wv wrote:

I totally disagree. I think it does help things, and will contribute to the much-needed
discussion in a positive way.

w
v

Hate to be skeptical. But, if there is a lot of evidence of that, I would be happy to see it.

Lefties putting out blog stuff about the anthem’s lyrics won’t cover that, in my mind. That’s just the same pre-ordained percentage talking to itself again.

Practice Report 8/29: Havenstein Returns to Practice

Myles Simmons

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Practice-Report-829-Havenstein-Returns-to-Practice/485cd731-7ffc-40db-b2e7-d0cf100870cb

Training camp and the preseason are winding down, but at long last, Monday marked the first practice for one of the Rams’ starting offensive linemen.

Right tackle Rob Havenstein was taken off the Physically Unable to Perform list on Friday, and went through pregame warm-ups with his teammates prior to Saturday’s contest in Denver. Now he’s officially returned to the practice field, ready to put his foot injury behind him.

“It felt good — good to go out there and get a little sweat, play some real football,” Havenstein said. “Got to get out there with the guys. It gets pretty lonely over there watching. So it was definitely good to be back.”

“We got him out there, he had a couple reps in each period,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “Better than me seeing him out there, it was better for him getting out there for the first time.”

While sitting out can be tough on an individual accustomed to participating, Havenstein appeared to be even-keel about it all.

“I mean, the only thing that changes is that you’re not wearing shoulder pads when you come out to practice,” Havenstein said.

The Wisconsin product said he has been staying as active as possible in the meeting room, and in the weight room with head strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson.

“You can attack the weight room probably a little harder just because you’re not getting the stress of practice,” Havenstein said. “So I got with Rock and his staff and definitely tried to make some gains there.

“But anything else, meetings, are very similar — go in taking notes for the right tackle position,” Havenstein continued. “And if I can help out any way with guys asking questions, try to give them an answer that’s not [totally made up].”

With any player coming back from injury, there’s always a balance to strike between wanting to get back as soon as possible and making sure there’s no undue stress to cause a setback. Havenstein said he feels good about the way that process has gone.

“I think we had a pretty good plan with our medical staff. Between the communication between me and the coaches and the medical staff, obviously we want what’s best for me,” Havenstein said. “We don’t want to go out there and jeopardize something or be too cautious and miss time that I didn’t need to miss, or anything like that.”

The next step for Havenstein is to shake some of the cobwebs off before the regular season begins. He said he felt a bit rusty at times during Monday’s session — understandable given how long it’s been since he’s taken live reps.

“There’s obviously some technique things I need to clean up,” Havenstein said. “As I was especially taking pass sets I was kind of thinking to myself, ‘Ahh, this is a bad position to be in.’ But it just kind of comes with shaking the rust off. And I’m looking forward to getting as many reps as possible within the rules we kind of set for me.”

While it appears unlikely, there’s a chance Havenstein could get some playing time against Minnesota on Thursday.

“We’ll see how he does over the next couple of days,” Fisher said. “I haven’t ruled him out for the game.”

Whether he does or not, Havenstein’s goal at this point is to get better every day with an eye toward being healthy in the regular season.

“All I’m looking forward to is tomorrow — putting in a good practice out there,” Havenstein said. “We’re going to take it one day at a time. I’ve got to be open with everyone with how I’m feeling and everything like that. So it just goes on to keeping the good line of communication open.”

InvaderRam wrote:

i’m guessing havenstein starts at right tackle this thursday and saffold slides over to left tackle with robinson held out.

Well, IR, it is really looking like this line (starting week one) … –>

ROBINSON SAFFOLD BARNES (Wichmann? Brown?) HAVENSTEIN

… —> is going to be a good one.

Rams starting RT Rob Havenstein, who had been on PUP list w/foot injury, passes physical, returns to active roster. On course for opener.

— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) August 26, 2016

off the net from frequent camp reporter alyoshamucci

So … this was our first road game, and for the youngsters, it REALLY showed. I was getting angry about the poor play until I realized it was their first trip on the rtoad as an NFL hopeful for many of them. I relaxed a bit when I figured that part out.

Also? We were playing our 2 vs. their 1s and 3s vs. 2s … so I don’t take the loss as an issue at all.

The Good …

1) GZ nailing it. I prefer not having to worry about him, and his effort was on point.

2) Ogletree made a few plays out there that showed me why he’s playing MLB. His acceleration makes him tough to block … gotta run right at him to get him blocked, which means you have to run at Donald and Brockers.

3) Longacre should be activated on game day.

4) Easley and Cam T are gonna be well suited backups.

5) Troy HIll should be starting opposite Tru. Period. I can’t ignore his play and I’m done with “maybe” level playing. Gaines can get healthy and fight back and Sensabaugh can move around.

6) Our RBs are inspiring.

7) Our O line is cohesive. I LOVE our Guards.

8) Glad Coop reeled that one in.

9) Kendricks looks faster? Anyone else seeing that?

10) Keenum is a great starter prep for Goff. He’s clean and precise, and he knows his limitations. Goff will be forced to learn to play as clean … that’s awesome.

11) I trust Britt more now than ever. He’s playing savvy.

12) Forrest keeps flashing for me.

13) McRoberts making a case for the 53.

The Bad

14) Joyner, c’mon man, wrap up.

15) Goff’s pick … MT was open on the same side but he didn’t come off his primary. That’s sleepy QBing.

16) Roberson has not distinguished himself at all.

17) Drops .. seriously. Quick, MT, and then Duke. I can forgive Duke, it was his first opportunity at an away game with TJ Ward closing on him and we ended up getting the first because of the hit he took … but that’s his one.

18) Kush, goodness. Later.

This Thursday should give us a lot to work with. Goff and the kids will show up for a game of “who wants to catch the freaking ball.” I wouldn’t have thought a position battle would come down to a final PS game for so many kids.

Thoughts and comments welcome .. Ill start my collegiate stuff in the coming weeks too.

Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – August 28, 2016

(Opening remarks)

“It was a short night, and an early morning. We’re not the only organization that has gone through it. That’s typically the case in the third preseason week. Now we have another challenge ahead of us, in that we’re traveling here in just a couple days. I had an opportunity to look at the tape, all three phases as I said, last night. I thought there would be some things to learn from; and they were. Also, some things to build on; and they were. I was pleased with a number of things. I thought the quarterbacks took a step forward. I thought (QB) Jared (Goff), even though the number weren’t great, I thought he did a really good job on the line of scrimmage. His poise, his confidence, took a big hit, came back, I thought he’s progressed since week 1 and week 2. So, that’s a good thing to see. I thought (QB) Case (Keenum), you know, Case is Case. He got lucky on the sideline. I was nervous there for a second, but he bounced up and finished the drive. And then (QB) Sean (Mannion), Sean had some difficulty at the end. We were a little outmatched with the pass rush and we couldn’t get the ball down the field when we needed to. But he knew what he was doing. So, I thought the quarterback play has improved over the past couple of weeks.

“Defensively, better, better effort early in the game. Getting (DE) Rob (Quinn) back was good. I thought (LB Alec Ogletree) ‘Tree’ looked a little more comfortable in the run-front. We’re still giving up too many yards. We gave up some big runs with guys that are going to be on our roster in the second quarter, and we’ve got to get those things fixed before Week 1, or else we’ll have some problems in the regular season. And then special teams, some younger guys really took a step. We tried to get both our rookie tight ends involved in special teams. It was their first exposure, and they look like they can be productive at it. So, they got another week to get fine-tuned before we start the regular season.

“Injury wise, I felt good last night leaving, but there’s always going to be those things that come up. And we had a couple things come up here this morning. We’re going to be without (WR) Pharoh Cooper for a few weeks with a shoulder injury. I don’t know how long, but it looks like he’ll probably miss the opener, and we’ll just see how quickly he can come back from that. We also have an issue with (DB) E.J.’s (Gaines) quad strain. He may miss some time. But, that just gives some other players an opportunity. But beyond that, it looked like, as far as the rest of the roster, we’ll be ok. We got some guys back. As we said, Rob, and (LB Nicholas) Grigsby, and (T Isaiah) Battle got to play. Overall, I thought it was a productive night. We got a short week – very, very short. We had our film study with the players today. I got them on the field. I had to remind them to slow down a little bit, because they were playing in a game less than 24 hours ago. We got today beyond us. We’re going to have two open practices to (media) tomorrow (August 29) and Tuesday (August 30), and then we’ll be traveling Wednesday (August 31).

“We also got started on the roster reduction, which is not easy. It’s a difficult part of the National Football League and part of training camp. We’re not finished. We still have some more work to do tonight and tomorrow to have the entire list available for you tomorrow. I’m not going to disclose the moves that we make today, for obvious reasons. When it’s all said and done, these young players come in and give everything that they have. They should be able to walk away holding their chin up, feeling like they became better players. As I expressed to a number of them today, an appreciation for their work and their effort, they helped this football team get better, because they’re practicing against our starters, and doing all those things throughout the offseason and through camp. We’ll finish up tomorrow and, of course, we start the process all over again Friday (September 2) and Saturday (September 3).”

(On which play Cooper was injured on)

“Yeah, it was on the acrobatic catch. He came down on his shoulder.”

(On how Cooper’s injury situation impacts other receivers trying to make the team)

“You have to take all those things into consideration. He’s had a great camp, we drafted him for a reason. We’ll have to make some decisions next weekend that kind of revolve around his status, if you will.”

(On if any of Gaines’ injuries are related)

“He had the little hamstring strain – I mentioned to you that he was so focused, for a year, on getting the foot back. Oftentimes, when players are gone and not available for that length of time and they do return, that there are other little issues that come up. I’m hoping this is the last thing that comes up because he was extremely durable his rookie year as a starter for us, he was there week after week after week.”

(On the dropped passes in the game yesterday, if it was on the receivers or if the defense played well)

“If the ball hits the receivers in the hands and then it hits the ground, it’s a drop. If the defensive back knocks the ball down, it’s a good play by the defense. As I said, (Broncos defensive coordinator) Wade’s (Phillips) got those guys challenging, they were challenging our receivers and challenging our routes and challenging the man-to-man coverages, which was good to see. We have things in our back pocket that will get them open; we’re just not using those things right now in the preseason. Still, when the ball is catchable, make the catch – that’s kind of our philosophy, offensively.”

(On how much RB Todd Gurley pushed to play in the game)

“He didn’t say anything to me. We discussed it as a staff and I told (running backs coach) Skip (Peete) that we’re going to hold Todd out and he said ‘yes sir, no problem,’ and I think Todd was fine with it. He had a great, great workout, prior to the game he went through the warm-ups, got the energy and felt the emotion, he was right there at the end of the game rooting on his teammates. I know you have a follow-up question and that would be ‘Is he going to play this week?’ I can’t tell you right now.”

(On if being off for more than three weeks from seeing game speed will impact Gurley going into the regular season opener and if that is much of a concern)

“Last year, he had close to eight or nine months before he saw game speed, so three weeks is nothing. If you take into consideration that he’s on the practice field every day practicing and going full speed, so I’m concerned about it. He’s not the only really good and talented player in the league that’s not going to play much in the preseason, that’s just kind of where our league’s going right now.”

(On his reaction to 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick not standing for the national anthem)

“I’m going to let his words speak for himself, it was his choice. And I’m going to let the 49ers’ comments and their release speak for themselves. That’s a 49ers issue – I know it’s a societal issue, but I don’t feel like it’s my place to comment. I think our respect for the national anthem has been very, very well-documented and we’re going to continue to have respect for the national anthem.”

(On how he would react if he had a player who did not want to stand for the national anthem)

“Again, they have every right to stand up and be heard. I would be very, very surprised if I had one of our players do that, particularly because of the respect that we have shown, not only this year, but since our time in St. Louis and my time going way back for the national anthem. I also would think that if a player had an issue – a player on our team – that he probably would come to me to discuss it before he reacted in such a fashion. I’m not being critical of ‘Kap,’ he has every right to do that, but we have an organizational philosophy that has been in place for a long time, with respect to the anthem. I think it’s a special event and it’s something that should be respected and that’s my opinion.”

(On how he thinks the team handled the player demonstration in regards to Ferguson, Mo., a few years ago)

“I thought we did an outstanding job. When it was all said and done, over a couple days, once I got a chance to talk to the players, I think the players were misunderstood. What the players wanted was they wanted to direct attention to the community of Ferguson because they felt the community needed help and they were helping them. They didn’t want it to be misunderstood, as far as that’s concerned. But I had individual discussions with all the players that next morning and for a day or two before we came back to work. Obviously, you have compassion for the things that are happening in society and players have the opportunity because they have a platform. There’s a place for it and there’s not a place for it. We’ve got a really good understanding of what happened, but what was done – I thought it was a huge misunderstanding from the standpoint. To a man, if you asked each one of them if they’d do it all over again, they probably would. I thought, from an organization standpoint, we dealt with it appropriately and with compassion and concern for what was taking place in Ferguson.”

(On what WR Tavon Austin brings to the organization that made the team want to give him a contract extension)

“It’s our anticipation of what he’s going to do. We’ve seen what he’s capable of and we’re hoping we’re going to get a lot more than what we’ve seen in the past. I know people are putting out numbers and things like that, but they forget three or four punt returns that were returned for touchdowns that were called back. He’s very, very talented with the ball in his hands. He is a problem to defends against and we hear that week after week after week. I was speaking with Wade (Phillips) before the game and (he was saying) ‘this guy is really good.’ It was obvious, the way they defended us, they knew we weren’t going to give him the ball, so they just kind of disregarded where he was, but things change here in a couple weeks. I’m just really happy for Tavon. He’s a great team guy, full of energy and he’s got a God-given talent that’s going to carry us a long way.”

(On injury updates on T Rob Havenstein and WR Nelson Spruce)

“Good news with Havenstein – a solid pregame warm-up, we’re going to get him on the practice field, he needs to do some football things this week. That’s why we took him off PUP, so he could participate with his teammates. So we’ll see how he is by the end of the week. Probably unlikely that he plays this week, but we’re going to get him some practice reps under his belt. (Spruce) is running a little bit now, so he’s coming. I wouldn’t think he’s going to play this week, but he may be close, which is encouraging.”

(On if he feels like he’s seen enough from Spruce to know whether or not he can make the team and how difficult of a decision it is for a guy like Spruce, who is talented, but hasn’t played in a while)

“There’s a lot of things to consider. We coveted Nelson after the draft and we saw some things that we really liked and you saw them in the game. Unfortunately, he’s missed time, so we’re just going to have to address that this weekend.”

(On how he felt like WR Brian Quick responded this week after dropping passes in the second preseason game)

“I thought he was better. He got open. He was a little bit more explosive in his routes when he got the opportunities. I thought he improved. We never had any issues with his blocking, but I thought he played better yesterday.”

(On how CB Troy Hill is doing)

“Troy is doing fine. We had two players that went into the concussion protocol last night. Troy is one and (T) Greg Robinson was the other. Both of them are way ahead of schedule and didn’t have any residual effects. The question is, with the short week and a Thursday game versus a Sunday game, it probably makes sense to err on the side of caution in the event they’re both cleared and ready to play.”

(On if having a short week is a good thing or bad thing in the preseason for the team)

“Everyone’s going on a short week, but in a perfect world it would be to have a short week at home, but that’s not the case. We have to travel, we have to come back and as we mentioned, we’ll start the final cut down process. But the entire organization is getting ready to move to Thousand Oaks – we’ve already started that. So we have to set up permanently – temporarily permanently – up in Thousand Oaks for a couple of years. So we have a lot of work to do this week.”

(On the reports that QB Jared Goff had X-rays for a tailbone injury)

“I’m not going to confirm or deny either way. Jared participated out here today.”

(On if he has an update on WR Bradley Marquez)

“He participated outside today.”[

PA Ram wrote:

zn wrote:

PA Ram wrote:

That will save one of the receivers from getting cut–for now.

I doubt it, PA…if they want Cooper they can’t risk cutting him. He has to be on the roster for a couple of weeks, then, if they want him. He will just be an inactive. That probably knocks a receiver off. MAYBE it means they keep 6 if originally they meant to keep 5. But PC has to be on the roster if they want him.

Oh I know they aren’t cutting Cooper. But if he’s on an injury list doesn’t that free up a spot? Once he’s better he takes the other spot and the receiver who survives would be cut. Or maybe I’m thinking about it wrong. I’m not sure how the whole injury lists work with regard to that.

Chances are, if they keep him he won’t be on an injury list. He will be on the roster. He has a minor issue and would be out at most 2-4 weeks.

zn wrote:

InvaderRam wrote:

is there any news on spruce?

Not that I have seen.

I spoke too soon.

It’s here. There is news on Spruce and it is encouraging. Same with Robinson. References to both are red-bolded below.

===

Rams News & Notes 8/28: Cooper to Miss Time with Shoulder Injury

Myles Simmons

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Rams-News–Notes-828-Cooper-to-Miss-Time-with-Shoulder-Injury/eb1cdb6b-3047-448f-beec-59e4f80f1651

After Saturday evening’s contest in Denver, head coach Jeff Fisher was optimistic the Rams had not suffered any injuries that would keep players out for a significant amount of time. Unfortunately, that will not be the case, particularly with wide receiver Pharoh Cooper.

“We’re going to be without Pharoh Cooper for a few weeks with a shoulder injury,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “I don’t know how long, but it looks like he’ll probably miss the opener, and we’ll just see how quickly he can come back from that.”

The wide receiver suffered the injury on an acrobatic third-down reception from quarterback Jared Goff. While high, the throw appeared to be in the only place Cooper would realistically have a shot at reeling it in. That he did, using one hand to halt the ball’s path before securing it with two as he went to the ground. Replay shows Cooper’s shoulder hit the ground hard before he was touched down by Broncos defenders.

The injury may have an impact on the Rams’ roster cuts, as the initial 53-man roster must be set by Sept. 3 at 1 p.m. PT.

“You have to take all those things into consideration. He’s had a great camp, we drafted him for a reason,” Fisher said. “We’ll have to make some decisions next weekend that kind of revolve around his status, if you will.”

Drafted in the fourth round, Cooper has excelled in his first training camp, quickly becoming a key component to the Rams’ offense, with Fisher recently naming him among the club’s top-three receivers. He’s made two receptions for 30 yards and a touchdown in preseason action.

INJURY UPDATES

— Cornerback E.J. Gaines’ comeback has hit another speed bump, as the Mizzou product suffered a quad strain in Saturday’s game.

“He may miss some time,” Fisher said.

As it was with Gaines’ earlier injuries this preseason, Fisher said part of the issue may be attributed to the cornerback concentrating on rehabbing the foot injury that caused him to miss all of 2015.

“Oftentimes, when players are gone and not available for that length of time and they do return, that there are other little issues that come up,” Fisher said. “I’m hoping this is the last thing that comes up because he was extremely durable his rookie year as a starter for us, he was there week after week after week.”

Gaines started Saturday’s contest at corner opposite Trumaine Johnson. He played 18 snaps — the same as the majority of the first-team defense.

— Wide receiver Nelson Spruce has been out since suffering a knee injury in the first exhibition matchup against Dallas. Fisher said he’s progressing steadily, and is doing some running at this point.

“I wouldn’t think he’s going to play this week, but he may be close, which is encouraging,” Fisher said.

Even though Spruce has missed the last few weeks of camp, he has clearly made an impression on the Rams’ brass that may give him a chance to make the initial 53-man roster.

“There’s a lot of things to consider,” Fisher said. “We coveted Nelson after the draft and we saw some things that we really liked and you saw them in the game. Unfortunately, he’s missed time, so we’re just going to have to address that this weekend.”

— The Rams had two players enter the concussion protocol form Saturday’s game, left tackle Greg Robinsonand cornerback Troy Hill.

“Both of them are way ahead of schedule and didn’t have any residual effects,” Fisher said. “The question is, with the short week and a Thursday game versus a Sunday game, it probably makes sense to err on the side of caution in the event they’re both cleared and ready to play.”

— Right tackle Rob Havenstein, who was taken off the physically unable to perform list on Friday, went through a solid pregame warm-up and will practice this week.

“That’s why we took him off PUP, so he could participate with his teammates,” Fisher said. “So we’ll see how he is by the end of the week. Probably unlikely that he plays this week, but we’re going to get him some practice reps under his belt.”

Both QB Jared Goff and WR Bradley Marquez participated in today's walk thru, according to Fisher.

— Myles Simmons (@MylesASimmons) August 29, 2016

off the net from frequent camp reporter VeteranRamFan

Saffold at RT getting beat my Miller, not what I expected. They later gave him TE help on passing downs.

D. Williams…..next topic.

GRob has improved tremendously. No penalties and he provided very good pass protection.

Higbee was targeted about 6 times, made one catch. If I remember four of the six were not thrown well, out of reach, behind, over his head but he came off the field upset with what I think is he felt he should have caught some of them. Good for him.

Quick had a long of 8 yards, total 3 catches for 15 yards. What i want to know was his routes supposed to be 5 yards down and out because he was running 3 yards down and out. Film review by the coaches will be necessary. I like the fact he stepped up and made those catches.

Hemingway and Duke, both had opportunities and didn’t capitalize on them.

Kendricks was good in the passing game. Looked fluid. I liked it.

Britt also was looking good. Nice to see.

Kush was serviceable at center. I do recall one or maybe two high snaps from the shotgun.

Penalties – O line, none? D line a couple but much better than last week.

Goff – What I liked was his command of the huddle, his calling out of the defense alignment. I don’t recall any audibles, wish he would have but that may have been by design. He did take snaps under center and threw from that formation. His hand offs were spot on. I think his pocket presence was very good. Many a time I’m getting nervous as the pocket collapsed around him but he got the ball out. The hits and sack he took were breakdowns in blocking IMO. He sure did miss on a couple of throws and still was very accurate on others only to be denied by our WR’s.

Like I reported from Tuesday’s camp, he looked much better than the KC game. Wish we could see him with the complete first team.

I’m sure there is more but I just can’t recall them at this time.

49ers likely to jettison Kaepernick, for football reasons

Report: 49ers likely to jettison Kaepernick, for football reasons

Colin Kaepernick has suddenly become the most controversial player in the NFL because of his refusal to stand for the national anthem. But there may be another issue that could cost him his job in San Francisco: He’s not a very good quarterback.

Jay Glazer said on FOX that the 49ers are deeply concerned with Kaepernick’s decline as a player, which started last season when he struggled before getting benched, then got even worse this offseason when he lost significant muscle mass when he couldn’t work out following multiple surgeries.

“Regardless of politics or not, he has a very, very big uphill battle to make this team,” Glazer said. “I’d be shocked if he’s on the 49ers by the time this season ends. It has nothing to do with political views whatsoever. He lost a ton of weight this offseason, had three surgeries, couldn’t work out, lost that double threat, that size-speed ratio. No political views, he just hasn’t been effective. He’s regressing as a player. I’d be shocked if he’s on this roster by the end of this year. He may not be on it in the next two weeks.”

Kaepernick’s contract guarantees him an $11.9 million salary this season, and ordinarily a player with an $11.9 million guaranteed salary isn’t going to get cut. But if the 49ers really think Kaepernick has regressed to the point where they’d be better off with Blaine Gabbert starting and Christian Ponder and Jeff Driskel backing Gabbert up, then they can save a little money by cutting Kaepernick and hoping he signs with another team, as they would be able to reduce that $11.9 million by the amount of Kaepernick’s salary with a new team.

So there are football reasons that the 49ers might want to get rid of Kaepernick. At this point, they probably wish they had done so before this weekend’s non-football controversy.

Dominique Easley was doing a pretty good Aaron Donald impression this week: Near side #91 pic.twitter.com/acTjumzMrU

— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) August 28, 2016

Again, trying to reach Aaron Donald is no easy task #Rams pic.twitter.com/PlCGWsoirw

— Brandon Thorn (@VeteranScout) August 28, 2016

Trying to reach block Aaron Donald when he's an inside shade 😳 pic.twitter.com/fPeTDN4Fhe

— Brandon Thorn (@VeteranScout) August 28, 2016

What we learned from Rams’ exhibition loss to the Denver Broncos

Gary Klein

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-what-we-learned-rams-broncos-20160827-snap-story.html

What we learned from the Rams’ 17-9 loss to the Denver Broncos:

The Rams are keeping Tavon Austin under wraps

Hours after announcing a four-year contract extension for Tavon Austin, the wide receiver was all but invisible again. He was targeted once and did not have a reception.

That is keeping with the trend of the exhibition season.

Austin, the eighth pick in the 2013 draft, last season caught a career-best 52 passes and scored 10 touchdowns after receptions, on carries and on a punt return.

Offensive coordinator Rob Boras will probably deploy Austin from all points and get the ball into his hands when the games start to count.

So check back Sept. 12 when the Rams play the San Francisco 49ers on “Monday Night Football.”

Case Keenum is tough

Denver linebacker Von Miller sacked quarterback Case Keenum on the Rams’ first possession, and cornerback Aqib Talib drilled Keenum as he ran out of bounds in the second quarter.

Keenum bounced up from both hits and played a third consecutive exhibition game without an interception or fumble.

Still, it would probably behoove Keenum to slide next time he scrambles into a situation that invites a violent hit.

Third down remains an issue

We understand it’s the exhibition season and multiple quarterbacks are playing with various offensive line combinations, but the Rams converted only two of 15 third downs against the Broncos. They are eight for 33 in three preseason games.

Yes, running back Todd Gurley did not play in two of those – including Saturday night – but the absence of a true go-to receiver is obvious.

Robert Quinn admires Von Miller

After playing in his first game since undergoing back surgery, Rams defensive end Robert Quinn had Denver All-Pro linebacker Von Miller sign a Broncos jersey.

Quinn only played briefly, but the two-time Pro Bowl end made a tackle for a loss. His presence in the lineup and his performance on the field portends well for a defensive line that wants to be considered elite.

Miller had two tackles, including a sack.

Jared Goff can avoid turnovers

Rookie quarterback Jared Goff eliminated the early mistakes that plagued him in the first two exhibition games.

For the first time, he got through his first series without an interception or fumble.

He got lucky later in the first half when Broncos safety Darian Stewart jumped a route and dropped the ball before taking off for what would have been a pick six.

Goff completed only four of 12 passes for 45 yards but receivers once again dropped multiple passes.

Trumaine Johnson is a playmaker

We knew that based on the seven passes the cornerback intercepted last season and the Rams’ decision to put the franchise tag on him.

But we hadn’t seen much evidence in the first two preseason games. Against Kansas City, Johnson got beat for a long gain.

But Johnson, who is earning about $14 million this season, showed his skills against the Broncos when he left his feet to break up a pass by quarterback Trevor Siemian and batted it to safety Cody Davis for an interception.

Brian Quick responded to a challenge

During the week, Coach Jeff Fisher all but dared veteran receiver Brian Quick to continue dropping passes.

The fifth-year pro was targeted three times against the Broncos and caught the ball each time.

That might not seem like a huge achievement for a receiver who signed a one-year, $1.75-million “prove-it” contract, but it had to be a confidence boost for Quick.

Greg Zuerlein is kicking with confidence

After not attempting a field goal in the first two exhibitions, kicker Greg Zuerlein converted from 29, 38 and 48 yards against the Broncos.

Zuerlein is coming off a 20-for-30 performance in 2015, and questions about whether the Rams were wise to re-sign him.

So far, he has made all of his extra-point kicks and field-goal attempts