As Jared Goff finds comfort level, Rams fans must learn to be patient

By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160731/bonsignore-as-jared-goff-finds-comfort-level-rams-fans-must-learn-to-be-patient

IRVINE — The fed-up fan finally had enough of Jared Goff checking down to underneath receivers Saturday during the Rams opening training camp practice in Irvine.

So he let the rookie quarterback have it.

“Throw the damn ball down the field,” the fan screamed, over and over.

Never mind it was Goff’s first-ever National Football League training camp practice after being selected first overall in last April’s draft.

Or that the Rams were literally installing the underneath aspect of their passing game, which meant, well, all the quarterbacks were being instructed to look short not long.

“We just put some simple concepts in,” said Rams head coach Jeff Fisher. “Today, the ball wasn’t designed to go down the field — it was underneath, short passing game and those kind of things.”

It’s kind of what you do at this stage of camp.

None of that either dawned on or mattered to the frustrated fan, who apparently arrived in Irvine thinking the stage was set for Goff to unleash long ball after long ball.

You know, to justify his status as the first overall pick and future face of the Rams franchise.

“Throw the damn ball down the field!” he kept screaming.

Welcome to the NFL, rookie.

As for Jared Goff …

Seriously folks, it seems the former Cal star might have more to deal with than the accelerated speed, athleticism and savvy of the NFL game compared to what he saw the last three years in the Pac-12

Like a lack of nuance by over-eager fans demanding him to run while the Rams are still teaching him how to walk.

Two days into his first NFL camp, it looks like Goff and some Rams fans face a bit of a learning curve. L.A. is still re-adjusting to the pace and process of professional football while Goff is making the steep climb from college to the NFL.

To no one’s surprise, the initial steps for both have been a bit unsteady.

Goff was fairly sharp with his underneath throws on Saturday, and if side-session passing counts for anything he can certainly spin it at a high level.

But there were a couple of botched snaps from center, and on his one throw covering distance the ball didn’t come close to the intended target while sailing into the arms of Rams safety Cody Davis for an easy interception.

“I felt good about a lot of plays,” Goff said. “There’s some plays you want back.”

He looked better by Sunday, although his wide receivers didn’t exactly lend a helping hand by dropping a handful of passes. And though he made some nice throws toward the end of practice, he was intercepted on his final throw when he tried to cut loose across the middle only to be intercepted by rookie Jabriel Washington.

The two interceptions drew groans from many of the Rams fans on hand. More of out disappointment than anger. They badly want Goff to be great, and his emergence as a productive quarterback could be the difference in the Rams finally moving beyond the 7-9 teams they’ve been the last few years.

He’s the proverbial missing piece.

Understandable, then, they’ll be hanging on everything he does. Even through the first two days of practice.

Depending on the expectations, gleaning anything worthwhile thus far is a bit of a reach.

Goff hasn’t looked bad by any stretch of the imagination. But he also hasn’t jumped out at anyone as a no-doubt about it future NFL star.

That’s to be expected, of course, if not a tad bit disappointing.

To be expected because he’s barely three months into his professional career — counting organized team activities — and the Rams are day two into installation of a brand new offense under new coordinator Rob Boras,

Disappointing because the natural assumption is that quarterbacks drafted first overall will immediately flash something so obvious and distinctive they’ll leave no doubt about their future status.

That’s probably on us more than it is Goff. We should know better, especially at this stage.

For Goff, the focus is on incremental improvement. Getting better from day to day, then looking back at some point at the collective progress.

Like the distance he’s come from OTA’s to training camp, which he describes as substantial.

“I definitely feel 10 times more comfortable,” he said. “Much more comfortable with everything that we do, as far as daily stuff. Just very comfortable on the field, much more comfortable.”

Still, two days in you get the feeling everyone wants to see more already. A sign. A flash. Evidence that the Rams made the right decision trading up to No. 1 then drafting him first overall ahead of North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz.

That hasn’t happened yet, though.

It’s understandable, of course. It’s still so early in the process.

But with so much riding on the outcome, common sense has nothing on anxiety.

Ramsfan1971

Day 2 starts with much better weather. It was about 81 degrees with a slight breeze. It was much more comfortable than yesterday. As with day one, no pads and Chase Reynolds was first man out for practice. He was soon joined by others to work on the ball machine. Today, I focused on our Wr corp. Yesterday, there was not much to see due to all the short check downs. I watched individual drills and took some pics to share. My observations on our WRs.
Bad News– Austin was carted off the field. Looks like a hamstring pull or cramp. He was not able to bend his leg. Hoping it will heal quickly.

WR

Rookies
#3 North- R—Good size, fast and made some good catches over both days
#8 McRoberts-R—Good size, fast and also made some good catches today
#10 Cooper-R— Quick – got behind Db in one on ones, but dropped a bomb in the endzone.
#13 Thomas- R– Good size and speed. He had some catches, but also had some drops today.
#81 Williams-R— He is big, not as fast as others, but uses his size to create space. He made some catches but also dropped a couple.
#86 Spruce- R– not a lot of speed, but does get descent separation. Good hands.

Vets
#18- Britt– He did not practice today
#11 Austin- Caught a deep pass behind Trumaine for a TD. Later was carted off field.
#15 Marquez- So far has looked the best of Wr in practice. Making contested catches and fighting for the ball.
#83 Quick- Looks thinner this year and looked faster than last year. He made some catches, but also made some mental errors near the sideline. He looks healthy.

Qbs

Goff looked much better today. Again- almost all of the Wr patterns were short. Almost all passes were short inside 10 yds. He did make a nice completion-18 yds in 11 on 11. He did throw another int to #41 Washington. That is 2 in two days against Goff. Waiting for the coaches to allow him to push it down field.
Keenum made a good throw to Austin against T. Johnson for a td.
Mannion continues to look to throw deep first and short second. His reps are very limited.

DL

First team dominated the line again without pads. It is very hard for qb to look downfield without one or two of the DL in his face.

OL

Did open up one or two holes for Gurley against the first team DL. Robinson on L side and Saffold on R side. Can’t say much til I see them in pads.

Dbs and Linebackers

In 7 on 7- they stuck with receivers like glue. Either our Db and Lb are going to be great this year, or our Wr can not create separation.

ST

Hekker was kicking 50-60 yds in the air today.

Zuerlein- big leg, but continued to push right. He better be careful or Bertolet will beat him out in camp.

Critiques

Practice is only 2 hours. I notice while skill positions are warming up, that both DL and OL are standing around doing nothing. Our OL should be working hard for the full two hours. I would say a good 15-20 minutes if standing around talking to each other while others are warming up with skills and stretching. Our Offense will never improve if the OL does not improve and gel as a unit.

The #LARams have a 'diamond in the rough' with Tamarrick Hemingway. I didn't see him drop anything thrown his way. pic.twitter.com/3XjcsmWJWV

— Producer 2 the Stars (@ChicagoGod) August 1, 2016

zn wrote:

JT wrote this…

Starting right tackle Rob Havenstein was not at practice and may miss a few weeks. He’s on the physically unable to perform list while a fractured toe(from offseason conditioning) fully heals.

As we know Fisher doesn’t discuss injuries in detail during the summer. But at least JT is a vet and knew who to ask on the staff. IMO there;s a a bit of a giveaway in how it’s written:

He’s on the physically unable to perform list while a fractured toe(from offseason conditioning) fully heals.

We know he missed OTAs because of it. That was 2 months ago.

And then Fisher said this:

We had to put (T) Rob Havenstein on PUP – Rob’s had a little foot issue during the offseason and he’s still not quite ready. So, PUP – this situation can be week-to-week, day-to-day.. We really don’t have much more information on it, but it’s going to be some time, maybe a few weeks, before Rob gets back – he’s working very, very hard.

From the sounds of everything I would guess it’s a stress fracture, not a literal fractured bone as in broken to pieces. If it were the latter he would be out for a long, long time. It wouldn’t be a “little foot issue” and he would be far worse off at this point than “still not quite ready.”

JT wrote this…

Starting right tackle Rob Havenstein was not at practice and may miss a few weeks. He’s on the physically unable to perform list while a fractured toe(from offseason conditioning) fully heals.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-get-warm-welcome-on-first-day-of-camp/article_5f781bb3-92b0-506b-ae69-0a75a325800c.html

bnw wrote:

Very interesting. I am the humpback whale of this forum.

In everyone’s mind, we all are.

This is a very good report.

.

8to12

Some positional drills were done on this side of the field but all of the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 were on the far field. And, with the crowd being so large, it made it difficult to get up & move. I waited patiently for some of the scrimmaging to be moved back to the near field but it never happened.

A short list of things I noticed in no particular order:

– Quentin Coples is a big DE. However, I was surprised that he did not move gracefully like the other DE’s. He kind of lumbers as he moves across the LOS. It made me understand better why maybe the Jets had him playing DE in their 3-4 system. But, this only a few positional drills. I will get to see go him against the O-line this coming week (Tues & Wed)

– DB positional drills happened in front of me. Lamarcus Joyner looks very quick in the drills compared to his teammates. Also, Mike Jordan is 6’0″, 200lbs, good size and he has good hands.

– Punt returns: Bradley Marquez, Nelson Spruce and Pharoh Cooper showed really good technique in catching punts. Tavon dropped one of his first attempts, but the wind had picked up and caused most of the issue.

During the following week I hope to see more 11-on-11 to see the offense operate. I want to be to specualte on the personnel groupings, formations, and tendancies for each as they work against the defense. I find this to be the most helpful while watching games during the regular season.

If you already started this thread earlier, I just now subbed out the first post with a new one.

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First LA Rams practice attended by 10K fans

By Rich Hammond,

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160730/first-la-rams-practice-attended-by-10k-fans

IRVINE >> The first loud cheers came when quarterback Jared Goff jogged onto the field Saturday. The first loud groans came an hour later, when Goff badly underthrew a pass for an interception.

This is now normal life for the Rams, who are followed by television cameras everywhere they walk on the UC Irvine campus. Given the stakes, they might as well be starring on The Goff Channel.

“Walking on the field was cool, seeing all the people out here,’’ Goff said. “There were people yelling and screaming. It’s awesome to be back in L.A. with what looks like to be a pretty big fan base.”

According to the team, 10,112 fans attended Saturday’s free practice, the Rams’ first training-camp session in Southern California since 1994. They stood outside for hours before gates opened, then filled temporary bleachers wearing jerseys and carrying signs for a team that has returned after 22 years.

The stars, most notably running back Todd Gurley and defensive tackle Aaron Donald, received loud cheers when they entered the field, but the roar for Goff reached a different decibel.

That’s not unexpected. Not only is Goff, drafted in April with the No. 1 overall pick, a new homegrown star, but soon he will be counted upon to lead a Rams offense that needs improvement if the Rams are to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

So how did it go? Goff started out taking second-team reps behind Case Keenum but also got first-team work. The playcalling for both quarterbacks was rather conservative, apparently by design, but Goff made the big mistake when his pass landed softly in the hands of backup safety Cody Davis.

“It was OK,” Goff said of his first training-camp practice. “There’s stuff you always want to work on. I felt good about a lot of plays and there’s some plays you want back. That will be the way it is for a long time. In college, I would try to be 100 percent every day, and you probably never do it.”

There’s plenty of time for improvement. The Rams will hold 20 more practices in Irvine, plus four preseason games, and there’s no timetable for naming a starting quarterback. Also, Saturday’s practice was held without pads or tackling.

“This is the first day of installation,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “Today, the ball wasn’t designed to go down the field. It was underneath, short passes.”

That didn’t give the thousands of fans much of a chance to cheer for dynamic plays, but they seemed to appreciate the Rams’ presence, and vice versa.

Donald, among other players, stopped as he jogged into practice to sign autographs and take selfies with fans who lined the field, and Fisher said he felt the need to calm down the players because of the presence of the large crowd. The mid-afternoon heat also helped.

“I was so tired today that I couldn’t even hear half the people,” Gurley said with a laugh. “I was just trying to get my wind back.”

MCDONALD IN, MASON OUT

T.J. McDonald, who missed optional practices in June after his May arrest, took first-team reps at strong safety but backup running back Tre Mason, arrested in March for reckless driving, resisting arrest and marijuana possession, was placed on the “did not report” list.

McDonald declined to discuss his arrest (on suspicion of non-alcohol DUI) or the case. The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office has not yet decided whether to charge McDonald with a crime. The Rams kept McDonald away from the OTA practices but allowed him to return for training camp.

“I knew that I would be able to be in shape to be here in camp and be able to come out and play ball,” McDonald said. “There was no doubt in my mind.”

Fisher said regarding Mason: “Tre has made a decision not to communicate with us, not to talk. He’s not talking to teammates. Right now, we’re more concerned about Tre Mason’s well being than his football career. We’re going to continue to try to reach him and see where he’s at.”

HAVENSTEIN HURT

Fisher said starting right tackle Rob Havenstein, placed on the “physically unable to perform” list this week, is recovering from “a little foot injury during the offseason and he’s still not ready.”

Fisher said Havenstein, who was on the field watching practice, could miss two weeks. Rodger Saffold, usually a starting guard, moved to right tackle in first-team reps while Cody Wichmann played guard.

Ramsfan1971

First day of training camp open to the public. There was a great turn out by the public. NBC reported that the attendance for day one was 10,000 fans. The weather was around 90 degrees with a slight breeze. I forgot my camera, but am planning on going either tomorrow or Tuesday. I will get pictures next time I go. As practice started, chants of LA RAMS would break out in certain sections. Chase Reynolds was already shagging punts when I arrived before practice. He occasionally ran close to the stands to big cheers. Here are my thoughts by position from what I observed. No pads today–Lets start with what we are all anxious about.

Qbs

Goff- positives
Goff looked like a first pick of the draft in individual drills. I wish it would have carried over to scrimmage.

First day of practice excuse-
It was very different once 7 on 7 started. Here is a short summary of his performance. He looked for the check down 90% of the time. I am hoping he was just building confidence. The one time he threw a post over the middle, it was picked – Big groan from the crowd followed by numerous “It is only the first day”. During 11 on 11, it was not smooth. There were two bad snaps in shotgun (not Goff’s fault). There was also a fumble under center (possibly Goff’s fault). During 11 on 11, he continued to throw short. I am not sure he ever looked down field. Possible coach was telling him to look short. When they went back to 7 on 7 later in practice, Goff continued to throw short. Db began sitting on short routes and picked off Goff a second time.

As for Keenum- He looked like he did at the end of last year. He was efficient except for two passes that were batted down at line of scrimmage. He threw mainly short to medium passes. Second play of 7 on 7 he had Tavon open on a streak along the sideline. He over threw him. Keenum ran the first team, Goff was second team with occasional first team snaps. So who impressed today—- I would say Mannion. He got very few opportunities compared to Goff and Keenum. He made two great throws down the field today. Of course he was going against 2’s or 3’s, but made a good corner route throw and another up the crease for good gains.

Rbs

Gurley looked ready to start the season. Even without pads, he was fast, explosive, powerful, and changed direction effortlessly. Cunningham looked good as well.

Wrs

Hard to tell since the majority of throws were check downs to backs and TE. I will share more on them next time.

TE

Kendricks made a good catch going to the ground. Looks like he is ready to be number one. He better be looking over his shoulder for Tyler Higbee. He is big, fast, and has good hands. Looks like this may be a great draft pick.

OL

Hard to tell without pads. I did notice that Saffold was at RT.

Eric Kush was C on second team and had two bad snaps.

DEFENSE

DL

Hard to tell without pads, but looks to be the dominant force on this team again. I was pleasantly surprised to see Robert Quinn working out in individual drills. There has not been a lot of info about his recovery. He looked to bend well in drills with other DL. He did not look to be in pain at all. He did not participate in 11 on 11.

LBs

All seemed quick to the ball on short passes and check downs. 7 on 7 and 11 on 11 seemed to go quickly. Defense kept everything in front of them, got good pressure on qbs numerous times. I will concentrate on Ogletree more next time I go.

Dbs

Trumaine carries himself like a guy making 13 mil. He is very confident in how he carries himself. Not much thrown at him from what I could see. Dbs kept everything in front of them. Only gave up a seam pass for a decent gain. Cody Davis got one of the int. off of Goff. I could not make out who got the other int.

I will try to post more as I go to practices over this first week.

rams24/7

Day 1 First Team Offense:
QB: Keenum
RB: Gurley
FB: Harkey
WR: Britt/Austin/Cooper (slot)
TE: Kendricks
LT: Robinson
LG: Wichmann
C: Barnes
RG: Brown
RT: Saffold

Day 1 First Team Defense:
RE: Sims
RDT: Donald
LDT: Brockers
LE: Hayes
LB: Ayers/Ogletree
WS: Barron
CB: Johnson/Sensabaugh/Joyner (nickel)
FS: Alexander
SS: McDonald

Day 1 Second Team Offense:
QB: Goff
RB: B. Cunningham
FB: J. Cunningham
WR: Quick/Marquez
TE: Higbee
LT: Williams
LG: Donnal
C: Kush
RG: Reynolds
RT: Battle

Day 1 Second Team Defense:
RE: Longacre
RDT: Westbrooks
LDT: Easley
LE: Coples
WLB: Lynch
MLB: Hager
SLB: Forrest
CB: Roberson/Gaines
S: Davis/Bryant

of note:

1) Quinn dressed, but had minimal work. I can only remember him getting a handful of snaps with the 2s, although he did have a nice play where he blew by Williams and turned the corner chasing Goff as he rolled to the right.
2) Gaines got a solid amount of work, albeit with the 2s. He split time between outside and nickel with the 2s and played well in both spots.
3) TMac is back, and started at SS.
4) Havenstein was wearing his jersey, but did not participate in any activities. This comes as little surprise to you folk as we all heard he hit the preseason PUP list a few days back. I’m no doctor, but I did see him walking with no visible limp, so I’m optimistic as many are that this is precautionary and Rob should be back before too long.

I know it’s only one day but…

STOCK UP:

1) Mike Thomas

Thomas made the only notable play during the Rams short 7 on 7 period (the day was mainly 11 on 11) when he took a short slant from the left side of the field to the right side of the field, turning the corner, and finding the sideline before being pushed out of bounds for a 30+ yard gain. He doesn’t have jets, but he isn’t slow. He also made a nice grab in WR drills and looked like a man among boys with the 3s.

2) EJ Gaines

Gaines is arguably the most forgotten man on the Rams D. He showed up to play today covering the slot and outside with no notable completions and came up in run support (albeit w/o pads).

3) Mo Alexander

Has no physical limitations to play free, lets just hope he can progress mentally. There weren’t many downfield throws, so I don’t want to give the impression he’s locked up a starting spot or anything. But he didn’t do anything to hurt his case today and filled up nicely in run support, giving Todd a nice pop in the hole coming all the way from his safety position.

STOCK DOWN:

1) Temmarick Hemmingway

As I’ve said its only day 1, but Hemmingway showed today why he fell in the draft. He is a raw project, who if developed has the physical gifts to be a great TE. That’s a big IF however (see Fendi Onobun). He had a ball ripped from his hands by a DB in 7 on 7 and had a CB hit him from behind on a short curl, causing him to drop the ball as well. Hemmingway will need to shine on ST, because he doesn’t provide much else currently that the Rams lack at TE.

2) Eric Kush

Had 2 bad snaps to Goff in 11 on 11 in the span of a few plays. The first was a shotgun snap that hit Goff in the feet and the second looked like a bad exchange from under center, however it looked like Kush didn’t get the ball all the way to Goff.

Fun Tidbit: I loved how after 11 on 11 (practice was over) Goff was seen taking multiple reps with Kush from both under center and in the shotgun to work on perfecting their exchange.

bnw wrote:

zn wrote:

bnw wrote:

No, I disagree. They paid Foles because they thought he was the answer at QB. No one was talking drafting a QB first overall the next year because the team thought they had their QB in Foles. Hey it is StanK’s cash so no tears here.

Again the differences between us I think amount to semantics.

The point I am making is that they never pumped him up or touted him as top qb talent.

It was all along the lines of he can do the job, not he is top qb talent.

If you’re saying his contract reflected how they estimated him, then, it’s important to note that in the category of qb he was–a starter signing his 2nd contract—his was the lowest of that group, and by far. I mean 4-5 M lower than the next lowest. Plus it was just a 2 year deal. That did not indicate he was The Answer, as in now we’re set for years with a top qb talent. Instead it indicated he was An Answer, as in yes we can win with this guy, he’ll be fine.

They never talked about him the way they talk about Goff, and that’s just a fact.

So it just depends on what one means by The Answer.

To me, from what I saw, the only thing they saw him as The Answer to was not having a vet qb starter (cause they intended to trade Bradford).

They thought he would be okay. The contract numbers reflect that. For anyone else of a higher caliber, including guys like Dalton, that contract is insulting low.

….

….

Ok I can agree with that though the Foles era ended when they drafted Goff.

Okay. But “the Foles era has ended” was just a joke. “Era” is an inflated word in this context so that was irony (admittedly lame cause it didn’t come across). It would be like watching Jurrasic World and then praising it for its “aesthetically nuanced and resonant epic narrative.” In other words, irony through inflation.

In REAL terms? Jokes aside? Yeah Foles was done when they drafted Goff.

bnw wrote:

No, I disagree. They paid Foles because they thought he was the answer at QB. No one was talking drafting a QB first overall the next year because the team thought they had their QB in Foles. Hey it is StanK’s cash so no tears here.

Again the differences between us I think amount to semantics.

The point I am making is that they never pumped him up or touted him as top qb talent.

It was all along the lines of he can do the job, not he is top qb talent.

If you’re saying his contract reflected how they estimated him, then, it’s important to note that in the category of qb he was–a starter signing his 2nd contract—his was the lowest of that group, and by far. I mean 4-5 M lower than the next lowest. Plus it was just a 2 year deal. That did not indicate he was The Answer, as in now we’re set for years with a top qb talent. Instead it indicated he was An Answer, as in yes we can win with this guy, he’ll be fine.

They never talked about him the way they talk about Goff, and that’s just a fact.

So it just depends on what one means by The Answer.

To me, from what I saw, the only thing they saw him as The Answer to was not having a vet qb starter (cause they intended to trade Bradford).

They thought he would be okay. The contract numbers reflect that. For anyone else of a higher caliber, including guys like Dalton, that contract is insulting low.

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