As DB drills get underway (Raheem Morris and Jonathan Cooley involved as the passers), McVay goes over to catch up with Jalen Ramsey – who is now wearing No. 5: pic.twitter.com/OhrLpMedQO

— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) June 11, 2021

Stafford (far portion of frame) to Jackson pic.twitter.com/FtIYXwhSF9

— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) June 11, 2021

Merlin Olsen plays his last game in L.A.#Rams pic.twitter.com/7idTVgrUzD

— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) June 10, 2021

DeSean Jackson receives strong signals about Rams’ potential​

* https://www.ocregister.com/2021/06/08/desean-jackson-receives-strong-signals-about-rams-potential/

THOUSAND OAKS — In 13 NFL seasons, DeSean Jackson has caught passes for very good teams and very bad teams.

Knowing what makes certain teams championship contenders, he already sees the 2021 Rams in that class.

“First day I came here, man, I could see there was something different about this team. The camaraderie, the mentality, you could tell it’s something special,” Jackson, the L.A. native and former Long Beach Poly star who signed with the Rams in March, said Tuesday after the first practice of a three-day minicamp.

“I’ve been on teams where certain individuals had contract issues or personal issues or had a situation with the GM or (another) player. When you come here, you don’t feel none of that. You feel like everybody’s on the same page, everybody has one common goal. All the personal stuff, the outside world, none of that matters.”

Jackson sees it starting at the top with the coach and star players.

“(It’s) Sean McVay setting the tone, and having guys like Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald, Matthew Stafford, Robert Woods, Coop (Cooper Kupp), I could go on and on. The energy is great here,” Jackson said of his head coach and new teammates.

He compared these Rams to the team he joined as a second-round draft pick from Cal. Those were the 2008 Eagles coached by Andy Reid and led by Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and Brian Dawkins. They went to the NFC championship game, only to be upset by Arizona.

“They had a demeanor,” Jackson said of the veterans. “Those guys held accountability for every player from top to bottom.”

One test of the all-for-one culture Jackson sees could come in the wide receiver group, which has more hands competing for touches since Jackson, 34, and second-round draft pick Tutu Atwell joined Kupp, Woods and Van Jefferson. (Josh Reynolds departed.)

Jackson calls it a “scary group,” and is counting on the maturity of the receivers to embrace their roles as McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford decide who gets the ball.

“In the NFL, there’s always other great guys. It’s not me, me, me,” Jackson said. “As you get older, you understand the Patriots of the world, the Steelers. They have a system, and once you understand that system, it’s kind of interchangeable. Every guy can be the next man up.”

Jackson’s comfort with the Rams is enhanced by his familiarity with the playbook, since McVay was Washington’s offensive coordinator when Jackson was there.

Said McVay of Jackson: “He’s always been a really smart player. And fortunately, because of our pre-existing relationship, if I’ve changed the vernacular or verbiage on some things, (I can) say, ‘Hey, what you knew as ‘NASCAR’ is now ‘spear.’”

Said Jackson of McVay: “The only thing I can say has changed about him is he’s got a lot more smarter. And he already was smart.”

Jackson hopes the team spirit he has seen so far continues from June to January.

“It’s all pieces to the puzzle,” he said, “and if everybody plays their part, you have something special.”

Rams expecting 30,000 fans to attend minicamp practice at SoFi Stadium https://t.co/Tw8GSr5WCU

— Rams Wire (@TheRamsWire) June 10, 2021

Matthew Stafford can’t pass on complimenting Rams’ versatile receiving corps

Gary Klein

https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/story/2021-06-09/matthew-stafford-receivers-rams

He broadened his knowledge of coach Sean McVay’s offense. Timing with receivers and other skill players began to come together. Teammates now have a feel for their new leader.

But Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said Wednesday that when he arrived in Southern California for offseason workouts — after 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions — he did so without specific expectations about how the first phase of his transition would unfold.

“I just showed up here, tried to be myself every single day, know I was going to make mistakes, try to get better along the way,” Stafford told reporters after the team’s penultimate minicamp workout, “and then I’ll try to do that for as long as I’m in this uniform.”

Stafford, acquired in a January trade for quarterback Jared Goff and two first-round draft picks, will practice in front of Rams fans Thursday at SoFi Stadium. Stafford, 33, will use the final workout to familiarize himself with sight lines, the scoreboard and play clocks in the $5-billion Inglewood stadium.

“All that kind of stuff you’ve got to get used to at a home stadium,” he said during a videoconference.

After Thursday’s workout, the Rams will break for summer and reconvene for training camp in late July. Stafford said he would continue to work with teammates during player-organized throwing sessions.

Trying to get in sync as much as we possibly can be heading into training camp,” Stafford said. “Trying to really just dive in and make sure that when we come back, I’m ready to lead this thing and go.”

Receivers Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, DeSean Jackson, Van Jefferson and rookie Tutu Atwell will be among Stafford’s principal targets in an offense that is expected to approach or surpass production that characterized the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

After two weeks of organized-team activities and the minicamp, Stafford was impressed.

“We’ve got a lot of talented guys in that group,” he said. “Some veteran guys that know what they’re doing and some young guys that are learning quickly as well.”

Woods, a ninth-year pro, is a “proven player,” Stafford said.

“He does a great job of slash running after he catches the football,” Stafford said, “He’s really smooth in and out of his breaks.”

Kupp, entering his fifth NFL season, caught Stafford’s attention with his understanding of defenses.

“It’s something, as a quarterback, that is a lot of fun to have, a guy out there you know is thinking and seeing the game the same way that you are,” Stafford said.

Jackson, 34, shows no sign of slowing down after 13 seasons, the last two in Philadelphia marred by injuries.

“He still has the long speed that I see,” Stafford said. “He’s running great.”

Stafford said Jefferson, a second-year pro, has size to create mismatches and speed to separate from defenders. The speedy Atwell catches the ball away from his body well.

Jefferson, 24, first met Stafford in 2009. Stafford was selected No. 1 overall in the draft by the Lions, who employed his father, Shawn Jefferson, as a receivers coach.

“He remembered me from being a little kid,” Jefferson said, adding that it was “ironic” their paths crossed again.

Jefferson said Stafford and the receivers were getting more comfortable.

Rams defensive players also have welcomed the opportunity to be tested by Stafford.

“Very experienced, very seasoned, so he knows how to manipulate safeties’ eyes — all that stuff,” third-year safety Taylor Rapp said, adding that Rams defensive backs are “always trying to compete against the best.

“To be able compete against him in practice, and all of training camp, that’s something that we’re looking forward to.”

When training camp opens at UC Irvine, Stafford will begin preparing for a season that marks a new beginning. Stafford led the Lions to the playoffs three times but never won a postseason game.

Now he will lead a team that is expected to contend for a berth in the Super Bowl, which will be played at SoFi Stadium.

Stafford is looking forward to the next phase of his career.

“I know I have a big challenge in front of me, to make sure that I’m leading this team as best as I possibly can,” he said. “All they want from me is to play at a high level and do things the right way, so that’s what I’m going to try and do.”

The NFL will spend up to $1 million funding studies that will examine how to better help players ease their pain and find alternatives to opioids. Potential alternatives include marijuana and other cannabis-derived products.

by @teresamwalker
https://t.co/go6SQGvZXO

— AP NFL (@AP_NFL) June 8, 2021

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2021/06/09/rams-rankings-pff-secondary-top-10/

Johnson and Hill are both gone after signing with the Browns in free agency, leaving the secondary a bit thinner.

However, Pro Football Focus still views it as one of the 10 best in football, ranking the Rams’ secondary ninth in the NFL.

The Rams would rank higher here had they been able to bring back John Johnson III and Troy Hill from the league’s most efficient defense last season. Instead, both took their talents to Cleveland.

Jalen Ramsey and Darious Williams are still in place, though, and they formed one of the best cornerback tandems in the league last season. Of the 100 cornerbacks to record at least 250 coverage snaps in 2020, 20 players allowed fewer than one yard per coverage snap. Ramsey (0.5) and Williams (0.9) were both among that group. Los Angeles just needs younger players, such as Terrell Burgess and David Long Jr., to step up and replace the starters lost in free agency.

Matthew Stafford passes to DeSean Jackson as the #LARams kick off minicamp at their facility in Thousand Oaks. Only notable absence, albeit an excused one, is Aaron Donald. Team spokesman says he’s dealing a family issue that had been communicated in advance. pic.twitter.com/4ttC2cZtB1

— Omar Ruiz (@OmarDRuiz) June 8, 2021

You didn’t invent this in a vacuum, buddy. **Link to the story:👇 https://t.co/3SzVY0sUyc pic.twitter.com/HEo9dLISvm

— We can have a society that honors life🌲🍄🌻 (@TimOnTheTractor) June 8, 2021

most career TD passes without winning a Super Bowl

421 – Philip Rivers
420 – Dan Marino
347 – Matt Ryan
342 – Fran Tarkenton
294 – Carson Palmer
291 – Warren Moon
282 – Matthew Stafford
275 – Vinny Testaverde
261 – Dave Kreig
254 – Dan Fouts
250 – Sonny Jurgensen
248 – Tony Romo

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) June 9, 2021

10 Observations from Day 1 of Rams’ 2021 minicamp

Stu Jackson​

https://www.therams.com/news/10-observations-from-day-1-of-rams-2021-minicamp

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Rams players convened at the team’s facility Tuesday for the first day of its mandatory minicamp. Staff writer Stu Jackson shares 10 Observations from the session:

1) Words of Whits-dom: Early in the session, offensive lineman Max Pircher – who most recently played offensive tackle and arrived to the Rams via the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program – was seen getting pointers from veteran Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth in between reps during a drill. No better way for a newcomer to get acclimated to the league than working with a 16-year veteran playing one of the most difficult positions along the offensive line.

2) Continuing what was seen during the pair of open OTA sessions, rookie wide receiver Tutu Atwell got work at punt returner.

3) Leonard Floyd mentoring Chris Garrett: Floyd said on May 24 that he makes a point to help the Rams’ defensive rookies, and that guidance was on display during outside linebacker drills Tuesday when Floyd helped Garrett with his hand technique, then continued the conversation as they transitioned to the next period of the session.

4) While watching the above scene unfold, Floyd and Garrett’s length also stood out from the drill. It’s to be expected with Floyd 6-foot-5 and Garrett 6-3, but still impressive nonetheless.

5) Defensive back Kareem Orr had a nice interception during 7-on-7 drills, making a finger-tip grab and juggling the ball to haul it in and prevent it from hitting the ground.

6) More quickness from Atwell: The Louisville product used his quick release at the line of scrimmage to get open and haul in a pass on three separate occasions during 7-on-7 drills.

7) More hands-on Raheem Morris: It’s well-established that the Rams’ new defensive coordinator likes to be heavily involved in drill work done by each of his unit’s position groups. On Tuesday, he was seen working up close with the outside linebackers.
8) Cornerback Jalen Ramsey was spotted wearing No. 5 on his jersey instead of his usual 20, but it was unclear if that represents an official change.

9) Similarly, running back Cam Akers was wearing No. 23 again, but it was also unclear if that represents an official change.

10) A’Shawn Robinson as advertised. One teammate remarked that the Rams defensive lineman showed up to OTAs “thinner” and “more explosive”, and he looked the part in both instances on Tuesday.