Jourdan Rodrigue

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5717180/2024/08/22/la-rams-matthew-stafford-practice-texans/

HOUSTON — One thing about a 91-degree, 70-percent humidity Texas football practice, it’ll keep a tight muscle warm.

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford practiced fully against the Houston Texans on Thursday, in the teams’ lone joint practice together before Saturday’s preseason finale. Stafford had been dealing with hamstring tightness since last week’s joint practice against the Cowboys. This week, his workload gradually increased from stretching and individual reps on Monday, to about half of the 11-on-11s reps on Tuesday (including a little rogue keeper that scared head coach Sean McVay, but seemed a signal from the quarterback that he was ready to get back in full time).

“It was good,” said a sweat-drenched Stafford after Thursday’s practice. The Texans play a clean, physical and aggressive style of football that both he and McVay praised after the session. The Rams’ first- and second-team offense, working against the Texans’ first- and second-team defense — and vice versa, on the second of three fields — were able to get a lot of work done against defensive looks they don’t frequently see. “It was good working against these guys. They’re a really talented defense, really talented team.”

Stafford is also wearing a glove and bandage over his left (non-throwing) thumb and hand. He said he cut it at home and simply has to protect it for a little while. The Rams will begin their preparation for the season-opener in Detroit early next week.

I (sweatily) rotated between offensive and defensive fields. That means I couldn’t catch any one group in full, but I still gathered plenty of notes from the day:

• The Rams waived depth cornerback Jerry Jacobs with a settlement due to a groin injury, McVay said. Now the CB4 position is in competition once again. Starter Darious Williams, who has missed most of camp/the preseason with a hamstring injury, is expected to increase his practice workload next week. He will play opposite Tre’Davious White, with Cobie Durant backing up either of them or playing the smaller slot (not the “Star” position) behind Quentin Lake (who is a safety). I observed undrafted free-agent rookie Josh Wallace getting snaps opposite White. Rookie Charles Woods will also compete for the depth role, as will second-year player Tre Tomlinson and third-year player Shaun Jolly.

McVay may not be as concerned about cornerback depth as usual, because under defensive coordinator Chris Shula the safeties are the go-to players in sub packages like nickel or dime. They are six or even seven deep at safety right now, with tough decisions coming: Kam Curl, John Johnson III, Lake (also Star), Kam Kinchens, Russ Yeast (backup Star), Jaylen McCollough and Jason Taylor II.

• Veteran running back Boston Scott has been dealing with a lower leg contusion, said McVay, but he will play Saturday. The Rams signed second-year back SaRodorick Thompson on Thursday morning. Kyren Williams, Blake Corum and Ronnie Rivers seem to have secured the Nos. 1-3 spots on the roster, no surprises there.

• Left guard Jonah Jackson (shoulder) is expected to work back into practice next week, according to McVay. Jackson has been able to participate in some individuals but not team periods over the last week.

The Rams have pushed players in different roles in order to assess their depth. This week, rookie center Beaux Limmer has gotten snaps at center with Stafford — the position manned by second-year lineman Steve Avila all spring and summer with positive results. This is why: If Jackson is not ready for the opener, the Rams have to know whether their strongest interior combination is Avila at left guard and Limmer at center, or Avila at center and backup Zach Thomas at left guard (Thomas had repped there prior to this week, minus Jackson). Warren McClendon is still playing right tackle in place of Rob Havenstein (ankle) and Joe Noteboom has continued at left tackle in place of Alaric Jackson (ankle). Logan Bruss has also gotten some snaps at reserve guard. Limmer took all of the center snaps for Stafford on Thursday.

“I like the command, I like the communication,” McVay said of Limmer, “I think you see a lot of the physical traits where he can come out of his hips and get more removal. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable in the protection element. … Beaux has made some really good strides, and I think that’s a credit to the guys around him but also Ryan Wendell and Zak Kromer. To be able to have some versatile pieces like we do, and then being able to get Jonah back, that will be really big for us. And I think we’ve really developed some depth at the tackle spot.”

• Rookie outside linebacker Brennan Jackson, who missed most of camp with a soft-tissue injury, was back for his second consecutive padded practice and led off with the second group. Rookie defensive lineman Tyler Davis also joined Jackson on the inside with that group.

• Houston found running lanes with its starting offensive line and Joe Mixon. But the Rams’ young core of pass rushers also got good push on multiple passing plays, including a combination “sack” (the quarterback can’t get hit, obviously) between rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, and defensive linemen Kobie Turner and Bobby Brown III after which Verse’s voice rang out loud and referees jumped into the play just in case of any extracurriculars. The Rams’ first-team defensive line kept up their pressure late into team drills, trying to capitalize when veteran left tackle Laremy Tunsil got rest on the side. Second-year Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud clearly has no hesitation in his connection with Tank Dell, and also hit Mixon on a wheel route up the sideline for a big gain with inside linebacker Ernest Jones in coverage. Jones spent most of the spring and some of training camp recovering from a knee issue, and while he is practicing fully it still bears monitoring. Second-year outside linebacker Byron Young and Turner also combined on a sack in the period I was able to watch (again, I couldn’t view the entire session).

• Though linemen and receivers were definitively challenged by Houston’s talented pass rushers and dynamic secondary, the Rams’ first-team offense still tested several different concepts with a combination of receivers. With Puka Nacua still recovering from a knee injury, McVay has been rotating in veteran Tyler Johnson, second-year player Xavier Smith and rookie Jordan Whittington into the “Nacua” role. Whittington, a former preps star running back, may eventually add an interesting element to the Rams’ run game (they like to use screens and sweeps as an “extension” of their stretch runs) and Whittington continued getting blocking reps as well.

• The Rams went run-heavy in some periods, including a portion of red zone 11-on-11s. Stafford also had two incompletions during a red zone series and so he and Cooper Kupp decided to take matters into their own hands. Kupp ran one of his signature goal-line micro-movements and caught the touchdown from Stafford.

• Tutu Atwell dropped two would-be touchdowns from backup Jimmy Garoppolo in red zone, both balls were well thrown and Atwell worked to pull them in under good coverage by Texans defensive backs. Atwell got one back, though, with a physical touchdown in a later period (also red zone). He held on well after the play as the defender tried to wrestle it from him, and receivers coach Eric Yarber ran across the field to make sure the official was not going to overturn the “touchdown” call — and to uplift Atwell after the earlier incompletions. Several Rams teammates, including an injured Tyler Higbee, did the same. As I have noted, Atwell’s role seems to be as depth behind Demarcus Robinson and in situational concepts, as he splits time between the second and first team.

• Among the cleanest periods for the Rams’ first-team offense Thursday was in a two-minute/late-game drill in which they simulate a long field and a two-point deficit. Stafford hit Johnson, Kupp and Robinson for gains before spiking the ball to stop the clock. The Rams worked on several different clock management scenarios from the Texans’ 34-yard line from there.

• As a programming reminder, the Rams will not play many (if any) key or key depth players in Saturday’s game. Roster cutdown decisions will unfold Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and teams must have their 90-man roster trimmed to 53 players by 1 p.m. PT on Aug. 27.