Agamemnon wrote:

Good work with posting all the reports and stuff, zn.

Tx, to all. I will mention Isiah too, for his live camp reports.

It’s easy n fun, like the zine was back in the day.

Later I will post my own camp report. It includes things like this: “Is Coach Waufle more Nietzschean or Hegelian? Well if you watch him during drills…”

Merlin: 8/5 camp report

SOME FOLLOW-UP

We were discussing in our section how IF you were to take the numbers off the QBs and watch them the guy you would think is the rookie is Mannion. Goff is very measured and confident and in most of his snaps smooth with his decision making and of the three the only one who routinely makes the time to look downfield; if a nice pass goes mid to further range it’s usually Goff. The occasional INT would plague the others I think IF they were looking downfield and across the middle more often, because this defense is fast and knows what they are doing.

In yesterday’s practice there were probably 3x or so where I chuckled and said something along the lines of “welcome to the NFL rookie.” Other than that you just wouldn’t know he was a rook based on his demeanor. I think he is going to make the doubters look pretty silly, personally. And I think the team knows it too, not just the offense.

My guess is the kid will light Dallas up by the time they play that game. And he’ll probably make a mistake or two that will be trotted out there on social media but that’s ok. I just don’t see any way he’s not running this offense soon as the starter, whether it’s game 1 or game 3 or so.

If game 1 in SF was tomorrow Keenum would start, because he has the offense down and has all the confidence of the staff in managing it. But I do not see some big dropoff personally, where Goff looks lost or behind. What I see personally is a kid who seems to know the offense quite well for a rookie who has seen 5 camp practices, and who offers so much more upside that there is absolutely no reason to think he won’t be the best option a month from now.

IMO the reason most top 5 QBs start soon is because teams that pick early do not have holdover starters at QB of the quality required to give them a better chance to win. So inevitably those top 5 picks end up being the clear best chance to win for the team and they play. Looking at Goff, the kid seems confident and like he’s making daily strides. Keenum is a good guy and a solid backup type QB, but he is not Brett Favre. He is not a QB of the caliber required to hold Goff on the bench.

***

Higbee — in the drills and scrimmage every time the ball comes his way he reels it in smooth, and he’s so big defenses are gonna have to tee off on him to make him feel hits. Of all the players yesterday outside of Gurley and Tavon he was the one that most impressed me.

ramsman34

SOME FOLLOW-UP

Goff looked much sharper day 3 and his clock looked to have sped up a bit relative to the first 2 practices. That said, Keenum hasn’t looked bad at all. It is his utter lack of arm strength that gets me. I came away after Tuesday’s practiced certain Goff would claim the staring roll. More will be revealed today and throughout the preseason. Unless one of them totally craps the bed, I can see Fisher waiting to name a starter for game one as early as after preseason game 3, or as late as the week of practice prior to the opener.

zn wrote:

Besides, I;m cranky.

I;ve come to a little conclusion. I can’t mod politics discussions AND participate. So I won’t participate. This year is different—this year, a formerly united left (which is what we had on the original huddle public board) is now divided. That calls for a different kind of moderating. I personally can’t do that and then also jump in with my cranky 2 cents. So I will save my own 2 cents for other topics. I am not complaining btw, just making what I think is the best choice as a mod.

In the real world, I have to deal with enough of that as is. In my social/work world, I am surrounded by both Clinton nazis who don’t get or tolerate dissent, and Sanders nazis who don’t get or tolerate “selling out.” Well a pox on both their houses. In this election, I am both a dissenter and a sell out. Which only means I can’t talk about it with anyone cause they are all diehards. I nod and smile.

Kevin Greene first soared in the ‘Eagle’ defense the Rams designed for him

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/greene-724864-robinson-defense.html%5B/quote%5D

It’s almost absurd to think about it now, what with Kevin Greene donning the iconic gold jacket signifying membership into Pro Football Hall of Fame and his bust soon on display in Canton. But back in the mid 1980s, the rangy fifth-round pick from Auburn was so starved for playing time he was literally begging then-Los Angeles Rams coach John Robinson for a chance to play.

Never the wallflower type, Greene kept showing up in Robinson’s office asking what he needed to do to get on the field.

Over and over and over.

“At the time, he threatened to send my butt back to Alabama,” Greene recalled.

That didn’t stop Greene, the son of military man and himself a Captain in the Army Reserves.

“I just kept knocking on the door.” he said.

Robinson feigned annoyance, but deep down he couldn’t help admire the nerve, confidence and hunger of the longshot linebacker.

“He was just so eager,” Robinson remembered. “He was, good gosh, just the epitome of a guy trying to figure out a way to get better and become a productive player.”

But there was a problem. In Robinson and defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur’s traditional 3-4 scheme at the time, outside linebackers were asked to rush the passer and drop back into pass coverage.

“He could rush the passer,” Robinson said. “But he couldn’t pass cover for crap.”

He also wasn’t strong enough to hold up against offensive tackles as a traditional 3-4 defensive end. So a position switch wasn’t an option.

Which explains why Greene didn’t make a single start over his first three years in the NFL.

Fortunately for Greene – although not so much for the Rams – the defense was so putrid getting pressure on the quarterback in 1987 that Robinson and Shurmur had to cook up something different to fix it.

Enter an innovative new defense, and the key that turned an average outside linebacker into a dominant pass rusher.

“Fritz Shurmur, our defensive coordinator, saw something in me and put together a defense for me,” Greene said.

Or so he was about to find out. Because the day Robinson called Greene into his office to let him know about the change, Greene was so worried the meeting was to tell him he was getting cut he later said he darn near wet his britches.

Only to learn Robinson and Shurmur were designing a defense to highlight his skill set.

“Changed my career,” Greene said.

Essentially, Robinson and Shurmur eliminated Greene’s pass coverage responsibilities and turned him into a full-time edge pass rusher operating out of formations designed to drive quarterbacks batty.

At its core, the Eagle defense was about speed and chaos. And in its essence, it was the birthplace of the zone blitz, with pressure coming from linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks.

The goal was to take advantage of Greene’s speed and rush instincts and create confusion for opposing quarterbacks, who often gazed across the line of scrimmage to see two outside linebackers stacked over the tight end and a “nose backer” lined up a yard behind the line of scrimmage – only to pop up as a standup linebacker.

So sure of the new scheme and Greene’s fit in it, Robinson promptly declared Greene would lead the league in sacks the following season.

“I didn’t know crap about what I was talking about,” Robinson said, laughing. “But I had a feeling he’d be good at it.”

And Greene was ready to break loose.

“I paid my dues at that time and seasoned a little bit, and I was really chomping at the bit to go,” he said.

Greene didn’t lead the league in sacks like Robinson predicted – but he came close. His 16.5 sacks in 1988 were second behind Eagles defensive end Reggie White’s 20 .

A star was born.

“I was able to be productive in that defense, so yes, it definitely helped me,” Greene said.

As Robinson recalls, a couple of things lined up perfectly for Greene.

“We put the defense in, and Jackie Slater was his opponent all the time.” Robinson said.

That would be eventual Hall of Fame left tackler Jackie Slater, who became Greene’s daily practice nemesis. The two would consistently square off in memorable match ups, with the older, wiser, more seasoned Slater usually getting the best of Greene.

“I mean, it was really competitive,” Robinson said. “And I don’t know if they were enemies or friends but they worked hard.

“I can remember Jackie just crushing Kevin and Kevin jumping up and saying: ‘Thank you Jackie I needed that. Now let’s do it again.’ That’s how he was, and he got to be really, really good.”

Greene followed up his 16.5 sacks in 1988 with 16.5 in 1989 and 13 in 1990 while emerging as one of the league’s best pass rushers.

“It was really nice to see him blossom,” Robinson said. “He wanted it so badly, and was willing to stick at it and work out of it.

But in 1991, Robinson hired Buddy Ryan disciple Jeff Fisher as his new defensive coordinator – yes, the Rams current head coach – and Fisher moved away from the 3-4 defense in favor of the 4-3 scheme. Greene was moved from outside linebacker to defensive end as a result, and his sacks plummeted to three.

Robinson and his entire coaching staff got cleared out at the end of the season – replaced by Chuck Knox – and while Greene’s sack total shot up to 10 playing outside linebacker in the 4-3, the fit just wasn’t right.

Greene hit free agency after the 1992 season, and went looking for a team with a 3-4 defense. He eventually landed in Pittsburgh, where he reclaimed his pass rushing status under Dick LeBeau while racking up 36.5 sacks over the next three seasons.

“His career really took off there,” said Robinson.

Greene would play 15 years total – including stints with the Panthers and 49ers – before retiring in 1999 with 160 career sacks, which ranks third in NFL history.

And now he’s in the Hall of Fame.

Looking back, who knows what would have happened had Robinson and Shurmur not needed to figure out a way to get to the quarterback as desperately as they did in 1988. Or had the foresight to scrap conventional wisdom in pursuit of creating a scheme to fit a unique skill set like Greene’s.

“And really, that’s what coaching is all about,” Robinson said. “Your job is to bring out the best in players. Help make a player. And if there is greatness, try to find it. Sometimes it isn’t obvious, you have to dig a little bit.

“And whether it’s the head coach or coordinator you have to give the guy the scheme that brings it out in him. A Bill Walsh bringing out the skills of Joe Montana. Or any of those situations where the coach and the player together create a successful environment. It’s one of the ultimate aspects of being a coach.”

And in this case, it turned a decent outside linebacker into an eventual Hall of Famer.

Merlin

8/5 camp report

Ok so got back late after a post-practice stop that was in truth a derailment at Hooters. Had a great time, so from the top I gotta give the Rams org props on setting up a really fine venue. Picked up some gear for the kids, looked around and wished there was a beer stand, but learned later in practice why there is no beer stand which I’ll cover in a moment.

First off watched the QBs doing all manner of basic drills. Handoffs, footwork, even making throws over the crossbar to each other I suppose to ensure the right arc is there I don’t know. Got bored though, and will only note what everyone knows, which is that Keenum has some athleticism to him, Goff is incredibly light on his feet, and Mannion is a bit plodding in comparison to them.

I was very relieved to see Cooper out there. Watched him quite a bit with all the other WRs as they did their drills and then as they moved into the scrimmage, and he looked smooth with good hands, just as advertised. I presume the time he missed set him back a bit, and he didn’t really stand out in a busting big plays kind of way or anything. But he is very bold in traffic and across the middle for a small dude, which is also not news to anyone here.

So right off the top what I saw was a defense that was bringin it. The offense made some plays that were impressive like Goff’s beautiful pass down the middle that was on point, and they won some in the redzone, but looking a bit deeper at things many of the passes would have had some “blown up” receivers. TJ made some hits today that he did not follow through on, where he was in position to lay dudes the F out and he was not the only one. The secondary closed fast and swarmed, and the front seven was in the offensive backfield a lot. I think Fish was real happy with how the defense looked.

Back to the offense the protections were breaking down a reasonable amount as the DL in particular were going hard. There were quite a few passes that would not have gotten out of the pocket without that red jersey on the QB. I watched GRob struggle a couple times on edge rush (still his greatest weakness) and also do well, and across the OL it was much the same and I thought very good back and forth competition between the units. This is going to sound ridiculous, too, but it seemed like Keenum got more heat than Goff, and have no idea whether it’s the line blocking being better when Goff was in there, the DL being afraid to hurt the #1 draft pick, or whatever. Goff did get swarmed quickly a couple times, like when he dropped to his knees it would have been a very fast sack in a live game so taking the sack and living to throw another day was a good decision by him vice forcing something. The dude who yelled that was probably the same one who yelled some other idiotic things, and our section was crackin jokes about how dudes like him are the reason why we can’t have an effin beer truck. {zn note: M is referring to a tweet where it was reported that Goff was struggling a bit so a member of the crowd yelled “bring in 17!”]

The receivers overall had a good day I thought. Thomas is just, well, as someone said the other day about him “he belongs.” Really the best way to put it. The dude straight stands out in that he’s very big, and is already playing fast in this system. His feet are really quick, which is something to see with a guy his size. And Quick, man. I gotta admit the dude is looking great, he’s like a different receiver from the one I’ve seen drop everything and run the wrong routes. Marquez goes 100% every single route and is showing good hands and body control, same exact thing with Spruce. Watched coach Groh doing the tennis ball routine with them midpoint and I continue to feel like this is an entirely different group of receivers now, where all of a sudden they all have solid to good hands. It’s weird man. I mean today Britt had a focus drop, but overall he’s movin and catching things and it just seems like an insane turnaround as an entire group so it will be interesting to see if it carries over to preseason games. I am REALLY looking forward to seeing that.

The TEs are similar to the above as well in that this group straight catches the ball now with good hands as a unit. Higbee is just downright ridiculous. The dude is huge, has a big catch radius, moves like a WR, and just makes whoever throws him the ball look great. Watched him in drills with Thompson throwing the ball I think it was, and he reels the catch in smoothly before having a couple DBs who due to his size get just as good as they gave on the hits. Kendricks looks so much more consistent too, but when you watch these guys live it’s just not even a comparison in terms of imagining who’s gonna add what to this passing game.

Run game had some good moments but it’s just too hard to tell whether the back would be down if they were playing for real. The D as I mentioned was bringin it, but it did seem like they’re aware they don’t want to be wrapping Gurley up and driving him to the ground like they would in a game. But still, the dude is so damn good he just makes it look easy. Aaron Green in both phases flashed and is really busting his butt to make this roster. Had a really nice run but the pass he caught was more impressive and like all the good catches I saw today had the crowd appreciation going.

So last but not least the QBs. Here’s where I differ from a lot of what I read tweet-wise. The sack and the moron yelling whatever he yelled don’t matter as I was very pleased overall with Goff’s play. He put up a couple “rookie” throws but also put that ball down the field in the face of the rush with calmness which is far more important and far more telling as to what to expect from him throughout the remainder of camp into preseason. Watching his snaps directly against Keenum’s snaps and it’s not like Goff is suffering by comparison to my eye. Keenum made some nice throws but most of his are short ranged and/or checkdowns, he’s really the same guy I saw get overwhelmed by the whiners late last year. He made one redzone throw on a full run to the right and across his body for a scary TD but it’s one I wouldn’t want to see him attempt again. Goff in the redzone is an assassin. Dude was droppin dimes on the corner route and across the middle for a TD (at least I think that one was from him to Higbee had a lady chatting with us that was a big distraction).

Tried to download it while I remember it still. Bottom line is this practice only served to boost my excitement about this offense. This team has some significant difference maker type players and we might be witnessing many elements finally coming together on the offensive side of the ball.

Case Keenum holding off Jared Goff in Rams quarterback competition

By RICH HAMMOND / STAFF WRITER

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/practice-724842-keenum-rams.html

IRVINE – After the first week of training camp, the Rams’ quarterback battle is, well …

“Put in number 17,” a fan yelled after Jared Goff kneeled to avoid a “sack” in Friday’s no-contact practice at UC Irvine. Not long after, number 17, Case Keenum, entered and threw a touchdown pass.

There’s a long way to go before the Rams open their season on Sept. 12 in San Francisco, including four preseason games and a dozens of hours of practice, but at least for one week, Keenum has held off Goff.

Through the first week of training camp, Keenum has been steadier and made fewer mistakes than Goff, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. Coach Jeff Fisher said Keenum will start the Rams’ first preseason game, Aug. 13 against Dallas, but that Goff will play as much as a full half in that game.

“I’m not looking as far forward as that,” Keenum said Friday. “As far as that determining my confidence level, I don’t think it will. I’ve got a job to do, and that’s to lead the offense when I’m out there.”

Not surprisingly, Goff, a 21-year-old rookie, has been less consistent than Keenum, who is 28 and in his fifth NFL training camp. Goff threw two interceptions in practice Friday but, in the final drill, threw red-zone touchdown passes to Tyler Higbee and Brian Quick.

Keenum, anointed the starter by Fisher at the end of last season, hasn’t necessarily been dynamic but rarely has made errors. Keenum, undrafted in 2012 and on the Rams’ practice squad as recently as Dec. 2014, said he enjoyed his first-ever week as a training-camp starter.

“I’m getting a lot more reps,” Keenum said. “My wife came the other day to watch, and usually I’d get three or four passes and she would have 5-10 minutes between reps. She’s like, ‘I can’t even go to the bathroom now. I have to keep watching.’ So it’s fun, and I feel like I’m getting better.”

It would have been shocking to see Goff, who mostly has taken second-team reps thus far in camp, start next weekend against the Cowboys. That job belongs to Keenum for now, but Fisher said he had yet to determine exactly how many series each quarterback would play.

“At some point we’ll discuss it next week,” Fisher said. “It’s nothing unusual. You know what you want to do. You play your starting quarterback with your starters and then you start subbing and then Jared comes in. He will get to play, probably quite a bit. He will probably play a half, but we’ll discuss that.”

WELCOME ‘HOME’

Players and coaches will get a first look at their home venue for the next three seasons when the Rams hold an open practice at the Coliseum on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

The full practice, which the Rams are calling “Family Day,” is free to the public (other than a $20 parking fee) and essentially will be a regular session with some fan-friendly events.

The practice purpose, though, is to give the team a chance to get acclimated to its new home. Players will get situated in the locker room (usually used by USC) and coaches will navigate the elevators and press box and adjust to any possible technological glitches.

“It’s a dress rehearsal in every way,” said Bruce Warwick, the Rams’ director of operations.

NEW RULES

NFL referee John Hussey attended practice Friday to help instruct players on rule changes for this season. After practice, Hussey planned to show players a 10-minute video and answer questions.

The rule changes, approved in March, mostly involve player safety. All chop blocks are now illegal, as is taking down an opponent by the back of the jersey in a “horse collar” fashion. Officials also will put a stronger emphasis on some rules, such as hitting below the knee or with the crown of the helmet.

NOTES

The Rams announced that J.B. Long will be their radio play-by-play broadcaster, with former UCLA and NFL standout Maurice Jones-Drew as analyst and former Rams defensive lineman D’Marco Farr as sideline analyst. Long most recently worked as a play-by-play announcer for Pac-12 Network. … Cornerback E.J. Gaines missed practice with a hamstring injury, but receiver Pharoh Cooper, who had been out with a quadriceps injury, returned. … Lakers coach Luke Walton watched practice from the field and talked with Fisher when it ended.

I think it’s sensible for Fisher to officially name Keenum the starter and stick with him through at least the first half of the season. The veteran not only gives the Rams the best chance to win right now, but the team believes in his talent and leadership skills. Speaking to several offensive players, I repeatedly heard the word “gamer” and “winner” in reference to the 28-year-old Keenum.

This gets one thing right IMO but then neglects the chance to notice another.

Yes, not only is Keenum more in charge, his intangibles are what give him an edge…he self-maximizes.

But. He comes from the same kind of college offense Goff does. So if Keenum can do it obviously so can Goff.

Ryan Kartje ✔ @Ryan_Kartje
Undrafted RB Aaron Green is having himself a day at #Rams practice. Busted a long, shifty run, then caught a deep pass on the sideline

Vincent Bonsignore @DailyNewsVinny
Not sure how the numbers game breaks for him in L.A. but #Rams rookie RB Aaron Green has an #NFL future

—

Rookie WR @_MikeTeee working the receiving drills 👐🏾🏈 #RamsCamp https://t.co/bJmgDnguGr

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 5, 2016

—

Ryan Kartje @Ryan_Kartje
Tyler Higbee running with the 1’s again for team portion along with Lance Kendricks, who is also out there in 2-TE base set

Myles Simmons @MylesASimmons
Mike Thomas gets a snap/reception with the first-team offense in 11-on-11. Believe that’s the first time we’ve seen him with that unit.

Austin Green @AustinGreenLA
Just got the full Jared Goff experience at #RamsCamp. A lazer completed through coverage followed up by a really bad interception.

—

Jared Goff struggling a bit today at practice. Drops to his knees as rush overwhelms him. Fan in stands yells, "Put in 17! "

— Ryan Kartje (@Ryan_Kartje) August 6, 2016

…

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
EJ Gaines hasn’t practiced for Rams today. Fisher had said Gaines left Wednesday’s practice early.

Myles Simmons ✔ @MylesASimmons
Two TD passes from Goff to end a red zone 11-on-11 period — one to Higbee and the second to Quick.

Vincent Bonsignore @DailyNewsVinny
#Rams rookie TE Tyler Higbee being a beast in a spirited 11-on-11 Red Zone drill with 2 TD catches

Ryan Kartje @Ryan_Kartje
Rookie TE Tyler Higbee continues to impress. Two nice touchdowns in red zone offense work. His size could be a serious weapon.

Hacksaw_64

Better late than never. (posted 8/5)

Rolled in early. As expected, it was a lighter crowd than the weekend. Hard Knocks was there in full force.

I started the day by watching the OL warm up right in front of me. Garrett Reynolds was the first OL on the scene and he ran right up to me and said hello. I didn’t realize how massive he really was watching him play last season on TV. He stands out as one of our largest models on the OL. He may be the tallest of the bunch. Coupled with his huge frame and surprising agility, he looks to me like a prototype OT.

Cody Whichmann, in contrast to Reynolds doesn’t quite look the part up close. He’s much smaller than I envisioned. On top of that with his helmet off he looks like he is just out of HS. I got a little bit nervous thinking that this is the kid that’s blocking for our Pro Bowl RB and rookie #1 pick QB. Clearly looks can be deceiving, but still I thought it was funny.

Saffold ran out and promptly started working on agility drills. Not sure about his shoulder but his legs look just fine.

Battle was out there early getting his work in. He is massive too. Really looks like he worked on conditioning in the off-season. He’s one of my camp wildcards. If he continues to develop, it going to be huge for the Rams.

GRob was the last guy to show up. Not what I wanted to see….

Havs was there but not in pads.

Practice really opened with the entire team doing stretches as a unit as opposed to groups as they did in the prior practices. The Rams were getting serious today. It was the first legit practice of camp IMO. Training wheels were off.

Mike Groh was calling every play in the huddle for the entire day. It looked to me like he was running the show. Boras was back on the sideline watching intently, Fisher also kept sticking his nose in the huddle.

Keenum looked like Keenum. Made a couple nice throws. A lot of check downs. And some real head scratching inaccurate throws.

Goff had a nice day. He does a lot of little things right. He repeatedly threw a perfect back shoulder pass right on the money in goaline reps. He threw a nice corner fade ball and completed a post to the back of the endzone with authority.

For most of the day Goff looked much better pre-snap. He seemed to get the ball to his best matchup most of the time.

He made a couple “wow” throws again today. He hit Mike Thomas perfectly in stride on a slant over the middle for about a 20 yard gain. He hit Nelson Spruced own the seam with an absolute perfect pass for about a 35 yard gain. He probably scores on that play.

He had his troubles handling the snap from Eric Kush, who is now our backup center. (yes be scared)

He missed Higbee in the endzone with a ball that he overthrew high and out of the back of the endzone. If your gonna miss in the redzone, that’s how you do it.

One thing I noticed is Goff was really staring down his receivers too much sometimes and not getting to his full progression of reads. I’m sure that will come in time.

He showed off for the second time his “jump pass”. Didn’t know he had that in his arsenal. He completed a bullet jump pass on kind of a broken play to his blanketed receiver sitting down in the middle underneath and in heavy traffic.

Mannion looked much better. Had a series of on target passes. He looked actually pretty crisp running the offense. Much better arm than Keenum. Had a real nice throw to McRoberts who made a great catch and stayed in bounds. McRoberts is no slouch!

Kenny Britt made an appearance today. He looks a little on the out of shape heavy side to me. He’s another one of those guys that it doesn’t quite look like he goes all out all the time in practice. He made one nice catch where he seemed to decide to turn on the jets.

Higbee is a beast and is probably going to start sooner than later.

Hemmingway didn’t get reps with the offense.

Kendricks had a bad drop that hit him right in the hands.

Mike Thomas is for real. He made a real nice site adjustment on a ball in the air to haul it in for a TD.

Duke Williams continues to impress. Made a great one handed grab on a bad ball. Made another great catch in the back of the endzone, didn’t get his feet inbounds.

Quick dropped a couple very catchable balls in drills. Looked like he was getting moved down the depth chart. He was getting some reps with the second team in the second half of practice. He redeemed himself by making a nice catch in the back of the endzone that he had to go up to get. He actually held on. The entire team and crowd cheered in amazement.

Tavon is our best receiver. Had 3 nice catches. 2 for TD’s 1 he was wide open and beat his defender badly.

Gurley opened up with a pitch to the left for a legit 20 yard gain around GRob. He looks a notch faster this year.

Benny showed of his jets. He looks lighter and faster as well. Maybe its the number change.. #23 .

As far as OL goes.

Overall they handled the DL much better than previous practices.

Kush is horrible. We are in big trouble if Barnes gets hurt. = Rams achilles heal.

Take this with a grain of salt because I wasn’t focusing on them all that much but..

Saffold and Jamon Brown both were having problems. In fact our interior line didn’t look good vs power or speed. Ethan Westbrooks, Donald and Brockers were eating them alive still way too much.

Battle and Robinson held there own. Robinson got beat by Quinn a couple times but that’s to be expected. Overall he held up OK.

Darrell Williams seemed to hang in pretty well backing up at LT. He may be another surprise.

Pharoah Cooper wasn’t in pads but sure looked like he wanted to be. He was shadowing WR’s in drills. Also, he was working with Tavon on Punt Returns. Tavon was coaching him up.

Stedman Bailey was at the practice throwing the ball around.

At corner…

Trujo and Sensabaugh got first team reps on the outside. There was also a combination where it was Trujo and Joyner as the two outside corners. Gaines is on the second team as of now.

Roberson actually looked pretty good

They seem to be taking a good look at Troy Hill, he got a ton of reps…

Mo Alexander and McDonald again were starting safties. Both struggled in coverage.

Christian Bryant looked horrible

Bryce Hagar looks tiny.

Ogletree got beat badly trying to cover a back out the backfield.

Coples had one real nice disruptive play.

Overall a much cleaner practice on the Offensive side. You can tell the coaches are really focusing on the offense. They have yet to open up the passing game. But clearly that is the focal point. One step at a time.

That’s all for now.

I’ll be heading back early next week.

Besides, I;m cranky.

bnw wrote:

Any word on the new Bourne movie?

Yeah…with some exceptions, it’s sort of disliked.

http://www.metacritic.com/movie/jason-bourne

Billy_T wrote:

You’re trying to “debate it.” To me, that won’t work. It’s Rocky and Bullwinkle – that trick never works. All I personally see in this case like many others is you taking your own opinions as true, and therefore trying to convey that truth persuasively.

Problem is I have been in this particular debate, and variations thereof, for probably 45 years. And, so, being a well-meaning but also cranky old bastard, I just shrug at the debate, say let’s be a coalition, and move on. Way I see it most REAL political investments are at an emotional level too deep to be reasoned with. So, when it comes to alliances and coalitions, I like my approach better. We differ, we know we have impasses, we acknowledge that and move forward.

Now how can we be useful (in the best sense) to one another.

Well, one way we can be useful is to give each other the benefit of the doubt. Some of the terms you use seem unnecessary to me, and get in the way of that. Like “routine” and “trick” and, again, the original “purity” accusation.

Why use them at all? To me, they cause the “impasse” by changing the subject from the political issues on hand to one where we argue about the accuracy of meta-terms — with those meta-terms being implemented largely as a comment on one’s methods and (perhaps) hidden motivations, rather than the political issues themselves. Indirectly, cutting very close to directly, this makes the discussion about the poster, instead of the subject of national politics.

I’d much prefer talking about the latter.

As in, Can’t we all just get along?

;>)

Just letting you know how I see all such inter-left debates of this kind.

I can not say it but then I will still feel it.

The best bet for you is just don’t take it so personally. I am just saying where I am coming from. The whole thing is about perspective.

And on top of it I always believe that many presumed rational arguments are in fact entirely rhetorical. That won’t change either.

So don’t take this stuff personally since the entire point is just to spell out a perspective. I just gave you a perspective, it;s how I see it.

And so to me this is not useful if it is a discussion about “us” or about my rhetoric or your rhetoric.

The useful stuff is beyond all that, IMO. Like I said before. Now we move on. Everyone accepts everyone else for what they are and just discusses stuff. Fair enough?

…

Billy_T wrote:

IMO, whenever someone complains about others seeking “purity” or “ideological purity” or says “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” they are actually helping to freeze the possible where it currently is, or worse.

In short, not only is it inaccurate, it’s not at all helpful.

Well just as you don’t buy my routine I don’t buy yours (ie. what I quoted). Yours is no more helpful. I reject it as categorically as you reject anything I said.

So now we know our potential impasses. Which is worth knowing. And. No point in arguing about it.

Now we move on. Everyone accepts everyone else for what they are and just discusses stuff. Fair enough?

wv wrote:

Um, no. I’m not ‘esteeming’ Obama for displaying ‘grace’ and ‘dignity’.
He’s living about the most privileged life a human being can live.

Have to disagree with that. There’s missing things in how you put that.

For one, so is Trump (living a privileged life). Notice they do it differently.

And besides that’s not what the guy said anyway. What he said was among them his cool-headed grace under enormous pressure and the profound dignity with which he’s endured racism and pointed us beyond it.

As soon as any of us have endured racism maybe we can judge.

There’s one thing when class gets ignored in analysis. It’s another when we can’t give someone credit just because they’ve acquired wealth.

…