from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2021/06/14/rams-cooper-kupp-brad-holmes-senior-bowl/

Lions GM Brad Holmes, who was formerly the Rams’ director of college scouting from 2013-2020, shared a story of how Kupp stood out at the Senior Bowl in 2017, which really caught the Rams’ eye. His testing numbers weren’t the best, but he was uncoverable at the Senior Bowl and his GPS time was the fastest in Mobile.

“I’ve told the Cooper Kupp story — that’s more of cognitive bias, in terms of just every time you saw him play football, the guy was good, you liked him. But I remember we saw him at the Senior Bowl, he was the best player on the field. Nobody can cover this dude. He looked explosive. And his shuttle and all that kind of reflected that, but his 40 time was in the 4.6s. He did it at the combine and at the pro day, so the last thing in your head was that 4.6,” Holmes told Chris Burke of The Athletic.

“But, I’ll never forget, it came out that his GPS time at the Senior Bowl was the fastest. So, it’s like, “OK, now that makes sense.” But it was because he was playing football. He looked fast, he looked explosive on the football field. In tights, on that Eastern Washington track, it didn’t look fast.”

The Rams have a trio of options behind Tyler Higbee, but who will step up as TE2? https://t.co/jkZiisavQE

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) June 14, 2021

Evan Silva@evansilva
Lombardi says #Rams were willing to trade Robert Woods (possibly for third-round pick) to make room for Julio Jones. Deals just never came together.

HoldenCantor@HoldenCantor
Falcons probably wanted woods + a pick in return for Julio and I’m sure that’s when the Rams moved on. Woods is in his prime, reliable, severely underrated and there’s no way in heck Sean McVay was trading him.

Eisen covers a lot of relevant ground.

…

How Shane Waldron’s Seahawks offense could be great for Russell Wilson https://t.co/2VRAmqzn2s

— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 12, 2021

ICYMI: over a year ago I warned the American public how corrupt Bill Barr was! Now the truth is coming out!
Lev Parnas: 'Attorney General Barr was basically on the team.' #LevRemembers https://t.co/bIjnycyQpt

— Lev Parnas (@levparnas) June 11, 2021

from Eric D. Williams, https://www.si.com/nfl/rams/news/la-rams-raheem-morris-brings-new-energy-to-defense

Tutu Atwell looked good getting in and out of his breaks and catching the ball, particularly on out-breaking routes along the sideline. Atwell is a natural hands catcher and showed no problems creating separation during 7-on-7 drills. Interested to see how he plays in pads during training camp.

* Second-year pro Bryce Perkins looked more accurate throwing the ball, particularly outside the numbers. Perkins threw a handful of solid completions on out routes, doing a nice job of driving the football and hitting the receivers on time.

* Safety Jake Gervase is making the transition to linebacker. With a deep, talented group at safety, Gervase has a better shot of sticking around at linebacker if he can contribute on special teams.

* Defensive lineman Michael Hoecht, Eric Banks and rookie Bobby Brown III got some work with the first group with Aaron Donald not a minicamp and Sebastian Joseph-Day watching from the sidelines. Donald is not attending camp this week due to personal reasons, and head coach Sean McVay noted he had conversations with a few players about the potential of missing this week. Cornerback Darious Williams also did not attend minicamp.

* Jalen Ramsey was at practice this week and switched from No. 5 to No. 20. Second-year pro Cam Akers had switched from No. 3 to No. 23 but was back wearing No. 23 this week. DeSean Jackson, wearing No. 1, was at camp but watched the first day. Tight end Tyler Higbee also watched from the sidelines.

* Linebacker Travin Howard had a pick six during 7-on-7 and cornerback Kareem Orr also had an nice interception. Receiver Jaremiah Haydel has flashed during 7-on-7 workouts.

Rampage2K

back from Sofi…..what a hoot!!!

It wasn’t much a practice to tell you the truth, more like a pregame warm up session, but I think it was much more than just a practice at the same time, if that makes any sense….

It was more of a celebration of the fans being allowed back in the stadium….it was awesome!!

we ended up in the front row about the 30 yard line after some luck with some “maneuvering” and then I somehow ended up in the VIP party on field level…haha

not much too report from the practice as it was pretty much just a warm up session , but fun nonetheless seeing our new QB1 slinging it around a bit….

Talked to KD and asked him again about the new uni, he says it will be sometime between July 1st and the start of training camp when it will be unveilled…still tight lipped about what color it will be

talked to and got pics with Rams legends Leroy Irvin, Dickerson, Issac Bruce and also celebrity fan Danny Trejo, and NFL Networks Omar Ruiz

way too much fun!!! cant wait for some real football

post some pics soon

wv wrote:

McVay should just be quiet.

InvaderRam wrote:

mcvay is only 35 years old. maybe the best thing for goff would be not to be with a coach so inexperienced. and maybe mcvay needs an experienced qb like stafford to help him grow. i don’t know.

I agree with both them there remarks. 😎

‘I was completely inside’: Lobster diver swallowed by humpback whale off Provincetown

https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2021/06/11/humpback-whale-catches-michael-packard-lobster-driver-mouth-proviencetown-cape-cod/7653838002/

PROVINCETOWN — At a little before 8 a.m., Friday, veteran lobster diver Michael Packard entered the water for his second dive of the day.

His vessel, “the J ‘an J,” was right off Herring Cove Beach and surrounded by a fleet of boats catching striped bass. The water temperature was a balmy 60 degrees and he estimated the visibility he estimated at 20 feet.

Lobster divers literally pluck lobsters off the sandy bottom, and as he dove down, he saw schools of sand lances and stripers swimming by. The ocean food chain was in full evidence, but about 35 feet down, 10 feet from the bottom, he entered that food chain in a startling and rare way.

Packard, 56, was literally swallowed by a humpback whale.

Lobster diver Michael Packard, 56, of Wellfleet, gives the thumbs up Friday morning from Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where he was taken after he was injured in an encounter with a humpback whale Provincetown. He was later released from the hospital.
“All of a sudden, I felt this huge shove and the next thing I knew it was completely black,” Packard recalled Friday afternoon following his release from Cape Cod Hospital. “I could sense I was moving, and I could feel the whale squeezing with the muscles in his mouth.”

Initially, Packard thought he was inside a great white shark, but he couldn’t feel any teeth and he hadn’t suffered any obvious wounds. It dawned on him that he’d been swallowed.

“I was completely inside (the whale); it was completely black,” Packard said. “I thought to myself, ‘there’s no way I’m getting out of here. I’m done, I’m dead. All I could think of was my boys, they’re 12 and 15 years old.”

He struggled and the whale began shaking his head so that Packard could tell he didn’t like it. He estimated he was in the whale for 30 to 40 seconds before the whale finally surfaced.

“I saw light, and he started throwing his head side-to-side and the next thing I knew I was outside (in the water),” Packard said.

His mate Josiah Mayo saw the explosion of water as the whale surfaced and Packard was ejected. He plucked Packard out of the water, called to shore on the radio and headed in.

“My first thought was I can’t believe I got out of that situation. My second thought was for how injured I was,” Packard said.

Your stories live here.
Fuel your hometown passion and plug into the stories that define it.
Create Account
Considering he was swallowed and ejected from a whale, his injuries were surprisingly few. Initially, it was thought he had a broken leg, but Packard said by phone Friday afternoon that he’d suffered a lot of soft tissue damage.

“But I’m good overall,” he said.

Expert: Incident was accident
“Based on what was described this would have to be a mistake and an accident on the part of the humpback,” said Jooke Robbins, director of Humpback Whale Studies at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown. Humpbacks are not aggressive animals, particularly towards humans.

From the whale description as being on the small side, Robbins suspects it was a juvenile feeding on the sand lance. When humpback mouths open to feed, said Robbins, they can block their forward vision which is why so many become entangled in fishing gear in their mouth and jaws.

Still, humpbacks injuring humans, especially instances of swallowing them, are so exceedingly rare, Robbins said.

“It is not something I have heard happening before,” she said. “So many things would have had to happen to end up in the path of a feeding whale.”

Charles “Stormy” Mayo, a senior scientist and whale expert at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, agreed that this is exceedingly rare.

“People direct dive on them (humpbacks) in the tropics, not here. In those places I’m not aware of a single incident of people having problems with them,” Mayo said.

Packard crewman Josiah Mayo is Stormy Mayo’s son.

“Michael (Packard) is a smart guy and an exceptional diver,” said Stormy Mayo. “For that to happen to him, you can be sure he did everything he was supposed to do.”

What do lobster divers do?
Commercial lobster divers are a tough breed. They brave the cold waters off Provincetown to grab migrating lobsters off a sandy shelf when they emerge from an adjacent deep channel and pause to acclimate to the somewhat warmer water.

The Provincetown-based vessel commercial lobster diver Michael Packard was working from Friday morning off Herring Cove Beach. While in the mouth of the whale, “I thought to myself, ‘there’s no way I’m getting out of here. I’m done, I’m dead.’ All I could think of was my boys — they’re 12 and 15 years old.”
The crewman topside follows the bubbles of the diver below as he or she drifts with the strong current. It’s a spot that is fraught with danger and commercial lobster divers have seen more than their share of close calls and tragedy.

Sharks and seals:Here’s what you need to know about the animals off Cape Cod

“Thank god, it wasn’t a white shark. He sees them all the time out there,” Cynthia Packard, Michael’s sister, said. “He must have thought he was done.”

The call came in over the police/fire scanner at 8:13 a.m. that a diver had suffered serious injuries to the legs after interacting with a whale, said Provincetown Fire Chief Michael Trovato

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2021/06/11/rams-sean-mcvay-better-mood-offseason-goff-stafford/

[McVay on Stafford]

“So this guy, he’s a special guy,” McVay said. “I think one of the best ways that I can describe him, when you hear people that have been around him, there’s a known confidence where when he walks into a room, you always feel his presence. But he’s got a great humility about himself that everybody loves being around him. He’s one of those guys that I think is a true igniter. Makes everybody around him better. I feel like I’ve become a better coach in the few months that we’ve been able to spend together and we’re looking forward to doing a lot of good things together.”

…

After the Rams wrapped up practice, McVay met with members of the media for his usual press conference. And while he said he was still in a good mood, he opened the media session by saying his words were taken out of context and his comments weren’t about Goff being gone.

He clarified that he’s excited about the team as a whole, and it’s not exclusively about the quarterback change.

“I hate that I even have to say this, but I think I made a comment earlier that was definitely taken out of context. I am very excited, I have been in a good mood because of the confidence that I have in this team,” McVay added. “But by no means is that a slight to anybody like Jared, who has done a phenomenal job for the last four years here. I hated that I even have to address that, but I do think out of respect for him and all the good things he’s done. I am in a good mood, but that doesn’t mean it’s not because we’re working together, or because of just Stafford exclusively. There’s a lot of good things going on that I feel really good about and I’m confident about.”

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2021/06/10/rams-bengals-zac-taylor-cooper-kupp-jamarr-chase-similarities/?taid=60c31811a6698a0001b8760f&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

Bengals coach Zac Taylor spent two years with the Los Angeles Rams on Sean McVay’s staff in 2017 and 2018, first as an assistant wide receivers coach and then as the quarterbacks coach. He worked closely with Cooper Kupp during his time in L.A. and now he’ll get to coach Ja’Marr Chase, the star rookie out of LSU who was the first receiver drafted this year.

[Taylor said Chase is] … “Similar to Cooper Kupp in the sense that he’s got unbelievable body control. He’s running full speed but when he judges where the ball is at, he can shut his body down and have that great control to have that great run after the catch to maximize it. Oh yeah, and is hard to bring down on first contact just like Cooper. He usually makes that first guy miss or pulls through the tackle and then he’s got the top-end speed.”

from Rodrigue: https://theathletic.com/2645361/2021/06/10/rams-finally-reunite-with-fans-in-sofi-sean-mcvay-comments-on-his-new-qb-and-practice-observations/?source=emp_shared_article

Two players who made a consistent impression

Lots of players flash during these limited, lighter workouts, but two up-and-comers have specifically left a strong impression on McVay.

Third-year cornerback David Long moved with impressive speed and intentionality through drills on Thursday night, and has been getting a ton of work at first-team outside cornerback in seven-on-sevens throughout OTAs and minicamp (which I am now able to report, since McVay discussed it publicly). Part of this was due to sheer need, because largely starters Darious Williams and Jalen Ramsey had not been participating in the on-field work (Ramsey did through minicamp). But when his number was called, Long showed up — and McVay has high expectations for him this season.

“I think he’s done a great job,” said McVay. “He’s really done a nice job elevating his game at the outside location. He has been a guy who has some position flexibility inside, but I think he’s done a really nice job of growing. … You’ve seen him tangibly improve throughout the course of this offseason because the one thing that we have done full-speed is a lot of seven-on-seven.

“I’ve been really pleased with David, and he is a guy that we are going to count on — and we’re expecting him to be a big-time contributor for us.”

Long could step into fill the role held by Troy Hill in 2020. Hill, who signed with Cleveland in free agency, was able to move inside and outside as needed in order to help unlock Ramsey’s flexibility in the Star package and on the outside, depending on the matchup.

Meanwhile, tight end Jacob Harris is breathing some rare air for a rookie fourth-rounder — and it’s not just hype and circumstance, according to McVay. Harris has been taking the bulk of first-team tight end reps along with Johnny Mundt in what media is able to watch (again, now able to report this since McVay has since discussed it publicly). Part of this is due to Tyler Higbee’s absence in live team activities (Higbee is present and undergoing his own programming). But there are a few other tight ends on the roster who have more experience — whom Harris got reps over especially in the last week of work.

“I think he’s just earned it,” said McVay of Harris’ increased role over a rapid period. “Obviously Tyler is the lead dog … he’s one of the most complete tight ends in this league, and when he’s feeling good, Tyler Higbee can do it all for us. Jacob Harris is a great addition to that room.

“I think he’s a guy that has a tremendous amount of upside. (Tight ends coach) Wes Phillips has done a really nice job of getting him up to speed. His natural range, catch radius, body control for a player of his size is pretty rare. I think you guys can see — for NFL guys to stand out the way that he has done, in some of these limited settings, in shorts and in helmets, he’s definitely made a positive impression.”

Harris has worked pretty exclusively with Phillips through the spring, so that is the indicator he’ll be a “tight end” — which I’ll say with a wink, because McVay made it clear that he’s a player they can move all over the place in the passing game outside of the traditional tight end assignments.

Catch of the day

The best throw and catch of the day came in individual drills, off a tightly wound 40-yarder down the sideline from Stafford to veteran receiver DeSean Jackson — who happened to secure the catch right in front of team owner Stan Kroenke, who attended the day’s events.

Quick notes from the workout

• Receiver and second-round draft pick Tutu Atwell continued to get some work on punt return, as did Trishton Jackson, Landen Akers, J.J. Koski and running back Raymond Calais. Special-teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis worked his way throughout the drills, and his energy was palpable (and audible). Veteran punter Johnny Hekker mentioned that it’s more helpful to have a “live leg” on punt return reps, particularly with the Rams attempting to establish a full-time player in that role; Brandon Wright handled those duties and also pegged in a few kickoffs.

• Harris did drop one ball — after a catch on a quick slant and a little contact that surprised him — but it’s clear that McVay has taken a great interest in the rookie because he immediately went up to him individually and made a ball-security tucking motion with his arm, then patted Harris on the back before moving on through the drills.

• Left tackle Andrew Whitworth was present, though not practicing, so Joe Noteboom naturally took the starting left tackle snaps. Interestingly, during the quarterback/offensive line warmups, Brian Allen moved to right guard on the second team while Coleman Shelton took center snaps. Allen and Shelton are still considered by McVay to be depth at center as the Rams try out former right guard Austin Corbett at center through the summer. Whitworth did get pretty involved all the same, taking extra time to coach up young tackles Chandler Brewer and Max Pircher — the latter of whom joined the Rams via the International Pathways program from Italy.

Stu Jackson@StuJRams
Sean McVay on Jacob Harris as an all-over tight end or in-line tight end: “It’s a little bit too soon (to determine), but what would I would say is the smart thing would be if he can play in a variety of spots, that’s going to be the way we can put the most pressure on people.”

McVay said they’ll get a better chance to evaluate that once the pads come on in training camp.