from off the net

—

jrry32

http://www.footballzebras.com/2015/09/15/13089/

Rams@Redskins: Ref Assignments – Ed “Guns” Hochuli

I’m good with this actually. I was thinking today that this would be an ideal game for Hochuli. We’ll see flags flying but he’s a real stickler for holding. That’s might just help us because Callahan’s guys have a tendency to hold a lot.

note from me: Callahan is Washington’s OL coach

Foles set to face old friend Cousins

Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/foles-set-to-face-old-friend-cousins/article_21d6c60b-26dd-5db6-9b13-6029001de3f7.html

The record shows that quarterback Nick Foles was selected in the third round of the 2012 draft by Philadelphia out of the University of Arizona.

But there was a time, in 2007, when Foles sat in a quarterback meeting room at Michigan State. A room that included Brian Hoyer and Kirk Cousins.

OK, we’re not talking Marino, Montana and Elway there, although Cousins and Foles are still young in their NFL careers and Foles already has made a Pro Bowl.

But consider the fact that there were only 32 people on the planet who had the title last week of “opening-day NFL starting quarterback.” And three of them were sitting together in that meeting room eight years ago at Michigan State.

Who could’ve known?

“You don’t really know,” Foles said. “I knew Kirk was extremely talented, Brian was extremely talented, and me — I was just trying to rehab my shoulder. I had shoulder surgery, but at that time, you don’t realize that it’s three guys that’ll start in the NFL in the future.

“Right there, you’re just trying to be a college quarterback that can help a team. That’s all you’re really thinking about.”

Hoyer has been benched after just one start for the Houston Texans, giving way to Ryan Mallett. As for Foles and Cousins, they’re squaring off Sunday at FedEx Field when the Rams (1-0) visit Washington (0-1). It’s a noon kickoff (St. Louis time).

“Kirk’s a tremendous competitor,” Foles said. “He’s a really intelligent guy. I really enjoyed my time there with him (at Michigan State) and I’m not surprised at all with the success he’s had.

“Just going through the adversity he experienced at Michigan State. Just the man he’s become, the player’s he’s become, it doesn’t surprise me everything he’s gone through now to be the starting quarterback in Washington.”

Foles went through some adversity of his own in East Lansing, Mich. Coming off shoulder surgery following his senior season of high school, Foles appeared in only one game for the Spartans in 2007, completing five of eight passes for 57 yards against Alabama-Birmingham.

With Hoyer and Cousins both coming back in ’08, that quarterback room got even more crowded when Keith Nichol transferred in from Oklahoma. Couple that with homesickness, and Foles faced an early-life crisis: Should he stay at Michigan State or transfer?

“It’s always tough when you’re deciding to transfer, but it was one of those things where I had to decide,” Foles said. “It had nothing to do with the competition or anything, it just had to do with, did I as a young man — 18, 19 years old — see myself going to college there and being a student-athlete for four years.

“I was a Texas boy, and just wanted to go somewhere where it was a little bit similar to home.”

So he talked it over with his family. He prayed over it. And he eventually sat down with Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio and talked it over.

“I think the world of Coach Dantonio and that staff,” Foles said. “But I had to follow my heart, and it worked out. I went to Arizona, enjoyed being a student-athlete there, found my wife and married.”

But at the time, there were no guarantees in transferring to Arizona.

“My dad told me, ‘If you do this, there’s a chance you’ll never play football again. You just have to know that,’” Foles recalled. “He’s not gonna sugarcoat it; he never has.”

While Cousins was flourishing at Michigan State, Foles did the same at Arizona. Who knows? Had Foles stayed at Michigan State, where he got to know Cousins well, he might never have made it to the NFL. Or vice versa.

“Nick and I were kind of competing, both being freshmen at the time and sharing time on the scout team,” Cousins said on a conference call with St. Louis reporters. “We got to know each other well that year, went to math class together, and spent a lot of time together.

“It’s been really neat to see our football careers and our lives kind of go on paths that have led us to this point. It’s pretty unique.”

How’d the math class go?

“We both did pretty well,” Cousins said, laughing. “We were well prepared for it. Yeah, we did awesome.”

Foles and Cousins have stayed in touch over the years, texting back and forth. Occasionally they’ll run into each other at an event in the offseason.

“We may meet each other, see each other, catch up,” Cousins said. “Our wives met this past offseason, so that’s kind of the way the NFL works, is you’re all in it together and you’re going through similar experiences just in different places. Certainly as quarterbacks you have that shared experience and you both kind of understand what it takes and what you’ve gone through.”

Last Sept. 21, they ran into each other for the first time on a football field.

Foles completed 27 of 41 passes for 325 yards, three touchdowns, and a season-high passer rating of 114.4. Cousins completed 30 of 48 passes for a career-high 427 yards, with three TDs, one interception, and a 103.4 passer rating.

In a shootout, Foles’ Philadelphia Eagles defeated Cousins’ visiting Washington Redskins, 37-34.

Now, almost a year to the day later, they meet again, only this time Foles is wearing a different jersey. After an emotional 34-31 overtime victory against Seattle, Foles’ Rams are trying to start a season 2-0 for the first time since the 2001 Super Bowl campaign of the Greatest Show on Turf group.

But Foles isn’t basking in the afterglow of the Seattle victory. Nor is he thinking about the magnitude of the Rams starting a season with two victories. He’s certainly not thinking about Cousins and Michigan State, circa 2007.

“All we’re thinking about is the Redskins, and going out and executing,” he said. “It’s one game at a time, one play at a time. That’s the mentality you have to have as a competitor. I know that we as athletes say it all of the time, but it’s the way you’re successful.

“If you overlook anything or you get too excited about something, usually it doesn’t go well.”

Things may not have gone well in East Lansing; Foles very much wants them to go well Sunday at FedEx Field.

Fisher: NFL told me Seahawks got away with a penalty on onside kick

by Michael David Smith

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/09/18/fisher-nfl-told-me-seahawks-got-away-with-a-penalty-on-onside-kick/

The officials corrected one mistake on the Seahawks’ onside kick at the start of overtime against the Rams on Sunday, giving the Rams the ball after first wrongly ruling that the Rams had committed an invalid fair catch signal. But the officials made another mistake that they failed to correct.

Rams coach Jeff Fisher says the NFL has admitted that the Seahawks should have been flagged for hitting Rams receiver Bradley Marquez after he signaled for a fair catch on the onside kick. In the confusion that began with the officials wrongly flagging Marquez for an invalid fair catch signal, they failed to realize that the Seahawks had committed the penalty.

Fisher says he told the officials after they corrected their first mistake that they also needed to enforce the penalty on the Seahawks, which would have moved the ball from the 50-yard line to the 35. But the officials didn’t listen to Fisher, a longtime member of the Competition Committee who’s well-versed in the rulebook.

“They just said, ‘We’re going to give you the ball right here. We’re not going to re-kick, so let’s go,’’’ Fisher said, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I just couldn’t convince them to enforce the penalty because they just wouldn’t put the ball on the 35-yard-line.’’

Fisher said that it was such an unusual play that he’s not surprised it wasn’t officiated perfectly, and he appreciates the league acknowledging the error.

“The thing is, when have we seen that before? It just doesn’t come up,’’ Fisher said. “I talked to [NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino] last night and he explained it and we were right. He said, ‘No, they made a mistake.’”

The Rams ended up kicking a field goal on the first possession of overtime and winning the game by stopping the Seahawks’ subsequent possession, so things ended well for St. Louis. But referee Jeff Triplette and his crew were far from perfect.

Tavon beats Sherman.

I like the vid…I don’t like the comment posted with it.

Foles became the first quarterback to complete 65 percent of his passes and average 11 yards per completion since Pete Carroll became coach in Seattle in 2010.

NERam wrote:

Az-Zahir Hakim v2 ??

IMO Tavon is both more than and less than Hakim.

Hakim developed into a 1st rate receiver (for example I think he was the best pure receiver in the Patz superbowl). He was obviously also a good PR. People remember the fumbles, but he actually had far more as a returner than as a receiver.

Tavon is not the route-runner Hakim was, and I don’t know if he ever will be. But it’s also not necessary because Tavon is just a different kind of animal.

Tavon, for example, is a real option running out of the backfield.

IMO this year Tavon is finally getting to be a good enough receiver to be a much more consistent part of the mix. (I think him being held back in the past had nothing to do with the coordinator—I think he was just not effective enough running routes to be used in any other ways than the ways they did use him. He says, and Cigz says, he dedicated himself to improving that part of his game, and from what we’ve seen so far I think it’s possible that really worked.)

So Tavon offers more variation than Hakim and is an interesting chess piece when it comes to that. You can run him out of the backfield, or decoy him, or line him up as a runner then throw to him, or line him up as a receiver then hand off to him (eg. on jet sweeps or reverses) or you can send him out in a variety of routes as a receiver. Plus he returns. So that’s more than Hakim did. Hakim did not have this elaborate deception game built around what he was doing because he would never be considered a serious threat if he lined up as a runner (last year, on runs to the outside for example, Tavon averaged nearly 8.3 a carry).

So, short version: you can do more things with Tavon but Hakim was a much more polished pure receiver.

.

This got overlooked a bit, I think. In it journalist Andy Benoit (who writes for S.I. and for Peter King’s MMQB) twitters about re-viewing film of the Seattle game. I know there’s only so long you can dwell on one game, but, he says some interesting stuff no one else has been saying in the media.

Some samples:

*Rams very concerted effort to get Austin the ball on misdirection concepts, run and pass game.

*Rams success with 1st down pass concepts (including PA) that specifically exploited #Seahawks base Cover 3.

*i’m at mid 2nd qtr, #Rams DL utterly dominating #Seahawks OL, run and pass. Simply no matchup athletically

*Foles got more accurate as game progressed. Made just enough of the throws he needed to make.

*Rams less pressure and disguise tactics in second half, more straight zone looks. Realizing they’re the more talented unit?

*Rams used spy on Wilson on 3rd down. On Donald sack, slot CB Joyner spied in zone – unusual, great way to match QB’s speed.

*Foles did a good job with eyes to control FS Thomas all game.

*with Chancellor you get element of disguise, post-snap rotation and impact plays. With Bailey #Seahawks were static.

*SS McDonald did a very nice job in solo coverage against TE’s.

* CB Roberson stood out in coverage. Sturdy, somewhat lanky frame, understood body angles.

*Lynch 24 yds was first Seahawks run that was productive within confines of design…..….and on that play LB Ogletree abandoned hole thinking he had QB responsibility.

RB picture still cloudy, but Johnson’s a go at cornerback

Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rb-picture-still-cloudy-but-johnson-s-a-go-at/article_77538d0d-f482-59c2-ad6a-97d179ccacc1.html

Looks like the Rams’ running back mystery will continue right up to Sunday in Washington. Todd Gurley (knee) and Tre Mason (hamstring) were both full participants Friday, the last full-scale day of the practice week.

Coach Jeff Fisher has listed both players at questionable on the team’s official injury report. The questionable designation, by NFL definition, means a player has a 50-50 chance of participating in that week’s game. But Fisher didn’t tip his hand.

“Well, I think it looks a little better than it did last week, not that it was an issue for us because Benny (Cunningham) really carried the load for us (against Seattle),” Fisher said.

“We’ll see how things go during the warm-ups. The two situations are completely different. You’ve got a guy coming off a season-ending ACL injury (Gurley), and you’ve got a guy coming off a three-week hamstring (Mason). But they both practiced full speed the last two days, so that’s encouraging.”

The grass field at FedEx Field is far from the league’s best surface, but Fisher said that would have no impact on his decision to use — or not use — either player.

While the running back position remains somewhat in flux, there is clarity at the cornerback position because Trumaine Johnson has a clear head.

After visiting with team medical officials Thursday, Johnson has passed the concussion protocol and is cleared to play against Washington. Officially, Johnson is listed as probable. He’s expected to start Sunday, which is good news for a Rams defense that has only four cornerbacks on the 53-man roster.

“He’s playing real solid,” defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said. “Last year being my first time seeing him, he had to battle through all those injuries and I don’t think I ever saw the real Trumaine.”

After a strong offseason and preseason by Johnson, Williams has a better idea of what he’s got. Before the concussion against Seattle, Johnson intercepted a Russell Wilson pass that led to a Rams field goal and a 10-7 lead.

“He’s got a long body that you can’t coach,” Williams said. “His burst and his instincts are good, too.”

Johnson also has a better understanding of how Williams likes his cornerbacks to play in his system.

“He has bought into that very well,” Williams said. “I think that staying healthy — we’ve got to continue to stay healthy — I think you’re going to see a big year out of him.”

Johnson suffered the injury making a tackle on Seattle wide receiver Chris Matthews midway through the second quarter. Johnson participated in two more plays before he left the field.

“I do not remember any of those (plays),” Johnson said Friday. “It is scary, just to look back at it and to see if I was technique-sound or let somebody beat me. Luckily they didn’t throw the ball that way.”

Johnson has been free of any symptoms, such as headaches or sensitivity to light, since Sunday, so he’s good to go and excited to get back on the field.

“This whole season, I don’t want to miss any games,” he said. “But at the same time, it’s a concussion. You’ve got to be safe with it. Take it slow. But everything worked out.”

Back at running back, things aren’t as clear cut. Just by the nature of the injury, it seems more likely that Mason returns to action Sunday than Gurley.

Fisher called Mason’s hamstring a three-week injury, and Sunday will be three weeks and a day since Mason tweaked the hamstring against Indianapolis in preseason play.

He tested the hamstring just before the Seattle contest and said: “I felt like I was pretty close. I wasn’t 100 percent, I’m not gonna lie. I feel like it was a smart decision to sit the week out, so I didn’t miss more time.”

Mason likens his body to a Lamborghini, the Italian luxury sports car.

“I feel like if I’m at a race, as soon as the race is over you gotta go right back into the pit stop,” Mason said. “I’m tuning up right now, tuning up the engine. Get a good oil change. New tires. Put a little nitrous in there.”

Mason said he went out for a test ride Friday.

“It definitely went well,” he said. “A real smooth lap around the track. So I can’t wait till Sunday.”

Which sounds like Mason is ready to go against Washington. But he added, “That’s not my job to tell.”

That’s up to Fisher, and the Rams coach obviously is engaging in some gamesmanship to keep Washington guessing until Sunday’s kickoff.

“I can’t wait,” Mason said. “I just want to be a playmaker because when the ball’s in my hand, I try to make something happen, and make something positive for this team happen.”

As for Gurley, he knows he’s close to making his NFL debut. He also knows he has gotten very few practice repetitions through the preseason and training camp, and none during the OTA practice sessions in June.

He says running doesn’t feel any different now from before the knee injury he suffered at Georgia. But adds: “I haven’t done it in a long time, so it’s just kinda getting back in the groove with everything, and getting those reps over and over. The big thing is really getting reps.”

So what would be Gurley’s answer if Fisher asks if he’s ready to play?

Gurley paused, and replied with a laugh: “I don’t know. I gotta think on that.”

Slowing Redskins’ run game is Rams’ top priority in Week 2

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/21503/slowing-redskins-run-game-rams-top-priority-in-week-2

EARTH CITY, Mo. — Ask any member of the St. Louis Rams defensive line, and he’ll tell you that rushing the passer is a right that must be earned.

The Rams learned the hard way at the start of last season when they were 29th in the league against the run through the first five games, giving up 152.5 yards per game and 4.92 yards per carry. The results weren’t pretty, and a defense expected to set the pace for sacks instead set an NFL record for futility with just one in the first five games.

Which is why the Rams emphasized a fast start overall this year — but with a particular focus on getting out of the gates better against the run. That focus will once again take center stage on Sunday when they take on the Washington Redskins and perennially-underrated back Alfred Morris.

“They ran the ball well,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “They’re a good running football team. Their offensive line’s much improved. Tight ends are blocking well. Running back is a heavy back. It’s a completely different challenge than what we faced last week from a run-game scheme standpoint.”

Last week, the Rams had a similar approach to stopping the run first and executed it pretty well, limiting Seattle to 3.9 yards on 32 rush attempts. Subtract a 24-yard burst by running back Marshawn Lynch, and he averaged just 2.88 yards on his 17 other attempts.

The early run stops led to plenty of pass-rushing opportunities as the Rams finished with six sacks. This week, Morris and the Redskins provide a challenge that is simultaneously similar and different.

Let’s start with the similarities. While nobody would argue that Lynch is a better back than Morris, they have similar bruising running styles that make them hard to bring down. Lynch is listed at 5-feet-11, 215 pounds and Morris checks in at 5-10, 224 pounds. In their ideal world, the Rams can do to Morris what they did when the teams met last season.

In that meeting, Morris finished with career lows in rush attempts (eight), yards (6) and yards per carry (0.8). Of course, that game took place in December, and Morris and the Redskins were clearly worn down. Morris enters Sunday’s game coming off a 121-yard outing against Miami last week, in which he averaged 4.84 yards per carry.

“We play in the NFC West so we’re used to people running the ball, and when you have guys like Marshawn Lynch, and Alfred Morris is right up there with him, a very physical back, gets downhill so we are used to it,” defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. “I’m glad we played the Seahawks first so we can get those guys second. We’re used to it, and I think it will play right into our hands.”

What might not play right into the Rams’ hands is the different scheme from which Morris will be running. As Fisher mentioned, the Redskins and Seahawks bring a different approach to the run game even if the backs are similar.

The Redskins drafted offensive linemen Brandon Scherff and Arie Kouandjio in an effort to transition from the outside zone scheme of the recent past to a more physical power and gap-based scheme. Essentially the opposite of the alterations the Rams have made to their own running game. But that remains a work in progress, though one that’s a significant departure from the dedicated zone-based scheme the Rams saw last week against Seattle.

Last week against Miami, the Redskins ran Morris out of plenty of different looks: single back with multiple tight ends, single back with multiple receivers, offset I and out of the shotgun. Much of Morris’ success came running to the left side, particularly behind left guard Shawn Lauvao with fullback Darrel Young leading the way. According to Pro Football Focus, Morris averaged 6.9 yards per carry running between center and left guard.

Given the Rams’ talent on the defensive line, one would expect the Redskins to try to spread things out a bit more in an effort to keep Rams defenders out of the box. Coordinator Gregg Williams likes using safeties like T.J. McDonald and Mark Barron near the line of scrimmage and letting them attack whoever has the ball.

No matter which method the Redskins choose to put the ball in Morris’ hands, the Rams know they’ll probably see him early and often.

“That’s what kind of game we like,” Brockers said. “We like a very physical, nasty game. That’s what kind of football we play here.”

If they can play it well enough again this week, it would go a long way toward victory No. 2.

Practice Report 9/18: Preparing for Cousins, Washington

Myles Simmons

http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-practicereport/Practice-Report-918-Preparing-for-Cousins-Washington/4f26cece-e9e6-4e47-b058-1a8510d194b7

Last week, the Rams used a complete team performance to defeat the Seahawks in the season opener. On Friday, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said he was pleased with the way his unit performed.

“When we’re playing that tight coverage and we’re forcing them to do the right kind of things there, the pass rush has got to help the coverage and those guys can do an awful lot of good things in the pass rush,” Williams said. “It’s fun for me to have the chance where I don’t have to pressure as much.”

“But I can’t not pressure,” he added with a wry smile. “We’ll always pressure.”

While the Rams got to Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson for six sacks, Williams said there were certainly aspects of the performance the team can improve upon this week.

“I thought we upper-body tackled way too much in that ball game,” Williams said, “but we brought a lot of people to the point.”

St. Louis’ defense will have to attack running back Alfred Morris in a similar manner. Williams said tackling low and gang tackling will be key to slowing down Morris, who had 121 yards on 25 carries last week.

“He’s another great running back,” Williams said.

The defensive coordinator also had praise for Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins. Williams called him a smart QB, who has been executing head coach Jay Gruden’s scheme well.

“We’re going to have to try and disrupt the timing of things as much as we can,” Williams said. “Any quarterback becomes more human when you can disrupt the timing of it and try to move him off the spot in the pocket.”

Two of the players who will be integral in doing so are defensive tackles Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers. Donald, of course, was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for recording 11 tackles and 2.0 sacks against the Seahawks.

“Aaron played very well and I think he’d be the first to tell you — don’t take this the wrong way –but he thinks he can play better,” Williams said. “That’s why it’s fun to coach him.”

“There are always things you can fix, and you try to build off the things you did right,” Donald said after Friday’s practice. “At the same time, I’m paying attention to the things I did wrong and trying to fix them. So, like I said, I still don’t feel like I’ve played my best football yet.”

The defensive coordinator was quick to give credit to Brockers as well.

“An unsung hero that’s kind of going unnoticed this week, is kind of how well Michael Brockers played,” Williams said. “Michael Brockers has been playing outstanding and allows Aaron to even have more freedom to do the things that he can do that I can’t coach.”

“He’s the guy in there doing all the dirty work,” Donald said of Brockers. “We’re always talking to each other. We watch film with each other a lot. We have a lot of chemistry together, and we can do some special things as a defensive tackle unit and as a team overall.”

One other player Williams talked about on Friday is safety Mark Barron. Picked up in a trade with Tampa Bay in the middle of last season, the Alabama product now has a full offseason with St. Louis under his belt. And based on the way Williams described his play, it shows.

The defensive coordinator started with one word when asked about Barron: “Wow.”

“Not only can he play the safety position, he can play the linebacker position,” Williams said. “He basically plays like a linebacker because he has the size and the strength and the burst to do that, too. And then he does a lot of the things that a nickel and a safety does.

“I thought he played very, very well,” Williams continued, “and I’m challenged each and every week to make sure I give him enough reps.”

Redskins say they’re ‘pretty tired’ of losing

Joe Lyons

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/redskins-say-they-re-pretty-tired-of-losing/article_9655dbbc-687b-583e-8e29-e43e8501cf16.html

The Washington Redskins did a lot of things they wanted to do in their season opener against visiting Miami on Sunday.

They raced to a 10-0 lead, outgained the Dolphins 349-256 and had a commanding edge in time of possession (37:57-22:06).

But Miami won 17-10.

“We battled and came up short,” Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “I guess we’re all pretty tired of that around here. We’ve done that too many times. We need a day like today to end up having us on top at the end.’’

In his second season as coach, Jay Gruden, whose club went 4-12 last season, knows the turnaround needs to be sooner rather than later.

“Every game is important, but when you start out with your first two games at home, you hate to start 0-2,” said Gruden, whose Redskins host the Rams at noon on Sunday at FedEx Stadium in Landover, Md. “So there is a sense of urgency. … The last thing you want to creep into your mind is, ‘Here we go again.’ We’ve got to try and change the mindset of our football team and try to get some positive things happening for us so they do start to believe in what we’re doing and what they’re doing.

“I feel like they are starting to turn the corner in that regard, but it’d be nice to have some positive results.”

The Redskins self-destructed against the Dolphins, committing 11 penalties to go along with other mistakes at key times.

Up 10-7 early in the second half, Washington linebacker Preston Smith, a second-round draft pick from Mississippi State, sacked Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill and knocked the ball loose. Following an NFL Follies-style scramble, Smith ended up with the ball at the Dolphins’ 40.

The Redskins lost two yards on three plays before punting.

Miami tied it with a field goal early in the fourth quarter and broke the tie when Jarvis Landry returned a punt 69 yards with 10:22 to play.

Games like that have become the norm for Washington, a once-proud franchise that has gone 7-26 since winning the NFC East with a record of 10-6 in 2012, Robert Griffin III’s rookie season.

The Redskins acquired Griffin with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, after a well-documented trade with the Rams.

In 15 games that year, RGIII completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 3,200 yards with 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions. The offensive rookie of the year, RGIII suffered a bruised knee in a Week 14 overtime victory over Baltimore and re-injured it in a wild-card playoff loss to Seattle. He had surgery on his LCL and ACL in January 2013 and has never regained the success he enjoyed as a rookie.

In February, Gruden said that RGIII would be the team’s starter “moving forward” despite the fourth-year pro being benched late last season. In April, the Redskins picked up Griffin’s fifth-year option for $16 million.

He suffered a concussion in a preseason game against Detroit, allowing Cousins an opportunity to win the starting job.

“We just felt like (Cousins) gave us the best chance to win,” Gruden said. “It just had to do with Kirk and how good he played and I thought he played pretty well for the first game out. We did a good job with the running game (and) he managed the game.

“He’s in for the long haul and we’re behind him 100 percent. We’re thinking he’s going to be a solid quarterback for this franchise.”

And what about RGIII, who was among the Washington inactives in Week 1? “We like RGIII. There’s a lot of talk that we don’t like him, but that’s not true at all,” Gruden said. “We like Kirk, we like Robert, we like Colt (McCoy). All three of them have done a good job competing. … We had to pick one and we picked Kirk.”

The focal point of the Redskins’ attack this season is the ground game. Led by fourth-year pro Alfred Morris’ 121 yards on 25 carries, Washington ran for 161 yards against Miami.

“Consistency. He’s a guy that will always be there for you, practice and in games,” Gruden said of Morris. “I’ve always said the No. 1 quality a running back has to have is durability and he’s proven to be very durable during his career.’’

To help pave the way for Morris, the Redskins brought in former NFL head coach Bill Callahan to coach the offensive line and then selected Iowa’s Brandon Scherff with the fifth overall pick in the draft last spring. In his first NFL game, Scherff, a right guard, matched up with Ndamukong Suh and limited the Dolphins’ free agent to two tackles and no quarterback pressures.

“Pretty solid,” Gruden said of Scherff, a player the Rams had interest in. “He won some battles and lost a few, but we’re happy with the way he competed. We’re happy with the guy we picked and we think he’s going to be good, solid offensive lineman for us for a very long time.’’

The Washington offense suffered a blow early against Miami when receiver DeSean Jackson, the team’s main deep threat, pulled up with a hamstring injury on the first pass thrown his way. Jackson, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, averaged nearly 21 yards a catch last year when he hauled in 56 passes for 1,169 yards and scored six touchdowns. He missed the entire preseason with a shoulder injury.

“You don’t replace a guy like that, you just have to try and get everybody else ready to go and hope they step up,” Gruden said. “But to replace a guy that runs as fast as DeSean, that’s been as productive as DeSean in his career, I’d be lying if I said we will. We just have to hope these (other) guys come in and do what we think they can do, be efficient and make some plays when they’re given the opportunity.’’

Dick Vermeil, Charley Armey have high hopes for Rams, St. Louis

Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/21501/dick-vermeil-charley-armey-have-high-hopes-for-rams-st-louis

EARTH CITY, Mo. — Former St. Louis Rams coach Dick Vermeil was in town this week for a couple of wine events and to help induct former Rams defensive end Kevin Carter into the city’s Sports Hall of Fame.

On Wednesday, Vermeil and former Rams general manager Charley Armey stopped by Rams practice and spent some time chatting with coach Jeff Fisher. For Vermeil, every visit back to St. Louis comes with plenty of love from the locals, which is to be expected considering he led their football team to a win in Super Bowl XXXIV against Fisher’s Titans.

“I didn’t spend any time here after we won the game, which was my mistake,” Vermeil said. “So I come here, it’s like it’s the first time people have seen me since I left. It’s really a warm reception. From the minute I get off the airplane, it’s amazing how loyal these people are.”

That loyalty to Vermeil figures to last a long time, but the loyalty to the Rams is being put in jeopardy. It’s no secret that the Rams could move to owner Stan Kroenke’s planned palace in Inglewood, California, after the season, putting Rams fans in a precarious position of having to choose between supporting their team and handing over money to the man who plans to move it.

As the NFL season kicked off last week, Vermeil watched from home, flipping between Rams-Seahawks and Chiefs-Texans as he kept tabs on the last two teams he coached in the league. Although the stands at the Edward Jones Dome had plenty of empty seats, Vermeil was struck by the crowd’s energy.

“I’ll tell you this, I switched between the Chiefs game and this (one), every commercial I’d switch and it sounded like the stadium was packed, which was exciting,” Vermeil said. “To a person that didn’t really look and see all the empty seats, you would have thought by the noise the fans were creating that the stadium was packed, so I was impressed with their loyalty.”

Vermeil and Armey were the architects of the only real successful era of Rams football in St. Louis. After a couple of rough seasons, Vermeil opened the minds of St. Louis football fans to the exciting, winning brand of football known as the “Greatest Show on Turf.” Vermeil retired after that season and Armey stuck around a few more seasons but lost most of his decision-making power before he did.

Vermeil and Armey still follow the Rams and care about their future, expressing hope that the city can somehow keep the team. Both said they would like the Rams to stay in St. Louis.

“Of course I’d like to see them stay here,” Armey said. “Two or three of the players asked coach and I last year when we were here for the (15th anniversary Super Bowl) celebration and they were really concerned that if the team decided to leave, would we no longer be part of the sports atmosphere of St. Louis? ‘I said you guys will always be part of the sports atmosphere.’ We’d like to see them stay and I think everybody in the community would like to see them stay. And of course the fans that were at the ballgame last week shared that enthusiasm as well.”

In the meantime, Vermeil and Armey are both impressed with this year’s team, even if it plays a much different style from the high-flying act of the “Greatest Show on Turf” days.

“I like their intensity,” Armey said. “They’ve got a lot of talent on this football team, and it seems to all be coming together. What impressed me most about the football team when I watched the game last Sunday was when they got down late in the ballgame, the intensity didn’t go down, the intensity went up. That’s what really impressed me. They decided they were going to find a way to win the ballgame, and that really speaks well of the coaches and the preparation for the players and the character of the football team.”