Happy birthday Cam Akers. More of this next season 💪🏾💪🏾pic.twitter.com/hp50MrClGk

— World B. Flat (@Carl_noWinslow) June 22, 2021

from https://www.therams.com/news/nfl-com-s-gil-brandt-stafford-kupp-among-10-most-exciting-new-quarterback-wide-r

NFL.com senior analyst Gil Brandt went about ranking the top 10 new quarterback-wide receiver combos heading into the 2021 season.

Coming in at No. 10: Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp.

“Of the two of (Robert Woods and Kupp), I have an especially positive inkling about Kupp to thrive as the passing attack bounces back from a relatively down year; just take a gander at this nifty practice-field connection between the two,” Brandt wrote as part of his analysis.

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2021/06/22/rams-matthew-stafford-isaac-bruce-nfc-west/

Count Hall of Fame receiver Isaac Bruce among those who feel confident in the Rams’ chances to make a deep run.

On the Jim Rome Show this week, Bruce talked about the Rams’ acquisition of Stafford and what it means for the offense. He loves the move, going as far as saying he believes Stafford would get Hall of Fame votes if he retired today.

“I was really excited about it,” Bruce said of the Rams acquiring Stafford. “You talk about a guy who will get some votes as far as the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his career is over. I believe if he were to retire right now today, he would probably get some votes. I mean, the guy’s got 45,000 career passing yards.”

The connection between Stafford and Sean McVay is a critical one, and one that Bruce believes will lead to a lot of great things offensively. He doesn’t think Stafford has had a coach like McVay before, being so offensive-minded and creative with his play calling.

“I feel like he’s never had a coach that’s on the caliber of Coach McVay, a guy that can really mix it up as far as pre-snap reads are concerned, can really keep a defense on its heels,” Bruce continued. “Just to be in a connection with Coach McVay, I think he’s really going to blossom this year. Adding that mix to what we did defensively last year, I think we can really, really win this NFC West once again, which I believe is the best division in football considering the quarterback play, the head coaches that are calling the offensive plays. I just think we’re that team that’s going to come out of the NFC West and I’m excited about what we brought in.”

Team Defense – Fastest time to pressure in seconds in 2020 (powered by @FTNData)

▪️ LAR (2.48)
▪️ TB (2.48)
▪️ JAX (2.48)
▪️ HOU (2.49)
▪️ BUF (2.50)

📈➡️https://t.co/jTCFCRWR0H pic.twitter.com/jhGUGDEPDq

— FTNNetwork (@FTNNetwork) June 21, 2021

Fox News is smearing FBI because far-right fears Feds are closing in on insurrection leaders: ex-official
https://t.co/FEhKIvVs6F

— Raw Story (@RawStory) June 21, 2021

Here is our news story @TheAthletic breaking down the Supreme Court's unanimous decision: https://t.co/PNEhm7wYwF

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) June 21, 2021

Outside linebacker is sure to be one of the Rams' most important camp battles https://t.co/2FCK678h0T

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) June 21, 2021

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2021/06/21/rams-sean-mcvay-matthew-stafford-quote-better-than-advertised/

McVay has raved about Stafford all offseason, but he got especially candid in an interview with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. [interview = here:https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/06/21/mmqb-sean-mcvay-expectations-burnout-covid-protocol-vaccines ]

“Bro, this dude’s a bad MF-er,” McVay told Breer, laughing. “Whatever people say about him, as good as it can be, he’s even better than advertised. It makes sense to him. The guy’s ability to see the game, his ability to draw on his experiences, the feel that he has, it’s pretty special and unique. And man, his feel for people, his authentic way of connecting with his teammates, his coaches, this guy, it’s great being around him.”

Do the Rams have a top-5 offense? pic.twitter.com/NoHmMPVzuZ

— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) June 20, 2021

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/chris-simms-top-40-qb-countdown-no-8-matthew-stafford-los-angeles-rams

Opinion: Cole Beasley, other NFL players miss mark in pushback on COVID-19 vaccination https://t.co/r06e2wKosV

— Joe Curley (@vcsjoecurley) June 19, 2021

==

[from the link above]

—

Opinion: Cole Beasley, other NFL players miss mark in pushback on COVID-19 vaccination

Jarrett Bell
USA TODAY

Take a bow, Cole Beasley. You’re now the face of the NFL’s anti-vax movement.

Beasley, the Buffalo Bills receiver, has pulled no punches in expressing his disdain for the revised COVID-19 protocols devised by the NFL and the NFL Players Association — instituted for training camp and preseason at the moment, with more tweaks likely coming later — that draws a line in the sand between vaccinated players and the unvaccinated.

If you’re vaccinated, you’re not required to wear a mask while at team headquarters and are no longer subjected to daily testing. You can hang out in the sauna, eat in the cafeteria and visit with friends and family while on road trips.

If you’re not vaccinated, you might as well wear a red “X” on your forehead. You’ll be subjected to daily testing, must wear a mask at team headquarters and are banned from the sauna and steam room. You can’t eat in the cafeteria. And if you leave the team hotel to eat at a restaurant or interact with someone outside the team’s traveling party during a road trip, you’ll be subject to a $50,000 fine.

Yes, the NFL and union made the point clear: They want the players vaccinated.

“This is crazy,” Beasley responded in a Twitter post. “Did we vote on this? I stay in the hotel. We still have meetings. We will all be together. Vaccinated players can go out of the hotel and could bring covid back to where I am. So, what does it matter if I stay in the hotel now? 100 percent immune with vaccination? No. The players association is a joke. Call it something different. It’s not for the players.”

Of course, Beasley, like colleagues across the league and Americans at large, has every right not to get vaccinated to protect himself from the novel coronavirus that has claimed the lives of more than 600,000 U.S. citizens and millions more throughout the world.

Yet slamming the NFLPA over this one is way off-base. Why not slam the league, too? For Beasley to take shots at the union over this is both silly and unfair.

Actually, the NFLPA deserves some credit for working hand-in-hand with the league — and not always in Kumbaya fashion — since the pandemic started to work out the protocols and work rules. Remember, without the NFLPA’s insistence, the league would have likely tried to go into last season without strict daily testing. And the union has still defended the right for the players to choose, with NFLPA medical adviser Thom Mayer so eloquently putting it, “These are grown-ass men making grown-ass decisions.”

Yet Beasley took a shot an an easy target, the NFLPA, rather than slinging an arrow at Bills GM Brandon Beane, who took heat recently for suggesting that he would hypothetically cut an unvaccinated player to help his team have certain COVID-19 protocols lifted.

In any event, it’s a real-world debate playing out in the NFL environment … just like COVID-19 has disrupted the NFL world as it has society at large.

Beasley is hardly alone in his position. Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold, Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon and Washington Football Team defensive end Montez Sweat are others to declare a similar bottom line, although no one has been as vociferous as Beasley on the matter. As NFL teams wrapped up minicamps last week and entered the dead zone of the league calendar before training camps open in late July, the vaccination issue loomed as a pressing matter. While Washington coach Ron Rivera enlisted a COVID-19 vaccine expert to speak to his players about this issue with the team’s vaccination rate hovering around 50% (as of 10 days ago), Steelers coach Mike Tomlin boasted that Pittsburgh was “tops in the league” for vaccination rate among players, though no official data has been released.

“Guys have worked hard to adhere to the policies and protocols,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “It’s just been a continuation of 2020 in regards to our attitude. We’re going to work hard to adhere and look for any advantage that compliance might give us.”

After what the NFL went through last season (along with society at large), I’m baffled that NFL players haven’t been leading the vaccination charge. I’m not buying the reason that some, like Sweat, have expressed in that they are seeking more information. But the resistance may also underscore the deep-seated mistrust that exists with such widespread health measures, much of which I presume relates to some shameful cases throughout history. There’s also the argument that after such a rapid development of the vaccines, more time is needed to measure long-term effects. But still.

“I think it really comes down to comfort level of the person; they have to do what’s best for them,” Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell said last week.

Campbell reported that he was indeed vaccinated, and undoubtedly the 2020 experience cemented that decision. The Ravens had one of the worst outbreaks in the league — their late-season game at Pittsburgh was postponed three times — and Campbell contracted COVID-19. He has described overcoming it as “brutal” and still wonders whether there are lingering symptoms.

“Sometimes, I feel like it kind of comes and goes in a sense,” Campbell said, “so I guess I really can’t be sure until we get into the thick of things. But I’ve been really good for the last couple of months. I haven’t had any real issues, but it definitely lingered for a while.

“I still don’t wish that on anybody. It’s just such a tough thing to go through, just because you don’t really feel like yourself. Even when you are past the symptoms that everybody has, getting back into being a professional athlete, there’s a certain of feeling you have when you’re just ready, and COVID-19 kind of made it a little harder to get that good feeling.”

If the case of Chris Paul in the NBA Playoffs this week — the Phoenix Suns star guard is sidelined indefinitely after entering the league’s health and safety protocols — didn’t resonate with NFL players weighing whether to get vaccinated, then perhaps they should take stock in Campbell’s testimonial as part of their research. Concerns of whether the vaccine will cause issues down the line may pale when compared to issues that may linger (or be discovered in the future) from having had COVID-19.

Beasley, in a follow-up Twitter message, didn’t budge. Never mind the risks.

“I may die of covid, but I’d rather die living,” Beasley posted. “I have family members whose days are numbered. If they want to come and see me and stay at my house then they are coming regardless of protocol.”

Maybe so. But the workplace rules in the NFL are operating at a higher standard — and definitely for the better.

…

zn wrote:

SeattleRams@seattlerams_nfl
This quote from Lions GM Brad Holmes as me arching an eyebrow this morning

“Before the trade, I remember (Rams GM) Les (Snead) asked me if I wanted Jared and I said, ‘Yes, I do want Jared.’ He said, ‘Ok, I’m just asking because I’m getting a lot of calls.’

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Right – and, I think people underestimate how much team personnel talk with each other, even during the season. But if people didn’t already think something was brewing, those couple weeks lit the beacons of Gondor.

SeattleRams@seattlerams_nfl
This quote from Lions GM Brad Holmes as me arching an eyebrow this morning

“Before the trade, I remember (Rams GM) Les (Snead) asked me if I wanted Jared and I said, ‘Yes, I do want Jared.’ He said, ‘Ok, I’m just asking because I’m getting a lot of calls.’