Another day. Another beauty of a throw from Goff to Kupp. This one is a touchdown #RamsCamp pic.twitter.com/X5CKfJtxPh

— Downtown Rams [DTR] (@DowntownRams) July 28, 2019

Howard Balzer@HBalzer721
NFL’s 100th season begins in four days with the Hall of Fame Game in Canton. When I went to my first enshinement in 1980, never imagined I’d still be covering the league 39 years later, be the co-host of the HOF Radio show on SiriusXM and be a Hall selector. Truly blessed.

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😍😍😍 pic.twitter.com/7nTpP1ZYiW

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) July 28, 2019

bubbaramfan

Just got home from TC. Had a great time with the fellas. Wow! Was it packed with Ram Fans today. All the stand were full and standing room only around the field. I bet there were over 5,000, by far the biggest crowd at TC since they came from St Louis. Hot, mid 80’s.

I got there at a little after 3, and found a seat in the south stands at 45 yd line. QB’s were already out there taking snaps from Allen, Hrynkiewicz, Kolone and Chandler Brewer, throwing to coaches. Allen looks bigger, Hrnky is even bigger. I could see right away Bortles is a huge upgrade over Mannion. Goff, Bortles and Wolford all throw tight spirals, Brandon Allen looks a step behind. I liked what I saw from Wolford.

LB’s were first to come out in front of my section. (no way I could move around, too crowded). LB coach had them stripping away balls. They did this several ways, punching from underneath, over the top and just slamming the ball any way they could. Lots of “Ohhhss and Ahhs” from the crowd. Next they practiced covering screen passes. Coaches played as RB’s. Then some “tip ball” drills.

LB play that stood out: Mathews doesn’t look like he’s lost a step. He’s as quick as any other LB, Littleton is buffed, Kiser was practicing intense and quick. Hager is a hitter, liked what I saw there. I wasn’t impressed with Oko, he looks like he’s holding back a little. Ketner Kupp, Coops’s brother, is not going to make the team, noticeably slower.

Next group was the DL. They started with hitting the sleds after zigging around a dummy. Of course AD got the loudest “pop”. Brockers was right there, He looks bigger and is very quick. F-Meyers looked good. Gaines a bit slower, but showed power. But DL who impressed me most? Joseph-Day. He’s almost as big as Brockers and looks very quick. Next drill was speed rush around dummy, and lean into coach with ball. AD and J-D swatted ball out real quick. Boogie Roberts, who I liked going into TC, was a disappointment. He is slow, and could barely move the sled. It’s only the first day though.

Because we were in the south stands, we didn’t get to see 7 on 7 and 11 on 11. that was on the north field and the stands over there were packed. I could only see with binoculars and hard to make out player numbers. I did see Gurley out there. Don’t think he’s be out there if he was still hurt.

Of course I missed stuff because of shooting the breeze, but all in all it was a good practice, players were into it.

Players that stood out to me:

Blake Bortles. Not hard for the average fan to see this guy is a much better QB than Sean Mannion. I can’t wait to see him in pre-season, not only to see how good he really is, but him being better than Mannion, we can see how good the new WR’s in camp are.

Sebastian Joseph-Day. Almost a mirror image of Brockers. this guy is cut and quick. Only day one of practice, but he stood out today.

Mathews looked good.

About all I can give right now. I was disappointed I didn’t get to see the 7 on 7 and 11 on 11. I’ll be there tomorrow and expect a big crowd again. I’ll make it a point to get to the OL and DB’s.

Of course I’ve left stuff out, but when I remember I’ll post here.

Ncromwell21

Was at camp both Gurley and Kupp looked sharp. Kupp still appears to be Goff’s security blanket. Made some great catches.

Goff still needs to improve on taking the check down he still waits for the deep ball to open up too much this was evident on a pick he threw to talib in the endzone.

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Karate61

So Gaines…I don’t know. He looks short, stocky, and slow today.

Gurley. You wouldn’t know anything was wrong just watching him.

Brockers looks scary large in person.

Bortles was super fan friendly, and he looks a lot taller in stature in person. Him and Goff looked sharp today. Gotta be the best #1,#2 quarterback duo of any team this year.

Daryl Henderson. My god he is short. Tiny. But looked lightening fast during special teams drills. I bet he returns either kickoffs or punts, or both.

Donald…he looked playoff ready…already. Lightning fast hand speed on some edge rushing bag drills.

Our new guy Rapp looks fast.

Kupp = full speed. He was running routes in warm ups in the end zone real close to us fans, digging hard into the turf as he made cuts. A lot of strain on the knees with those cuts. So, he seemed 100% from what I saw. He looked big, and in great shape overall too.

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Elvis

So, it was packed, most people ever at camp i would imagine. Not too hot, little bit of breeze, really not too bad considering how hot it was in most of L.A.

Gurley, didn’t look great to me but looked good. He seemed stiff, less effortless, less smooth a lot of the time, didn’t take a ton of reps but on one play, a little dump off from Goff in 11 on 11, he looked great, just like you’d expect Todd Gurley to look, quick, fast, effortless, perfect. I didn’t have the best vantage point so i may have missed a lot of what Gurley was doing today. This won’t be my only look at him in camp.

Offense looked good, a couple nice TD’s from Goff to Cooks, one bomb and someone shouted “where was that in the Super Bowl?” (Actually it was me, i muttered it, but i’m someone.) Woods looks good. Kupp is good to go, took a ton of reps, looked great. Goff did get picked by Talib covering Woods and there was a botched snap, i think, again didn’t have the best vantage point.

Bortles looked good a lot of the time too, though he did have a turnover or two. He had several nice completions to Jojo Natson. I’ve been skeptical of Jojo’s chances of making the team but if he can up his receiving game, i may have to change my mind. Mike Thomas had some action from Bortles too.

John Kelly got a lot of reps including with the first team, based on today, seems like he figures in the Rams plans.

Henderson got a lot of work too, with the ones and the twos, a lot of balls thrown his way.

Like i said, it was really crowded so i didn’t do a lot of moving around, mostly watched whatever was in front of me so my impressions could be different than what others were seeing.

Anyway, that’s day one.

I’ll be back Monday.

There is a gentleman wearing No. 99 at #RamsCamp this year, apparently hoping to earn a @RamsNFL roster spot, despite appearing undersized.

Will report further once we get his name and position. pic.twitter.com/EtHgiCX6is

— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) July 27, 2019

WR Cooper Kupp — also back #LARams pic.twitter.com/XKvs3zz0Ss

— Myles Simmons (@MylesASimmons) July 27, 2019

🗣 WHOSE HOUSE?!#RamsCamp is officially here! pic.twitter.com/NIRxx5QBko

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) July 27, 2019

Andrew Whitworth is once again treating this training camp like it could be his last https://t.co/SmkIUS2snT

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) July 27, 2019

Training camp from the early 90s to today sure have improved in every way! @RamsNFL #GoodLuckRams pic.twitter.com/AUkf4giNEw

— 𝒥𝒾𝓂 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉 (@Jim_Everett) July 27, 2019

Rams to work though Super Bowl pain at training camp

Joe Curley

https://www.vcstar.com/get-access/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vcstar.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fnfl%2Frams%2F2019%2F07%2F26%2Frams-work-though-super-bowl-pain-training-camp%2F1842479001%2F

THOUSAND OAKS — The confetti fell. The Los Angeles Rams left Atlanta without the Lombardi Trophy. And the NFL has continued to churn throughout the last six months.

The mysterious state of the star running back’s knee. The young quarterback’s potential nine-figure contract extension. Fresh faces on the offensive line and down the middle of the defense.

Sean McVay hope to shake off last year’s disappointing finish in the Super Bowl and maintain the Rams’ quick ascension to one of the NFL’s premier teams. (Photo: The Associated Press)

Those will be the primary topics as the Rams opened training camp this weekend at UC Irvine, even if the disappointment of Super Bowl LIII lingers in the back of the team’s mind.

“I know it still hurts to talk about it,” cornerback Marcus Peters said, “but we’re talking about this year now.”

Sean McVay joked on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in July that the head coach still thinks about the 13-3 loss to New England in Super Bowl LIII “every minute.”

Although, McVay told Kimmel, “You can’t allow it to hijack your ability to move forward.”

“It’s the best season that I’ve ever been a part of,” McVay said about last year’s 13-3 campaign, which included the franchise’s first NFC title in 17 years and allowed Los Angeles to experience its first Super Bowl since 1984.

“It certainly does give you a motivation and a drive to do better, if you do get that opportunity again.”

Rectifying the missed opportunity in February will be the biggest test for McVay in his stellar young career.

Although he has the advantage of an up-close view of the blueprint. By beating the Rams, New England became the first team to win the Super Bowl after losing it the previous season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

But even getting back is a rarity. New England was the first Super Bowl loser to return to the big game in 24 years.

Since Buffalo reached four straight Super Bowls from 1991 to 1994, only three teams that have lost the Super Bowl have returned to the conference championship game. Historically, only 37 percent of teams who have lost a Super Bowl have responded by winning a single playoff game.

So for many reasons, the 2019 season will be the stiffest test of the winning culture the Rams have built over the past two seasons.

Physically, the returning players bore a bigger burden than 31 of 32 other teams in 2018.

“There’s massive different load that’s put on your body playing that much more football,” said veteran offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, who will return for his 14th NFL season. “So there’s definitely a toll it takes on you.”

Strategically, McVay admitted in April that the extended season forced the team to adjust how it prepared for the draft.

“When we got to the combine,” McVay said, “it seemed like it was pretty quick, where we were a little bit behind where we typically are.”

And emotionally, the players and coaches will have to return to square one and, once again, begin pushing the rock back up the tallest of hills.

“If you’re worried about proving that you’re going to win one, that’s a foolish thing to say,” Whitworth said. “I think it’s more about, ‘You know what, we’re ready to take the challenge on of trying to get back there.’ ”

Quarterback Jared Goff said the Rams will attempt to approach every day “like we would have had we won that game.”

“Our process isn’t going to change based on one game,” Goff said.

Although the game plan might. Despite averaging more than 30 points per game under McVay, finishing first and second in the league in scoring the past two seasons, the Rams were held without a touchdown by Chicago and New England late in the season.

Does that suggest the Rams just missed injured receiver Cooper Kupp? Or do they need to evolve beyond their reliance on 11 personnel? Under McVay, they have been on the forefront of the league trend to use one running back, one tight end and three receivers.

While the league used the personnel grouping on about two thirds of offensive snaps, the Rams were still an outlier, using it a league-high 90% of snaps, according to Sharp Football.

They’ve used five offensive groupings in two seasons under McVay, while Chicago, New Orleans and Baltimore have used more than 30, according to Next Gen Stats.

“It’s a balance,” said McVay. “You’ve got to have an identity and you want to figure out what’s the best way to get your best players on the field, but then also, what are the best ways that you can try to create conflict for the defense?”

The Rams were on pace to become the first team in a decade to have three receivers with 1,000-yard seasons when Kupp suffered a knee injury in Week 10. Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks both went to catch at least 80 passes for 1,200 yards and five touchdowns.

“It’s about the players,” McVay said. “We feel like we got a lot of production. But you also want to make sure that you’re versatile enough not to be predictable and get stagnant.”

Kupp took part in non-contact drills during offseason workouts and was cleared to join the team at the beginning of training camp.

Todd Gurley’s knee might pose a longer-term issue. The running back led the NFL in touchdowns the last two seasons, despite missing the last two games of the regular season with a knee injury.

Gurley, who became the highest-paid running back in NFL history last summer, had averaged 23 touches per game under McVay. After returning to the lineup in January, his workload was halved to 11 touches per game in the three playoff games.

Gurley was not on the field with the team during offseason workouts, opting instead for his own training plan.

“Our goal is to get him ready to go for camp,” McVay said.

Gurley’s trainer, Travelle Gaines, told CBS Sports’ Dave Richard in June that the running back is managing an “arthritic component to his knee,” stemming from the injury that ended his Georgia career.

Gurley, who is not expected to take the field in the preseason, has downplayed the injury.

“I had bigger problems to worry about coming out of college,” Gurley said. “This is small.”

But the Rams made sure to build depth at the running back position in the offseason. They matched a restricted free-agent offer from Detroit for Gurley’s backup, Malcolm Brown, and drafted the explosive Darrell Henderson from Memphis in the third round.

“His explosiveness, his hands, his smoothness, his quickness are all really good,” Goff said of Henderson. “You can see why we liked him.”

One year after giving Gurley a $60 million contract extension, the Rams are on the cusp of giving Goff an extension that would make him one of the highest paid players in the NFL. The deal is expected to surpass the four-year, $128 million extension Philadelphia gave to quarterback Carson Wentz in June.

McVay, the quarterback guru who has yet to draft a player at the position, said the Rams intend Goff to be their quarterback “for a long time.”

“With what Jared’s done over the last couple years, you can’t argue with the production and how good we feel about him being our quarterback,” McVay said.

After two offseasons muddied by contract negotiations, the Rams have been boosted in the offseason by the sight of two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald.

“To have Aaron here really helps,” defensive coordinator Wade Phillip said. “He’s such a hard worker and a great example, great players influence other players.”

Together the Rams will attempt to “wipe the slate clean,” McVay said, and continue to build on their recent winning culture.

“I think you want to learn from the past, you want to be able to take some of the things that we learned that help us sustain a certain level of success,” McVay said. “Not lose sight of those things, but understand that you have to earn it every single day.

“I think our players will take that approach. We’ve got to produce right now. That’s the biggest thing.”

Omar Ruiz@OmarDRuiz
#Rams GM Les Snead says “it’s not a matter of if, but when” on a contract extension for QB Jared Goff.

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from https://www.therams.com/news/quotes-notes-rams-vets-give-their-thoughts-as-they-check-in-for-2019-training-ca

“It makes it really easy. Just going out there and working, practicing, and in games — I know where the ball is going to be every single time.”
— WR Robert Woods
Woods is entering his third season with quarterback Jared Goff, and the number reflect their strong chemistry.

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
Aaron Donald’s workload will depend on “how much he’s wrecking things” in practice.

McVay said if he’s dominating too much, he’ll be standing on the sideline

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Rams DT Aaron Donald arrives at training camp. And I would already be low-key scared if I were a QB. pic.twitter.com/Pntd26bMip

— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) July 26, 2019

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
I was never able to crack Les Snead’s contract situation. I believe his/Fisher’s deals both were up after 2016. Fisher got a 2-year extension but the length of Snead’s extension was never reported. If Snead’s was for 2 years, he should have been up after last season but…

…I was told multiple times that 2018 was *not* the last year of Les’ deal. Which means a) his 2016 extension was for more years than Fisher, which is revealing about the Rams’ mindset at the time, or b) something else got worked out between 2016-18 (maybe when Sean got hired).

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Sando: https://theathletic.com/1094216/2019/07/25/sando-what-i-liked-and-didnt-like-about-2019-quarterback-tiers/

Respect for Goff

The Los Angeles Rams’ Jared Goff was not universally loved as a prospect coming out of college. His first NFL season was a disaster, and some wondered if he could recover. Now that Goff is succeeding, it’s easy to shift credit to coach Sean McVay, running back Todd Gurley and talented wide receivers.

I felt as though voters got it right by placing Goff solidly in the second tier. He does have a hole or two in his game, as the second-tier criteria allow. There are questions about how well he would fare in a less favorable situation. But Goff has proven that when things are right around him, he can produce at an elite level.

It’s good to see voters change their views in light of changing evidence.