Darvio Morrow@DTheKingpin
I have to share this with yall. I’m with my mother & I go into the gas station and I see this real old white man walk in. Walking slow and gingerly. I happen to look up at his hat and it said “World War 2 veteran”. I’m like wow. Normally when I see people with veteran hats on

I thank them for their service. And I was going to do that here. But I got distracted, laughing and joking with another customer and I forgot. So as I get back in my car, I see the guy walk back out, slowly, to pump his gas. I pull back around to tell him thank you 4 his service

At first I’m in the car and he can’t hear me, not even looking my way. So I pull over and get out and walk up to him and say “I just want to thank you for your service.” He looks at me, and he says “I want to tell you something. You got a minute?” I say yes sir.

He starts telling me about this all black battalion in the war. He says “they kept them separated from us and that was wrong”. And he tells me that they were great fighters and they destroyed Nazi tanks at even a higher rate than the white guys. He says

“The Germans wanted to know who were these guys.” He said that found out and captured them. He says “the Germans cut their eyes out, cut their hands off and killed them.” And as he’s telling me this I still see the pain and anger in his eyes. Like he’s back on the battlefield.

He tells me “I captured Germans, I held them prisoner. I never killed anybody. I didn’t know what they did until later. Had I known what they did to those black guys, I would’ve killed every last f**king one of them.” Looking in his eyes I knew he meant every word.

This man was 96 years old and you could tell that he was still so angry about what the Nazis did. He tells me “there’s not a lot of guys like me left from that war.” I said “God bless you.” He says “He did. I don’t know why, but He did.”

As I shook hands with him one more time and get back in my car and I’m pulling away, trying to emotionally process all of that, it was a reminder to me: THIS is who we are. To see this old white man enraged all over again as he thinks about how the Nazis treated black soldiers

that really had an impact on me. What mattered to him was that they were Americans. They were soldiers. They were his countrymen. That was powerful. All of this at the gas station lol. My goodness. God bless you sir. /end

Rams 10 takeaways: QB Bryce Perkins, UDFA Lance McCutcheon impress in preseason opener

By Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/3505088/2022/08/14/rams-preseason-bryce-perkins-lance-mccutcheon/?source=emp_shared_article

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The final score, for those who care about such things this time of year, was 29-22 Rams after they played visitors to the Chargers’ home field (the teams share SoFi Stadium, to which the Rams’ last trip was their Super Bowl victory in February).

More importantly, though, Saturday night’s first preseason game was an opportunity to learn more about the Rams’ roster. Head coach Sean McVay annually rests starters and key role players until real games begin, but the snaps several young players (and position rotations) get can reveal quite a lot.

My 10 key takeaways from Week 1 of the preseason:

• Quarterback Bryce Perkins played the entire game, which is also how he finished the 2021 preseason. Perkins was 10 for 17 with 133 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion, plus he rushed for 39 net yards and a touchdown. By the start of the third quarter, Perkins was the Rams’ leading rusher, at times keeping drives alive with his ability to operate out of structure. At one point, Perkins broke about five tackles (two from players who had penetrated into the backfield and at least one dodge of one of his own linemen, who had gotten blocked back into him).

“I just try to keep my legs trucking, even through contact,” Perkins said. “You never know … the play is never over. It makes it hard on defenses when you think you got (me) and (I) slip out of there, slips out of another one, slips out of another one and goes. That stuff like that, just comes from wanting it and my childhood playing running back … Whenever I’m out there, I just try to compete my tail off.”

Perkins didn’t always get a huge amount of help from his offensive line, either, which featured AJ Jackson (left tackle), Tremayne Anchrum (left guard), Jeremiah Kolone (center), Logan Bruss (right guard) and Bobby Evans (right tackle) to start the game. These players rotated some by the start of the second half, including Jackson kicking into guard. To me, the Rams are trying to figure out who another “swing man” can be on their active roster/game-day roster, meaning these depth players have a lot of versatility (like Coleman Shelton, who plays both guard spots and center). Jackson seems to be a top candidate among those who played Saturday night for the role.

But, back to Perkins. He runs the third-team offense during practices, and the Rams rostered three quarterbacks in 2021 in order to keep him (after hearing a couple other teams were sniffing around in hopes he hit the waiver wire). The Rams still seem quite set on John Wolford as their No. 2 quarterback, and in truth, he and Perkins run different offenses (with Wolford more similar to the first-team operation under Matthew Stafford). They love how Wolford runs their scout team and takes his practice reps. Still, the Rams know they have a player in Perkins who totally comes alive in game situations.

“Whew, it was exciting,” said McVay of watching Perkins play Saturday. “I’m like ‘Ohh-eeeoh-howintheheck-did he get out of a couple of those (tackles)?!’ But he’s a playmaker. I think being able to allow guys to play within their skill set when things do break down, that’s an elite trait that he has.”

• Receiver Lance McCutcheon had possibly the play of the game in the first half, with a 60-yard touchdown catch-and-run in which he secured Perkins’ pass, shook off with one arm the defender who draped over him and ran in for the score untouched. I mentioned McCutcheon’s coolness through spring OTAs despite being an undrafted free agent, and listed him as one of my players to watch in this preseason — with WR3 Van Jefferson recovering from knee surgery and Jacob Harris nursing a groin injury, this is a huge opportunity for McCutcheon (no relation to former Rams player Lawrence McCutcheon) to come up in the … Mc-Clutch-eon. Let’s not overlook the throw by Perkins, either, who stepped into a folding pocket to launch the ball downfield. McCutcheon also snagged a two-point conversion in the third quarter.

McCutcheon grabbed another extremely spatially-aware touchdown in the fourth quarter, in traffic in the corner of the end zone. He finished with five catches and 87 yards, with two touchdowns — by far the most productive receiver of the night.

“It was awesome,” said McCutcheon. “First NFL game, felt good to play the way I did.”

McCutcheon’s mom and aunt drove from Montana to watch him play Saturday night, and he said he kept checking for them in the stands.

Meanwhile, Cooper Kupp shouted out McCutcheon in the spring for his work in OTAs; McCutcheon stations his film study directly behind Kupp and Allen Robinson, calling the two “football geniuses”. Seems like that, combined with Saturday’s performance, should command a little more attention.

• The Rams’ rookie defensive backs got a lot of early minutes, as expected. Cornerbacks Derion Kendrick and Decobie Durant and safety Russ Yeast all started, as did second-year cornerback Robert Rochell. Kendrick made a nice break on a pass in the first quarter that was nearly an interception and set up a third-and-19, and Rochell also had a first-quarter pass breakup.

• Surprising, considering McVay’s comments throughout training camp: Second-year receiver Tutu Atwell did not play Saturday. That’s a great sign for Atwell (who had a strong training camp), albeit a pivot from McVay’s previous indication that the team needed to see Atwell in live reps.

“He’s done a great job throughout camp (and) he’s gonna have a role with this team,” McVay said. “We didn’t want to put him at harm’s risk. He’s gonna be a part of what we’re doing this year and that was because he’s done well.”

• Second-year defensive lineman Bobby Brown had a sack in the first quarter and played well through the rest of the game until a scary moment in the fourth quarter when he appeared to suffer a leg injury and lay flat on his back for a few moments while team doctors rushed to him. Brown had to limp off the field with support from the athletic training staff, and McVay didn’t have an update on his status postgame. Brown can participate in the preseason but will be suspended for the first six games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

• One of my favorite plays of the game: Tight end Brycen Hopkins, who is in good position for the No. 3 spot on the roster, completely leveled a defensive player while attempting to pave some space for Perkins downfield in the first half.

• Running back AJ Rose (who, with rookie Kyren Williams rehabbing from a broken foot, is competing with Raymond Calais for the fourth running back spot), punched in a nice first-half touchdown at the goal line with a second-effort push. Rose broke off a couple of nice fourth-quarter runs as well.

• Running back Jake Funk did a lot of everything Saturday night, especially in the first half. Funk got the leadoff carries in the offense, and played well on special teams in return and protection roles. Overall, the Rams didn’t run the ball well (minus Perkins’ own ability, every other back rushed for under 3.2 yards per carry in a frequent rotation) but what I was most watching for was the variety of roles Funk would hold, since he’ll need to contribute as a runner and on special teams if he wants to secure the RB3 spot.

• Bruss played the entire first half at right guard, and seemed to gain more confidence as the game continued — but the rookie will definitely want a couple of reps back, including and especially a third-down sack on Perkins in which Bruss was knocked backward in a one-on-one. Bruss didn’t play much through the third quarter but came back in the game in the fourth.

• The Rams largely rested starting specialists Matt Gay (their kicker) and Riley Dixon (who appears to be in a comfortable lead as their punter), which meant versatile leg Cameron Dicker got a ton of work on Saturday. Dicker took kickoffs, punts and FG/extra points.

I expect Dixon, the veteran player, to hold his place but the Rams can certainly use a player like Dicker, who can give them a huge variety of live-leg looks if they’re able to keep him on the practice squad. Dixon held on the field goal tries, which further indicates he’s sealed the spot (previous punter Johnny Hekker was the Rams’ holder).

Rams Wire@TheRamsWire
Bryce Perkins and Lance McCutcheon were the two stars of the night for the Rams in their win over the Chargers

Stu Jackson@StuJRams
Rams head coach Sean McVay said WR Tutu Atwell was only dressed for punt situations tonight. His lack of playing time tonight was he’s performed well.

Gary Klein@LATimesklein
McVay on Atwell: “He’s done a great job throughout camp. He’s going to have a role with this team and we didn’t want to put him at harm’s risk. He’s going to be a part of what we’re doing this year.”

Cornell@gqscholar
TuTu is now a lock to make it as a wr. Mcvay feels he doesn’t need preseason snaps at wr. Mcvay did have TuTu dress so that he can get some practice as a punt returner, Mcvay still wants to see if TuTu can be Powell backup punt ret. when the season starts.

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Lance McCutcheon sits behind Allen Robinson and Cooper Kupp in meeting rooms, calls them “football geniuses.” He says he’s trying to make this team, though started as a Big Sky UDFA. Why did he pick the Rams? “They were the first to call me.”

Bryce Perkins simply refused to go down. 😤 @TDN_Perk

📱: Stream #LARvsLAC on NFL+ https://t.co/uWNvagtj6A pic.twitter.com/aGoJY4ero1

— NFL (@NFL) August 14, 2022

Great to see from Bobby Brown III pic.twitter.com/I2j9QYYuK0

— DOWNTOWN RAMS [DTR] (@DowntownRams) August 14, 2022

Five takeaways from Rams’ 29-22 Preseason Week 1 win over Chargers

Stu Jackson

– https://www.therams.com/news/five-takeaways-rams-chargers-preseason-week-1-2022

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Standout performances by quarterback Bryce Perkins and wide Lance McCutcheon highlighted the Rams’ 29-22 preseason-opening win over the Chargers Saturday night at SoFi Stadium.

Here are five takeaways from the matchup:

1) Getting an extended look at quarterback Bryce Perkins

With John Wolford getting a lot of reps during the times the Rams rested Matthew Stafford during team drills in training camp, it was Perkins who led the offense for the majority of Saturday night’s game. After the Rams’ first two drives ended with punts, Perkins led them to touchdowns on four of their next five drives. He was personally responsible for three of them – two touchdown passes, plus a one-yard rushing touchdown.

2) Lance McCutcheon shines

McCutcheon made the most of his playing time in the first preseason game, making an impressive 60-yard touchdown catch and also doing a nice job of high-pointing the ball on a 2-point conversion completion from Perkins.

He later came up with another go-ahead touchdown grab – from 11 yards out – to give the Rams a 29-22 lead late in the fourth quarter.

3) Experimentation along the offensive line

Each half saw a different starting combination along the Rams’ offensive line.

The first half saw AJ Jackson at left tackle, Tremayne Anchrum Jr. at left guard, Jeremiah Kolone at center, rookie Logan Bruss at right guard and Bobby Evans at right tackle.

In the second half, Jackson replaced Bruss at right guard, and Anchrum moved over to left tackle, with Chandler Brewer at left guard. The Rams also inserted rookie A.J. Arcuri at right tackle. Eventually, undrafted rookie free agent signee Jack Snyder took over at center for Kolone. Bruss also got back in at right guard in the second half.

4) Dicker the kicker handles punt, kickoff, field goal duties

When the Rams’ punt and field goal units took the field, it was Dicker doing both. In field goal situations, veteran punter Riley Dixon was the holder.

Dicker’s longest punt traveled 58 yards, and he made all three of his extra point attempts.

5) Great second effort

Not to be overlooked was running back A.J. Rose avoiding a loss of yards by spinning off a would-be tackler to get into the endzone for the touchdown in the first half.

Rams ball with the lead and 4:36 to go, 29-22.

Backing up skills pic.twitter.com/5zohnLUIKl

— Next Level Skills (@SkillsLevel) August 13, 2022

The Rams play football* today!

Here’s your comprehensive look at rising players through camp, which players still need to prove something through the preseason and why, and many more notes and tidbits: https://t.co/0Wt5JKirGd

— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) August 13, 2022

What I expected. Had heard nothing but good things about TLew until that depth chart came out https://t.co/1532QsgW4n

— Koll_0ne (@Koll_0ne) August 12, 2022