Ozoneranger wrote:

It’s a shame he’s remembered primarily for “The Phantom Sack.”

Everett on the Giants game:

JimEverett
http://www.ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?17,445558,454824#msg-454824

Thanks for your support over the man years. Love the game…Love our Rams!!

Yes sir….The Giant Playoff game was certainly a game to remember. Before I go into any stories…let’s give those that were there a bit of flavor on what allowed us to be qualify for that playoff road game.

Here’s a good review: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loa_Angeles_Rams_season

We started off our 1989 campaign with 5 straight wins. Then went for four losses in a row. We got back on the winning trail with four in-a-row again!

Can any one say streaky? LOL

Then the 49ers got us at home….in a game that REALLY got away from us (why? we are up 17-0, and going in to score on the one yard line to be 24-0 then we our fumble the snap…ulghhhh. Then right afterwards they went 99 yards for a TD (Taylor goes for 92 yards of it on a silly slant pass!! But then…we fumble again on the kickoff return…so we were going to be up by 24…the next time I touched the ball, we had a 7 point lead. Folks…on our league…that’s a big difference! In the end…The 49ers scored 20 in the 4th quarter to beat us 30-27. On a side note…The doubt at the end of this game…would come back to haunt us later when we faced them in the championship game.

Anyways…We put ourselves in a position to MUST WIN our last two game in order to qualify for the payoffs (needed to be 11-5) . New York Jets at home was a rather easy one for us…but going to New England for the last game of the season was extremely tough. Thus our playoff run started on Dec 11th…not Dec 25th!

So to qualify as a wild-card, we knew we would be on the road for our last 5 games (last regular season in NE, then 3 playoff game, then #5 would be the Super-Bowl).
Winning 5 road games is extremely rare…but what about the 2010 Green Bay Packers??!!…who won their last 4 road games…and also their last two home regular season games (against Giants & Bears) to qualify as a wild card team….then went on to win the SB. Now that is special!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to 89….Our wild card game was at Philadelphia, and we were huge underdogs going into the game against Reggie White, Eric Allen, Jerome Brown & Company. Also, our defense was very banged up at that point and Fritz Shurmur came up with…a never used before…2 down lineman, 5 linebacker scheme because our interior D Lineman were out and injured.

Before the Philly game we had to hear and answer questions about “west coast team can’t go east and win in the winter” what are you going to do if the weather is bad…blah, blah, blah. . Well. we went to NE on the last game of the season and got a tough win in tough weather…so by the time we went to Philly (with all our cold weather gear and hot coco) we absolutely stunned the Eagles when we came out and threw 14 points on the board in the first quarter. Their Defense was reeling and our Defense kept Randell Cunningham from doing his “Hey, I am going to pass….no I am just a runner gig!” :X( This was ONE OF THE BEST wins ever that gets overlooked…and BY FAR the best job coaching especially on our Defensive side…because we had so many injuries…but we held the Eagles to one score.
This was a very good win for us and as a team…we became closer, as we were traveling more…we didn’t care where we played…we believed.

Then it was Giants week. Sure….earlier in the year we beat the Giants by a large margin, but they didn’t have their key players in the lineup due to injury, So we did not take anything for granted and…again…we kept hearing everyone back east saying we can’t go into the cold and win. So what did we do?…Our D prepared for a low scoring game for we ALL knew playing against LT, it would be difficult to score over 30 again. We also prepared for having two men (lineman and Back…or Lineman and TE) over LT at all time…if LT moved to one side…we’d start the cadence…and then move the TE over to him and change the play…that is how good he was! An entire game based around where one man lined up. Incredible!! The only other two individual we ever played against that commanded 80% of that attention was…Reggie White and Bruce Smith.

Back to our Giant tale…LOL…Did you know that Bill Belichick was the Giants Defensive coordinator in 1989? Really, it’s so fun to watch him…still to this day…as with all of us…there are a few tendencies that repeat….and those tendencies were sniffed out by Ernie Zampese. Let me explain. Bill is a cover 2 zone guy at heart. Bill loves to keep his corners up…so they can be physical and then let the safeties cover over the top. Why? This is a bend-but-don’t-break strategy (NOT Buddy Ryan…Oh I mean… Jeff Fisher’s philosophy :imsorry…but over time…Bill has move more towards Fisher’s strategies than most realize) and helps eliminate those big plays that we are accustom to seeing from New England’s offense with Tom Brady. That’s why Tom is so in-tune with the game. He’s getting not only excellent offensive strategy, but he has Bill letting him know where the weaknesses need to be attacked. It’s on the best relationships to watch. Oh…got off track…back to the old days. LOL

Here’s the ending… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3g1a4xo1DY Getting the interference call…was a blessing. yet we were at the 30 or so and we went with a run but received a penalty that moved us back to the 35. Why is the 35 a key area? We’ll it’s a 52 yard kick from there and we Rams…had the wind at our back. Mike Landsford is very capable of hitting 50 yarders…so if the Giants could just move us back 5 to 7 yards (like as in a sack) then they could rest easy that they would get the ball back in OT. Well, that means blitz for Bilechick…yet his corners are built to be zone guys. Advantage…Rams.

Just as predicted by Ernie…Giants blitz…and Flipper is STILL RUNNING!

Afterwards Merlin…we celebrated and felt on top of the world at that time. I don’t recall the flight home…it all went too fast…and that’s how life should be. Enjoy ALL the moments life offers us. Many of the opportunities…we’ll jump on, some we’ll miss…but damn ain’t it fun finding opportunities?

===

Everett on the Saints game:

JimEverett
http://www.ramsrule.com/herd/read.php?17,445643,487196#msg-487196

This is a great question and yes…there are a ton of tidbits and morsels about this story!

However….It’s memorial weekend, so thanks for allowing me to cover only one of the main chunks in a wild game that ended with a huge Nougat.

Please correct me if i am wrong but I remember we had 4:01 left on the clock, we were down 17-3 and we had the ball.
Been sacked 6 times already and hurried almost every time we threw. TV sets around the globe could be heard clicking off on that Sunday Evening ESPN game.

It would seem that at this point in the game, pass rushers extraordinaire Pat Swilling and Ricky Jackson pretty much had career days. Is the Phat lady singing? Hummm, didn’t hear her and we had other plans anyways. maybe we learned late, but how about if we don’t allow the pass rushers time to rest between plays? Its late and we need to score often and quick…so we went to hurry up offense. A brilliant decision!!

We can discuss all the details about Flippers acrobatic catches even in double coverage and all the great play of everyone on our team…who continued to believed let’s “find a way to win.”

That in itself, has been the key point to the New Orleans Game in 1989, “find a way to Win”. My children have heard it, the kids I have coached throughout the years have heard it, my colleges gave heard it…it’s part of my everyday fabric. Now, I do wish we could have won more…sure…who wouldn’t?. But I can look back today, knowing that in each and every game I played, I tried my best to “find a way to win.” Another great example of that is at Tampa Bay a few years after this New Orleans game. In that game we were on the road and down 28-0 at half, and we all “found a way to win.”

And that’s my question to you sir Eternal Horns…What was your toughest battle…that you may have looked like you were far from successful, but turned it around to be a positive event for your life?

Life is a like a box of holiday chocolates…you don’t know what your getting until you bite into it.

I can tell you, after Pat Swilling and Ricky Jackson, bit into us Rams that night, they thought they had a mouth full of easy smooth taffy…but at the end of the night, the had to realize that what they thought was sweet Blue and Gold horned candy had suddenly turned into chunks of Ovis Aries feces….and that must have been tough to swallow. And the after taste…OH MY…..LOL

Nick Foles is reportedly skipping Rams OTAs out of protest

Former starting QB is apparently taking a page out of the Sam Bradford playbook

By Will Brinson

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nick-foles-is-reportedly-skipping-rams-otas-out-of-protest/

Nothing is easy for the Los Angeles Rams at the quarterback position, which has been a revolving door of passers under Jeff Fisher. That’s why the franchise traded up to take Jared Goff with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Goff is the starter because you don’t trade tons of picks to draft a guy you’re not playing in a season where you need to win more than eight games and make a playoff run. Everyone knows this, including Nick Foles, who is planning to skip OTAs as a sign of protest, according to Jim Trotter of ESPN.

While not technically a holdout, this is about as much of a holdout as someone who is currently slated to be a backup can pull off. Foles can skip the voluntary workouts and not be fined after all.

And it’s not hard to blame Foles for being miffed. He was traded by the Eagles to the Rams in exchange for Sam Bradford (the rare “lose-lose-lose-lose” trade) last offseason.

Foles inked a two-year, $24.5 million contract with the Rams that featured a pretty stout amount of guaranteed money ($13.8 million).

Like Bradford, he couldn’t have expected he would be the long-term solution for his team, but he probably expected to start/play prominently for multiple years.

Instead Foles was benched in his first season with the Rams and promptly shoved down the depth chart with the drafting of Goff.
At this point he might be behind Case Keenum on the depth chart, although it’s all irrelevant with Goff expected to start the entire season barring injury or a really bad performance.

Which is why Foles holding out and/or skipping workouts is the ultimate exercise in futility.

===

Nick Foles doesn’t appear for ‘voluntary’ training in Oxnard

By Vincent Bonsignore,

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160601/rams-qb-nick-foles-doesnt-appear-for-voluntary-training-in-oxnard

OXNARD — The Rams opened the first of their six voluntary organized training activities (OTAs) on Tuesday with one notable, albeit expected, absence.

Quarterback Nick Foles, who lost his job last season to Case Keenum and whose job status grew even more tenuous with the addition of Jared Goff, the first pick overall in April’s draft, was a no-show.

While Foles and his camp haven’t publicly demanded a trade or to be released, their end game is fairly transparent. With the Rams giving Goff every chance to be their opening-day starter and Keenum someone they continually touted as their starter heading into training camp, Foles’ best bet for the future is seemingly with another team.

And with OTAs technically a voluntary part of offseason workouts — meaning he can’t be fined for being absent — it seems highly unlikely Foles will join the Rams over the next two weeks.

According to sources close to the situation, relations between the Rams and Foles appear amicable and respectful. The Rams had discussions during the draft about potentially trading Foles, who earned a $6 million roster bonus in March and whose $1.75 salary for 2016 is fully guaranteed, but a deal was never consummated.

But with quarterback situations always evolving around the NFL, the possibility of moving Foles at some point remains in play. And with three other quarterbacks currently on the roster — Goff, Keenum and second-year prospect Sean Mannion — the Rams could end up releasing Foles outright.

The Rams acquired Foles last offseason in the blockbuster Sam Bradford trade with the Philadelphia Eagles and then rewarded him with a two-year, $24,540,000 contract extension with $13,792,000 guaranteed.

But he was largely ineffective over the first 12 weeks of the season and was ultimately replaced by Keenum in week 12.

For now, he remains property of the Rams. But from a distance.

“SO WHO IS THAT OVER THERE, THAT ‘NICK’ GUY? HE’S A QUARTERBACK TOO?”

This one sounds more like a press conference than a PR.interview.

All the quotes you’ve been reading in various articles (on Tavon, Groh, Quick, etc.) are all from this vid.

.

Rams Begin OTAs in Oxnard

By Myles Simmons

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Rams-Begin-OTAs-in-Oxnard/653a9709-2c92-4298-913b-29d389d1720b

The Rams have officially reached Phase III of the offseason program, as they held their first of nine OTAs on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s really exciting to get everybody together,” head coach Jeff Fisher told therams.com following practice. “For those who don’t know, it’s the first time where we could interact with offense and defense. So we’ve been on the field off and on for the last month, but they’re in great shape.”

Per the NFL rules set in the latest collective bargaining agreement, there are three phases of the offseason program. The first consists of only strength and conditioning work on the field, though coaches may discuss Xs and Os in the classroom. In Phase II, coaches may interact with players on the field, but must keep the offense and defense completely separate. Now, the Rams may have both offense and defense on the same field at the same time.

That fact brings about plenty of competition, and on Tuesday L.A. harnessed that energy through one-on-one drills. In one such activity, position groups went against one another with a simple objective. For the quarterback and receiver: complete the pass. For the defender: force an incompletion.

With the season so far away, it’s a time where the best will go up against the best — like linebacker Alec Ogletree and running back Todd Gurley. Or cornerback Trumaine Johnson and wide receiver Tavon Austin.

Aside from that type of competition, Fisher said the plan for Phase III is to go through the second of three playbook installation processes.

“We’ve already done that once,” Fisher said. “You do it before OTAs, then during OTAs, then once again in training camp. So we’re just going back. And then we’re going to put them in a lot of different situations — in two-minute stuff, and some hurry up.”

While the defense should look similar in its third year under coordinator Gregg Williams, the Rams have changed many elements of their offense. After taking over with four games to go in 2015, Rob Boras remains at offensive coordinator. Plus, the team hired Mike Groh to be its passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach.

Fisher said he’s already noticed growth for the receivers under Groh, specifically mentioning Brian Quick. The head coach expects the new-look offense to significantly increase wide receiver Tavon Austin’s production.

“When it’s all said and done, we’ll be able to look back and, I think, see Tavon maybe double in catches over what he had last year,” Fisher said. “And that’s the most important thing, is just get the chunks down the field.”

As for who will be throwing Austin those passes, quarterback Case Keenum was the first to take snaps under center on Tuesday. Fisher said Keenum received between 60 to 70 percent of the Day 1 reps. And while that situation will likely change sooner than later with rookie Jared Goff’s expected development, Fisher isn’t concerned about the sense of competition between the QBs.

“The room’s not an issue because all of them are professional,” Fisher said. “But they also understand that the reps are going to change. And as soon as Jared comes along in becoming more familiar with things, then we’ll start increasing his reps. So there’s a lot of reps to go around.”

According to the head coach, the No. 1 overall pick handled his first reps of OTAs well, just as expected.

“I’ve watched him throw a lot of balls, and he did fine,” Fisher said. “He’s accurate. He knows where to put it. He knows what shoulder to put it on. It’s just a matter of putting it all together. Today was good for him because he got to go up against a defense — a defense that was running full speed that’s somewhat sophisticated.”

While Goff didn’t take reps with the unit today, Fisher said he’ll mix in Goff with the first-team offense sooner than later.

“As soon as Jared comes along in becoming more familiar with things, then we’ll start increasing his reps,” Fisher said. “I want to make sure he gets “one” reps at least two, three, or four days through the OTAs.”

And so with Day 1 in the books, Fisher said the team is off to a good start for Phase III.

“Everybody we expected to be here was here,” Fisher said, “and I felt we got in a lot of good work for the first day.”

Ozoneranger wrote:

Canada- My sources are two Canadian widows from a couple of FB support groups.

Well I am Canadian originally and have family there.

The wait time thing is on elective procedures only, and that was a deliberate policy choice—keep costs down when it comes to elective procedures.

Either way, here is one advantage of single-payer over private insurance: with private insurance, billions upon billions of dollars go to things like advertizing, executive salaries, lobbying (they are one of the biggest in spending on lobbying), and campaign donations. That doesn’t happen with public health insurance.

There’s also administrative costs that have an effect on all health care costs. These are costs that exist solely because medical providers must deal with multiple insurance companies, while insurance companies must all pay clerks etc to handle all those transactions on their side. With public insurance this is all cut down on both sides to be much more efficient and much less costly.

http://fortune.com/2014/10/20/health-insurance-future/

In 1991, Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein, two Harvard doctors with an interest in health policy, published a paper in The New England Journal of Medicine in which they estimated that health care administration constituted somewhere between 19% and 24% of total spending on health care, an amount that was 117% higher than what it was in Canada and much more than in the U.K.

Their updated estimate, once again published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that administration accounted for about 31% of health care spending and that more than 27% of all of the people employed in health care worked in administrative and clerical occupations.

This large administrative expense is not surprising. It costs money for health care providers to deal with multiple insurers, each with its own protocols, forms, and requirements. And it costs money for insurers to be able to transact with multiple providers and to furnish the oversight—which many would consider more annoying than helpful—of health care delivery.

Jared Goff takes center stage as Rams begin OTAs today

Darin Gantt

Jared Goff takes center stage as Rams begin OTAs today

The Rams are the last team in the league to start their OTAs, so it’s time to see the first pick in the draft.

So while it’s effectively the first day of class, it’s still an important test for quarterback Jared Goff, as he leads the entire team onto the field today.

“Just kind of stay low and gain their respect,” Goff said of his goal this week, via Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times.

Of course, keeping a low profile is harder when your team makes such a dramatic move to get you, as the Rams did trading up to the No. 1 overall pick this year.

Goff has been through some degree of positional work and has a rookie minicamp under his belt, but today will be the first real glimpse of him with the team, and there’s a natural curiosity among them, to see if he can be the quarterback they need to become something other than 7-9

“I’m excited for him,” cornerback Trumaine Johnson said. “He’s going to go out there and make plays — and he’s going to make mistakes. That’s what a rookie quarterback does.

“But we drafted him for a reason, to come in here and win games. And I feel like we can win games with him.”

Of course, the Rams may trot Case Keenum out there first in the quarterback line for show, but the team is obviously in Goff’s hands, and he gets a chance to show what he can do with it today.

Rams last to begin OTAs with plenty of work to do

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/29548/rams-last-to-begin-otas-with-plenty-of-work-to-do

OXNARD, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams are set to begin organized team activities Tuesday as the last team in the NFL to embark on the final stage of the offseason program.

That the Rams are the last to begin is mostly inconsequential. The decision to begin later actually comes with a reason. Coach Jeff Fisher has long been a believer in getting his rookie class acclimated to the team before throwing them in with the veterans for the closest thing the offseason program offers to a regular-season practice.

“We want them to go out and condition and be prepared to go into the drills,” Fisher said. “Our offseason program is this, we can’t come together until June, until the OTAs. So that’s when the offense and defense come together and compete, so we’re separate, so they’ll just be drilling. That’s an excellent opportunity to get them up. Once they come together in the OTAs in June, then they’ll be able to compete.

“So it works out good — you get more out of the vets, the ‘rooks’ get to see it. Once we get to OTAs, everything will be good.”

Well, we are now to OTAs with practices this week set for Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Over the following two weeks, the Rams are also scheduled to have OTAs on June 7, 8 and 10, with a mandatory minicamp set for June 14-16. In past years, Fisher has eschewed that final minicamp so long as his team has strong participation in the offseason program to that point. With only six OTAs on the schedule and teams allowed up to 10, it’s possible minicamp could be canceled and more OTA dates added that final week.

Regardless of how the schedule plays out, there’s still plenty of work to do over the next three weeks. Last week, we asked five questions that need answers during OTAs.

Here’s a look at some of the things the Rams would like to accomplish in the coming days and weeks:

Get the offense down — It’s unlikely the Rams will install a drastically different offense than what they’ve run in the past, but it’s also safe to say there will be some tweaks now that Rob Boras is settled in as offensive coordinator full time. Boras and passing game coordinator Mike Groh will attempt to get the offense installed during OTAs so the team, especially quarterback Jared Goff, has a solid working knowledge of it when the Rams come back for training camp in July.

Fill holes on defense — The Rams still have plenty of talent on defense, but some of that has been reconfigured because of the free-agent departures of cornerback Janoris Jenkins and safety Rodney McLeod, and the release of end Chris Long and linebacker James Laurinaitis. The Rams plan to lean on in-house options such as cornerback E.J. Gaines, linebacker Alec Ogletree and end William Hayes to fill the void. As for McLeod’s spot, that’s something we’ll truly get a feel for during these OTAs as players such as Maurice Alexander, Cody Davis, Christian Bryant and even Lamarcus Joyner could get a look there.

Mix in the rookies — As mentioned above, the Rams haven’t been quick to put the rookies in with the veterans but will do it in a practice setting for the first time during these OTAs. It’s natural that the rookies will have a lot of catching up to do, but the question is how much? Goff, in particular, will be an interesting case. The Rams have made it clear they don’t intend to rush Goff, but they can at least give him his first look at an NFL defense and see where he stands as he adjusts to a pro-style offense

It’s time for Rams to get serious about football with final stage of OTAs set to begin.

RICH HAMMOND

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rams-717653-otas-players.html

Welcome to the final stage of OTAs, which now transition from summer camp to training camp.

Sure, the Rams have been working in Oxnard since mid-April. There’s been weightlifting, running, drills and meetings on top of meetings. But now, as the major offseason work draws to a close, it’s time for the Rams to get serious about football.

Beginning Tuesday afternoon, the Rams will be on the field three times a week, for two hours a day, until late June. It’s not quite a practice – there’s no full-speed hitting and tackling – but it’s also not two-hand touch in the park.

Organized team activities, commonly known as OTAs, provide NFL players and coaches to get together in the summer and improve. Players can meet new teammates and coaches. Rookies mix with veterans for the first time. Updated playbooks are distributed. The sessions don’t necessarily translate to improvement in the fall, but they certainly don’t hurt.

The OTAs are particularly important for the Rams, because the presumption is that recent No. 1 overall draft pick Jared Goff will win the starting quarterback job in August. These sessions give Goff the chance to build chemistry with his new linemen and receivers.

The Rams have a different attitude about OTAs than some teams. The sessions are strictly optional for players, but teams have the right to hold one mandatory mini-camp for veterans in June. Rams coach Jeff Fisher has something of a wink-nod agreement with his veterans: show up for OTAs, and there won’t be a mandatory camp. So the Rams expect good attendance this week.

Don’t look for an influx of Rams at the airport this morning, though, because this is the culmination of weeks’ worth of OTAs, a phenomenon that has grown since the NFL was last in Southern California in 1994.

This is the third and final stage of OTAs. Players first convened in mid-April, mostly for conditioning work. In the second phase, players were allowed on the field, but offensive and defensive players were not allowed to do drills together. The team also held a three-day mini-camp for rookies, who were not allowed to work out with veterans.

The NFL is not casual about this stuff. This month, the Baltimore Ravens lost three of their allowed 10 OTA periods and received a fine. Why? Because they allowed players to wear pads during rookie minicamp, reportedly during a drill that lasted five minutes.

So the Rams won’t want to mess around, but they’ll be happy to get to work. Goff can work with Fisher and newly installed permanent offensive coordinator Rob Boras, and the Rams can run through mock-game scenarios. This is the last time players and coaches will be allowed to work together before the start of training camp in late July in Irvine.

It’s also a chance for players’ stock to rise or recede, and not just high-profile guys. Yes, all eyes will be on Goff, but given that teams can (and often do) make roster cuts and additions during the summer, performance in OTAs might make a difference between an NFL job and the Arena Football League.

The OTA sessions are not open to the public, and media members are not allowed to watch until Wednesday, but here are five players who have a lot to gain or lose during the next three weeks.

• Dominique Easley, DT: Easley was a first-round draft pick of New England in 2014 and a defensive-line starter at the beginning of last season, but he has been unable to stay healthy, a reputation he first earned in his college days at Florida.

The Patriots released Easley in April and the Rams signed him in May. It’s unlikely that Easley would supplant either Aaron Donald or Michael Brockers as a starting defensive tackle, but he certainly could play his way into the rotation.

• E.J. Gaines, CB: Gaines was set to be a starter for the Rams in 2015, but suffered a major foot injury in training camp and was lost for the season. Now the Rams need a replacement for Janoris Jenkins, who signed a big free-agent contract with the New York Giants.

Gaines should have the first chance to play opposite Trumaine Johnson, but the Rams also brought in free-agent cornerback Coty Sensabaugh.

• Lance Kendricks, TE: When the Rams released starting tight end Jared Cook in February, it opened an opportunity for Kendricks, who had played a supplemental role to Cook for the past three seasons. Things got more complicated in April, when the Rams used draft picks on tight ends Tyler Higbee and Temarrick Hemingway.

That’s not a very strong endorsement for Kendricks, a former second-round pick whose catch totals have dropped in each of the past three seasons. He needs to show the Rams he can handle a bigger role.

• Duke Williams, WR: Williams once described himself as a player with first-round talent but “my character is a seventh-round pick.” That’s a fair self-assessment for a talented receiver who went undrafted this year after he was kicked off Auburn’s team last season.

Williams, listed at 6-foot-2, 229 pounds, certainly would be a nice big target and possession receiver for Goff, but must prove that he can be a good citizen off the field.

• Greg Zuerlein, K: Once hailed as “Legatron,” Zuerlein struggled last season and fell out of favor with the Rams. They re-signed him this spring, but declared that he will face competition for his job.

Of particular concern is Zuerlein’s mid-range accuracy. Last season, he made only 5 of 8 attempts from 40-49 yards. In his first three seasons, Zuerlein was 17 of 19 from that range. The only other kicker in OTAs is undrafted free agent Taylor Bertolet from Texas A&M.

————————–

The Rams are holding their third and final period of organized team activities (OTAs) starting Tuesday. Players and coaches will be on the field, running through plays and scenarios, but the sessions are less intense than regular-season practices.

Where: River Ridge Fields, Oxnard

Who: All veterans and rookies are invited to participate, and while the sessions are optional, the Rams expect strong attendance.

When: Three times a week, starting Tuesday, but the two-hour on-field sessions are not open to the public.

Why: Think of it as the NFL’s version of college football’s spring practice. The Rams haven’t been together since mid-January, so OTAs present them an opportunity to sharpen their skills together before the start of training camp in late July.