found that virtually all suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition likely brought on by repeated blows to the head.

At a Boston University program that investigates the trauma-linked brain disease, researchers found that, of 111 former players for the National Football League who donated their brains for post-mortem examination, 110 bore the distinctive tangles, plaques and protein clumps now recognized as the neural hallmarks of CTE.

In life, all had suffered at least one of a range of behavioral symptoms — from mood instability and impulsiveness to substance abuse and aggression — that appeared to vary according to an athlete’s age at death, duration of participation in football and level of play. And the loved ones of the majority of the study’s participants told researchers that symptoms of CTE had worsened over the course of the participant’s life.

In nearly 9 out of 10 of those professional athletes — 86% — researchers found the telltale brain abnormalities of CTE were extensive, varied and scattered throughout the brain.

The report, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA, relates the accumulated findings from researchers’ post-mortem examinations of 202 brains, all donated by former football players or their families. Of those, researchers found clear evidence of CTE in 177, or 87.6%, of the brains they examined.

On average, those 177 athletes had played football for 15 years.

From kitchen tables to NFL owners’ boxes, the new report is likely to raise new concerns about the costs to players of a sport that, at its highest levels, has been a showcase for violent hits. As parents have fled the sidelines of youth football, taking their children with them, the NFL has changed rules in a bid to make the game safer, and has acknowledged a link between repeated concussions and players’ impairment. Payouts in a long-running suit by injured players against the NFL were approved last month.

In a statement issued Tuesday, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said “we appreciate the work done by Dr. McKee and her colleagues.”

The study leaves “many unanswered questions relating to the cause, incidence and prevalence of long-term effects of head trauma,” he added. But the NFL “is committed to supporting scientific research into CTE and advancing progress in the prevention and treatment of head injuries,” he said, citing the League’s commitment in 2016 to spend $100 million to support medical research and engineering advancements on brain science.

The study’s authors, led by Boston University neuropathologist Ann McKee, cautioned that the study does not suggest severe traumatic brain damage would be found so widely in all who have played football.

“These numbers are very startling and very high, but this is a skewed sample,” McKee told The Times.

The 202 brains examined in the study are called a “convenience sample.” They were donated, typically, by families who had witnessed troubling symptoms that often progressed among players. In many cases of suicide, for instance, donor families strongly suspected that trauma-related brain damage had led to their loved one’s death. And most had played football much longer than is typical, often starting young and continuing to play well into their 20s, McKee said.

Suicide was the most common cause of death among those diagnosed in the study with mild CTE, accounting for 27% of those deaths. The most common causes of death among those diagnosed with severe CTE were degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Close to half — 47% — of those with signs of severe CTE died of those causes.

In addition, the study did not compare the brains in the convenience sample to the brains of former football players chosen randomly or those who had no neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Not all the study’s participants played football professionally, and the findings of CTE also weren’t limited to NFL players.

Fourteen of the 202 donated brains came from football players who either did not live or did not play past high school, and three of those were found to have CTE.

Fifty-three of the study’s brains were donated by men who had played football at the collegiate level, and CTE was found in 48 of those.

Of 14 participants who had played semiprofessional football, nine had CTE. And seven of eight men who had played in the Canadian Football League were found to have the condition.

Neither of two brains that came from donors who had stopped playing football before high school showed signs of CTE.

Half of all the 202 donors whose brains were examined had died before they were 66 and half after their 66th birthday. Researchers concluded that, over the whole sample, the severity of CTE tracked closely with the age at which the subject died, with older donors showing, on average, the clearest and most extensive signs of CTE.

Researchers distinguished between brains with “mild” pathology — 44 of the 177 that showed signs of CTE — and those with “severe” levels of the disease’s structural hallmarks — 133 of the 177 brains examined. On average, those with mild CTE had played football for 13 years. Those found to have severe abnormalities had played football for an average of 15.8 years.

The authors of the study found no clear patterns in players’ positions — offensive and defensive linemen and running backs were most prominently represented in the sample and among those diagnosed with CTE. McKee said some of the patterns researchers did discern ran counter to expectations and will be fodder for important ongoing research.

For instance, many of the men whose families reported the most problematic symptoms, including mood disturbances, explosiveness and self-harm, were found to have only mild levels of CTE’s distinctive brain abnormalities, McKee said.

“We wondered whether there’s another pathology we’re not capturing in the data set,” McKee said — factors that, after trauma, might jump-start brain damage, exacerbate it or simply facilitate its spread across the brain. Possibilities include inflammation, the shearing of the fibers that lash neurons together or damage to the brain’s white matter — the fatty bundles of tissue that carry electrical signals among regions and hemispheres.

“We’ve been looking for eight years but don’t think we’ve captured a way to measure” all the possible factors that make CTE progress, McKee said. “At some point, there appears to be a progression — at least families complain of progression — and there appears to be a progression after the person has retired from the sport.”

Why, how and how much CTE progresses “remains one of the mysteries of this disease,” McKee said. “We think it’s stimulated by trauma, but how it’s self-perpetuating is unknown.”

Among the other potential contributing factors: age at first exposure to football and cumulative hits — both of which are under study elsewhere.

McKee said there’s growing evidence that early blows to the head may prove to be especially harmful — a suspicion suggesting that for youth players, a later start for tackle football might be a way to reduce damage. At the very least, she said, it would limit a player’s lifelong exposure to head injuries.

“I believe everyone needs to make their own decisions, given their own personal circumstances,” McKee added. “But I’d definitely encourage athletes to participate in sports that don’t involve head contact, and if they do, to try to adopt manners of play that reduce that impact.”

Limiting contact is an easy approach, McKee said, and taking helmets off for practice is known to change the style of play and reduce blows to the head.

“No head injury is good for you,” McKee said. But for athletes who have been injured, research dictates one absolute, she added: You have to leave the game long enough to recover.

“Injury of an unrecovered brain is very damaging,” she said.

Five things the Rams must accomplish in training camp

VINCENT BONSIGNORE

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/25/bonsignore-five-things-the-rams-must-accomplish-in-training-camp/

A year ago this time the Rams were still getting used to their new Southern California surroundings after making the 1,825-mile trip back home from St. Louis.

There was so much still hanging in the air.

An entire franchise was making the move across country. A practice facility was hurriedly being constructed to be ready in time for the regular season.

Families were still settling into new homes and neighborhoods and schools. Directions were required to find the nearest grocery store, let alone figure out how to get from one temporary practice site to another across three counties and more than 100 miles.

“In flux” is as good a way to describe it as any. And that’s not even getting into the actual football side of things. Although we all know how that turned out.

That isn’t to excuse the depths the Rams fell to in the eventual 4-12 season. Many of their problems were carryovers from their former home, unrelated to distance and upheaval.

It’s simply to point out there was an obvious and constant undercurrent of instability this time last year. And no matter how much the Rams tried to deny or manage or work around it, it was just wishful thinking. Instead they spent a year trying to get comfortable while never really getting comfortable.

The difference now can’t be understated. The Rams are no longer the new family on the block. They are established members of the community.

And as they approach their second training camp at UC Irvine as the Los Angeles Rams, you get the sense 100 percent of the focus is back on football rather than spread across various different areas.

The question is, will stability equate to a much-needed on-field turnaround?

For that to be the case, here are five things the Rams much accomplish over the next four weeks:

OFFENSIVE LINE MUST GET SQUARED AWAY

It would be easy to point to second-year quarterback Jared Goff or running back Todd Gurley as the keys to finally getting the Rams offense out of first gear, and their contributions are critical. But the reality is Goff and Gurley remain beholden to the point of attack.

There are tangible reasons, however, to believe the offensive line can at least elevate itself to average rather than the league worst it was last season.

The addition of free agent left tackle Andrew Whitworth changes the whole dynamic. A two-time Pro Bowler who continues to get better with age, Whitworth, 35, immediately locks down a position that has baffled and sabotaged the Rams for years. It means Goff’s backside is better protected, often as a one-man operation that allows tight ends to be more active in the passing game. It means Rodger Saffold can settle in at left guard full time and gives new Rams coach Sean McVay the flexibility to move Rob Havenstein from right tackle to right guard and move Jamon Brown to right tackle after playing guard last season.

Coupled with the addition of veteran center John Sullivan, the Rams offensive line has undergone almost a complete facelift from last year, when left tackle Greg Robinson’s ineffectiveness was a liability. If the changes equate to a significant improvement in play, it alters the whole feel of the Rams offense and gives Goff and Gurley a chance to succeed.

GOFF NEEDS TO TAKE CONTROL

It wasn’t like the Rams’ entire offseason was designed and executed with their second-year quarterback in mind, but close to it. And they desperately need the coaching change from the defensive-minded Jeff Fisher to the offensive-minded McVay and the rebuilt coaching and personnel infrastructure around Goff to help pave the path he takes to being a productive NFL quarterback.

The cards were stacked against Goff last year. To deny that would simply be dishonest. He was working behind the worst offensive line in the league, with wide receivers who struck little fear anyone and under an offensive coaching staff that lacked creativity and development experience.

All of which led to Goff playing under siege, his 0-6 record as a starter and questions about his validity as the top pick in the draft.

The Rams didn’t just clear the deck for Goff in year two, they pretty much built him a new ship and hired a new captain and crew. Now it’s on him to take advantage, which means developing trust that an improved offensive line will give him that extra blink of an eye to hang in the pocket and make the throw. It means building chemistry with new receivers Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Gerald Everett and holdovers Tyler Higbee and Tavon Austin.

And mostly it means Goff being able to digest a new offense, settle into his role as both a player and leader and prove he is the quarterback to lead the Rams into the regular season.

IT’S TIME FOR GURLEY TO REAPPEAR

The fall of Todd Gurley is one of the more inexplicable tumbles in recent NFL memory. Here’s a guy who burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2015 with 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns in 13 games only to limp through 2016 with 885 yards and six touchdowns.

There is no doubt Gurley was running behind an offensive line that couldn’t consistently open holes and alongside a quarterback and wide receiver group incapable of challenging teams down field. And it all conspired against Gurley in the form of little to no running room while facing eight- and nine-man defensive fronts.

But there also is evidence to suggest when Gurley did have room to run, he didn’t always make the most of it. Maybe he wasn’t seeing things correctly. Maybe he was shell-shocked after taking the beating he did. Or maybe he was so stunned at actually seeing the occasional open running lane he didn’t react well.

Whatever the case, Gurley had a downright awful season, and the Rams have to figure out a way to get him untracked during training camp.

The Rams addressed the offensive line and wide receiver problems through free agency and the draft, and year two Jared Goff should be better than year one. Still, the personnel and maturation improvements remain only in theory for the time being.

However, Gurley should get some help in the more creative offense McVay brings, which features man-on-man blocking schemes that favor a north-south downhill runner like Gurley. Yes, McVay will also rely heavily on the spread-it-out, shotgun offense he’s historically preferred, but history suggests he does a good job using man and zone blocking schemes in the shotgun in order to take advantage of a power back like Gurley.

PASSING GAME WEAPONS NEED TO EMERGE

The Rams went heavy on wide receiver help through the draft and free agency while also adding a new vertical tight end threat. And the hope is newcomers Woods, Kupp, Everett and Josh Reynolds combine with holdovers Higbee, Austin, Nelson Spruce, Pharoh Cooper and Mike Thomas to lift a receiving group that struck little fear in the hearts of opposing defenses.

Woods and Kupp, in particular, fit a skill-set profile that should translate into much needed dependability, polish and accountability for Goff to tap into. Meanwhile, Higbee and Everett are envisioned as the ideal multi-faceted tight end tandem to operate in McVay’s offense.

SEAN McVAY MUST MAKE AN IMPACT

The Rams had an accountability and leadership problem under Fisher, with players privately complaining about a lack of urgency to get problems fixed and a sentiment that players weren’t being empowered to lead.

The hiring of McVay, 31, was intended to change that narrative by establishing a new culture in which players are held accountable but also given a voice to lead. Those changes were apparent during OTAs when players spoke highly of the veteran presence and leadership of newcomers Whitworth, Robert Woods and Connor Barwin, but also the communication and teaching skills of McVay and an experienced coaching staff that includes long-time defensive coordinator and former head coach Wade Phillips.

This is McVay’s first go-round as a head coach leading a team through training camp, and though most of the groundwork was laid during the offseason, it’s imperative he establishes the culture, identity and direction he intends to be the foundation his team rests on.