"On a roll-out Gabriel is pressured but like innumerable times in 1967 his great strength allows him to fight free" #18 moves the chains completing the pass to WR Bernie Casey in the Coastal Championship game against Unitas' Colts. #tbt #ThrowbackThursday #Rams pic.twitter.com/FerFFSJ0Qk

— Roman Gabriel for Pro Football Hall of Fame (@RGabriel4HOF) August 14, 2020

Lodi, California:

Oh. My. God.

This Lodi police officer saved a man’s life from oncoming train.

She saw this man stuck in his wheelchair on the tracks. She jumped out of her car and was able to pull him out of his wheelchair at the very last moment…pic.twitter.com/Pvg1xpOSmY

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) August 13, 2020

from https://www.nfl.com/news/falcons-could-limit-todd-gurley-s-workload-in-training-camp

[a] veteran reporter noted that during the early phases of the Falcons’ workouts, Gurley “walked with a noticeable limp and wore a compression sock on his left leg, yet he showed speed and explosion during drills.”

The juxtaposition of Gurley walking with a limp but looking good during drills is, unfortunately, the reality with the running back at this point. He’ll show brief flashes but hasn’t been as consistently explosive as he was earlier in his career.

Atlanta has room in its backfield to highlight Gurley, but given his injury history, it’s likely he’ll share snaps with Ito Smith, Brian Hill and Qadree Ollison. With no preseason to test out the group, we’ll have to wait for Week 1 to see what Quinn’s full plan is for Gurley.

J.B. Long@JB_Long
No OTAs. No preseason games. The season is a month away. Is that enough time for a rookie running back to learn Sean McVay’s system?

“If I had to, a week would be enough time.”
-Cam Akers

Austin Blythe@ABlythe63
What would spring football mean for guys who need a season in order to improve their NFL chances? It means that you could be playing football for almost a full year with almost no time off. Rookie year is hard enough & your chances of injury would Rocket

—

Marcus Mosher@Marcus_Mosher
Cowboys updated DL:

DE: Everson Griffen
DT: Gerald McCoy
DT: Dontari Poe
DE: Demarcus Lawrence

Evan Kaplan@EpKap
Everson Griffen lined up as a right DE for 91% of snaps in the last 2 seasons, had all 13.5 sacks from that spot.

DeMarcus Lawrence lined up as a left DE for 91% of snaps in the last 2 seasons, had all 15.5 sacks from that spot.

That seems like a good pairing.

J.B. Long@JB_Long
Decent first test for the Rams offensive line.

Brandon Thorn@BrandonThornNFL
Washington, Philly, and Dallas have LOADED defensive lines.

Todd Archer@toddarcher
Everson Griffen brings quality to a defensive front that will need it. The Cowboys’ returning defensive linemen had a combined eight sacks last season, matching Griffen’s total with Minnesota last year. DeMarcus Lawrence had five, Dorance Armstrong two and Tyrone Crawford one.

It was a privilege to get to know @thereal_cam3 a bit better on the latest @RamsNFL Revealed.

Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts, to find out why his goal for his rookie season is more touchdowns than Instagram posts.

🎧: https://t.co/bjuDOvdj6w pic.twitter.com/ReuDTVrjfI

— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) August 12, 2020

from https://theathletic.com/1990754/2020/08/12/go-inside-the-hard-knocks-debut-with-our-rams-and-chargers-writers/?source=twittered

The Rams’ equipment and medical staffs showed more insight into the attention to detail they’re paying to keeping everyone safe this year, from the massive open-sided tent to the foot bars placed on drink coolers so that players don’t have to open them up with their hands. Something I appreciated was the in-depth look into the precautions and protocols surrounding COVID-19, coaches having honest discussions about it and players reminding each other to wear their masks.
The Rams, of course, distributed face masks with variations of their new logo on them as players arrived to camp. We also got a look at the new practice facility locker rooms, but they’ve been altered even further to deal with COVID-19 precautions and many lockers have been moved into the former media room.
Aaron Donald getting his blood drawn is all of us — the hulking defensive tackle had to look away as the needle went in.
Cornerback Donte Deayon is an absolute star in this episode. From his one-liner to the nurse as she stuck the swab up his nose during his COVID-19 test — “Buy me dinner first!” — to his lobbying to get out of the media-room locker expansion area into the swankier upgraded room, to his flexing toward Donald … Deayon is already a locker-room favorite, and “Hard Knocks” is playing well to that.
Star cornerback Jalen Ramsey reasonably didn’t want to talk about his contract — he told reporters last week he asked his agent to only call him when it’s done — but “Hard Knocks” sure wanted to talk about it.
As football walkthroughs begin, we get a few glimpses of how the Rams’ plans may unfold. First, McVay is heard outlining a play out of 12 personnel, a formation he utilized heavily in the latter half of the 2019 season. Tight end Tyler Higbee, the direct beneficiary of more 12 personnel in the game plan, was also shown catching a ball from Goff near the end of the episode.
Second, we see running back Darrell Henderson getting carries with the first team. Henderson will likely share duties with veteran Malcom Brown and rookie Cam Akers, but how that distribution shakes out remains to be seen.
Third, we also got a little glimpse at the first-team offensive line from left to right: Andrew Whitworth, Austin Corbett, Austin Blythe, David Edwards and Rob Havenstein.
The Rams couldn’t confirm this when they placed him on the reserve list, but “Hard Knocks” showed that rookie outside linebacker Terrell Lewis tested positive for COVID-19. Lewis revealed that he was on the “10-day incubation plan,” and he’s currently back in the building and asymptomatic, per McVay. Lewis tweeted after the episode aired that he’s doing well.
There are some great (and new) McVay-isms to be heard. In one scene, McVay is sitting with his coaching staff and trying out a new clear plastic face shield that resembles a welding mask. “I don’t give a shit if I look like a total tool that should have a blowtorch over my shoulder,” he cracks. Then, he pretended to diagram a play over the top of the mask, saying, “I’ll carry a bottle of Windex around if I have to.”
Another McVay-ism ends the episode, and it pretty much sums up the head coach. He’s conducting meetings on Zoom, and “Hard Knocks” cuts between his screen and his players. “It’s hot as shit in the Valley,” he says, “I got this freakin’ sun steamin’ in here, I’m sweatin’, I’m excited. Throwing a lot of stuff at you guys. I got a lot more shit, too. Before I move on, does anybody need to go check their pants? Anybody shit themselves yet? How much better will it be when we can say, ‘Let’s get up and do what we really do.’ Play football. Line up. This is why the Zoom stuff is for the birds. I fuckin’ love football and I love you guys.”
We have a little bit of a mystery on our hands at Rams camp as “Hard Knocks” continues. According to McVay in the end credits, somebody excreted solid waste in one of the shared Port-a-Potties. That’s a big no-no. Donald and Sebastian Joseph-Day seem to be on the case — early thoughts from them are that it was someone on the “Hard Knocks” crew.

Kicker Jeff Wilkins was a gamer who didn’t shy away from contact when he had the opportunity to stop a kick returner from entering our endzone. Wilkins once led the team in special teams tackles on the year pic.twitter.com/Nee4bgtc3g

— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) August 12, 2020

And finally, the McVay, shit in the porta potty bit. pic.twitter.com/szcv0nM451

— SeattleRams (@seattlerams_nfl) August 12, 2020

Louis Riddick@LRiddickESPN
#HardKnocks teaching more about procedures, protocols, social distancing, how to attempt function safely/minimize risk during this pandemic than anything else you will see on TV.

Richard Deitschricharddeitsch
That was one of my biggest takeaways from this episode — the repeated messaging on risk (masks etc…) versus reward (getting to play) and particularly from Anthony Lynn, who was so on point with respecting the lives of others.

7 Rams takeaways from ‘Hard Knocks’ Episode 1

Cameron DaSilva

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/lists/hard-knocks-rams-season-premiere-takeaways/

The new season of HBO’s “Hard Knocks: Los Angeles” premiered on Tuesday night, highlighting the start of training camp for both the Rams and the Chargers. It’s the first season ever featuring two teams, and although not much football was shown in the first episode, it did give a peek behind the curtain of how training camps across the league will work with coronavirus protocols.

Considering how little HBO’s producers and crew had to work with, the season premiere was highly entertaining. It was also enlightening with regards to the adjustments teams have to make, what Zoom meetings are like and how they’re getting prepared for the season.

Here are seven takeaways from the first episode of “Hard Knocks: Los Angeles,” specifically pertaining to the Rams.

1
First look at O-line

The offensive line will be a big point of contention this offseason for the Rams with so much still to figure out. But on Tuesday night, we saw a preview of what could be (and should be) the starting unit up front.

Here’s how they were aligned in the walk-through, from left to right.

LT Andrew Whitworth

LG Austin Corbett

C Austin Blythe

RG David Edwards

RT Rob Havenstein

That’s the unit that finished last season with the exception of Bobby Evans at right tackle over Havenstein. It’s the best group of linemen the Rams have right now – at least on paper – and it seems like that’s the direction the coaches are leaning. That would leave Joseph Noteboom and Brian Allen on the outside looking in.

2
Brown and Henderson ahead of Akers at RB

There wasn’t nearly as much on-field work shown in the first episode as there would be in a typical season of “Hard Knocks,” but we did get a glimpse at a few walk-throughs. In the limited plays that were shown, Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson were the running backs getting first-team reps, not the rookie Cam Akers.

That shouldn’t be very surprising, given the sharp transition Akers has to go through as a rookie with no OTAs or minicamp to get him up to speed. All the learning he’s done has been long-distance through Zoom, talking to coaches from home.

At wide receiver, it was also Josh Reynolds ahead of the rookie Van Jefferson.

3
McVay’s coaching style is on full display

After watching one episode of “Hard Knocks” with McVay front and center, it’s easy to see why players love playing for him. He’s personable, hilarious and easy to rally behind thanks to his positive attitude and respect for everyone in the building.

With the show being uncensored, fans got a look at the other side of McVay, who wasn’t afraid to drop F-bombs and question whether his players defecated themselves after taking in all the info he threw at them.

“Before I move on, does anybody need to check their pants? Nobody (expletive) themselves yet?”

He’ll continue to be a highlight of this season of “Hard Knocks” and it’ll be impossible not to love him as a coach – both for Rams fans and football fans in general.

4
Rams’ meeting tent is massive

In order to accommodate the massive roster size and large coaching staff, the Rams built a huge tent that took over the players’ parking lot. It’s 70 yards long and is compared to a Cirque du Soleil tent by the Rams.

With restrictions put in place by the NFL pertaining to meetings and limited capacity inside the facility, the Rams had to call an audible with the tent. And so far, it seems to be working great, allowing the entire offense and defense to meet at once.

5
Dont’e Deayon is going to steal the show

Deayon may not be a household name, but every year on “Hard Knocks,” a lesser-known player steals the show. Deayon is going to be that player this season. His personality was on full display in the season premiere, joking with Aaron Donald that he’s got a better physique than the all-world defensive tackle.

Deayon was hilarious in the first episode, no matter what he was doing – whether it was flexing on Donald or joking about the facility being “like the projects.”

6
Rams getting creative with cadence in walk-throughs

McVay made a point of how the Rams will have a lot of extra time in walk-throughs this year because of the lack of a preseason schedule and limited padded practices. So rather than just going through the motions, he wanted Jared Goff to mix things up a bit.

He instructed his quarterback to get creative with the cadence before the snap, trying to keep defenses off-balance. Goff bought in and agreed with the idea, so we could see some more hard counts and different rhythms at the line this year.

7
Terrell Lewis tested positive for COVID-19

It was revealed on Tuesday night’s episode that Terrell Lewis did indeed test positive for the coronavirus. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list after arriving at training camp, but the reason wasn’t clear; he could’ve simply come in close contact with someone who had the virus.

Lewis said he expects to be out 10 days after being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, which would get him back in the mix with plenty of time before the pads go on beginning Aug. 17.