10 Observations from the Rams first joint practice with the Chargers

Myles Simmons

https://www.therams.com/news/10-observations-joint-practice-with-chargers

1) One notable element of the session was who didn’t participate — wide receiver Cooper Kupp. Head coach Sean McVay said after the session that the Rams held Kupp out for precautionary reasons, not wanting to expose the wideout to a tempo that could jeopardize his progress. But based on everything, that happened, McVay said Kupp would likely be on the field for Saturday’s practice at UC Irvine. Kupp did participate in the separate warmups with the Rams before the two teams came together.

2) During red zone 7-on-7 work, quarterback Jared Goff connected with wideout Brandin Cooks in the back-right corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Cooks ran a nice route and Goff put some good touch on the throw to float it in. McVay mentioned the Rams held Cooks out later on in the session due to some discomfort in Cooks’ hamstring, but the head coach didn’t make it seem like it was too serious.

3) In one-on-ones on the other side of the field with offensive lineman and pass rushers, left tackle Andrew Whitworth used Melvin Ingram’s momentum against him to push the defensive end to the ground before he could make a move. Whitworth may be 37, but he’s still got it.

4) The Rams’ tight ends made some big plays throughout the day, one coming in the red zone 7-on-7 period from Tyler Higbee. Los Angeles was using a two tight end set, Higbee ran a slant on the right side, made the catch, got popped by a defender, but still held on for a touchdown.

5) Goff went back to Higbee during the first 11-on-11 period, hitting the fourth-year tight end down the left sideline off play action for a play that would’ve gone for a touchdown. Goff’s ball placement was strong on the play, dropping it in the bucket for Higbee to run down the field for YAC.

6) With the second offense in for 11-on-11, quarterback Blake Bortles hit wide receiver Mike Thomas on the left side with an intermediate pass. Thomas, who had a strong practice, went up for the catch, got hit as he went to the ground, but still held on. Bortles has gone to Thomas a bunch throughout the first week of camp.

7) In red zone 11-on-11 drills, tight end Gerald Everett caught a pass and tiptoed the end line for a touchdown. Whitworth neutralized Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa in the backfield, giving Goff time to complete the pass as the play developed.

8) Early on for an 11-on-11 “move the ball” drill, Goff faked left, booted to his right, and then connected with a wide open Higbee for a big gain down the right side of the field. Again, Goff’s ball placement was just right for the tight end to continue running.

9) On the same drill, the offense ended the drive with a touchdown as Goff once again connected with Everett in the red zone. The tight end got his feet in quickly for a second time, but in this instance he was at the front right pylon.

10) In a two-minute period with the second-team offense toward the end of practice, Bortles threw a pass to JoJo Natson that the receiver was able to run under to make a nice catch as he approached the sideline. It was one of a few nice receptions for Natson on the day — prompting running back Todd Gurley to quip at his press conference that both Natson and Thomas “had a day.”

Cameron DaSilva

from: https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2019/08/01/nfl-rams-chargers-camp-practice-notes-takeaways/

Here are notes and takeaways from practice, which was shown live on NFL Network.

* Mike Thomas had a good day of practice, filling in for Brandin Cooks after his hamstring tightened up. He made a nice leaping catch along the sideline in front of a defender on an out route, coming down with the contested grab.

* McVay didn’t seem concerned about Cooks’ hamstring, saying it just “got a little bit tight” so the Rams pulled him off the field as a precautionary measure. According to Vincent Bonsignore of The Athletic, Dakota Allen and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo were also held out of practice.

* Cory Littleton got beat by running back Justin Jackson on two consecutive plays, one of which went for a touchdown.

* It was only one rep, but Melvin Ingram made Andrew Whitworth look silly. He beat the veteran left tackle with an outside fake before cutting to the inside, barely getting touched by Whitworth on his way by.

* Todd Gurley was a full participant, working with the first-team offense. Cooper Kupp’s workload was lighter, which McVay says was intentional. He wanted to get a feel for the speed and intensity of practice before throwing Kupp out there.

* It was a solid showing for the Rams’ tight ends against the Chargers. Tyler Higbee broke free early in practice for a huge gain as Jared Goff hit him in stride with a perfect pass. In red zone drills, Gerald Everett hauled in a touchdown grab in the back of the end zone. Again, it was a great throw by Goff to drop it over the second-level defenders and into Everett’s hands.

YES SIR! 👏@lightningstrk12 | #RamsCamp pic.twitter.com/EVVW9EBd7s

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 1, 2019

* Once again, it was Joseph-Day getting first-team reps at nose tackle, not Greg Gaines. He lined up between Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers, along with Dante Fowler Jr. and Clay Matthews playing OLB. Joseph-Day has received rave reviews from reporters in attendance all week, as well as coaches. He’s the clear No. 1 guy at nose tackle right now, though there’s still time for the rookie Gaines to catch up. They both should see a lot of playing time in the preseason as the Rams sort this position out.

Downtown Rams [DTR]@DowntownRams
Todd Gurley just now on NFL Network: Dante Fowler has been getting to the ball as fast as Aaron Donald. He’s here on a one year deal and we should probably bring him back for more.

Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
#Rams 1st team defensive front: Joseph-Day, Fowler, Matthews, Brockers, Donald

I think right now, just based on what I’ve seen, Joesph-Day is playing better than Greg Gaines.

Nearly a full practice in with #Rams and #Chargers here in Costa Mesa, and the focus has remained entirely on work. No skirmishes or fisticuffs. Sean McVay and Anthony Lynn were pretty adamant they wanted that to be the case. Looks like the message was heard loud and clear

#Rams offense 7 on 7 Red Zone (12 yard line) drill against #Chargers: four plays four TD passes from Jared Goff to Higbee, Gurley, Reynolds, Cooks

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
Sean McVay said Brandin Cooks’ hamstring “got a little bit tight” during practice, so the Rams pulled him out as a precaution.

There were 10 RBs voted into the #NFLTop100@sj39 decided to do his own re-ranking of those 10 RBs 👇 pic.twitter.com/vYm3lkTKPn

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 1, 2019

Some follow-up

bubbaramfan
Gaines might be in the mix, but so far in TC, he’s #2. Jo-Day has been playing with the ones. Day is clearly bigger, faster and has shown great tenacity and drive. I’ve watched the DL group during their hitting the sled drills, coming out on snap drills zigging and zagging around the dummies and Jo-Day is right there with AD and Brockers as far as delivering the biggest “pop”. It’s also worth noting that when they are standing around, Brockers and AD are constantly talking to Jo-Day, more so than Gaines.

It remains to be seen how it all translates to the field against other competition. We’ll get that today in Costa Mesa when the Rams scrimmage the Chargers. I’ll be there.

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den-the-coach

Sebastian Joseph-Day had a great off season. He’s come back bigger and stronger then his red shirt year as a rookie and looks primed to battle Gaines to start at Nose Tackle. I loved Joseph-Day at Rutgers, one of the players that shined in a program that in most cases was overwhelmed by their competition. I expect both players to have major impacts improving the run defense as well as freeing up Aaron Donald some.

After total touchdowns, @TG3II jumps up to No. 5 on the #NFLTop100!

Top 10 two years in a row 🙌

After 2️⃣1️⃣ total touchdowns, @TG3II jumps up to No. 5 on the #NFLTop100! pic.twitter.com/o5s2hmzp7N

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) August 1, 2019

The Analysis Team over at #PFF ranks each team's receiving group going into 2019, and the #Rams receivers come in as the 3rd best corps in the league!

Find out why we're so high on the #LA group over and where other teams rank in the link below 👇:https://t.co/RlMk2Mx8ZU

— PFF LA Rams (@PFF_Rams) July 31, 2019

Some follow-up & other bits re: Day 4

So Ram

I think Noteboom & Brian Allen are doing an excellent job upfront. The depth at guard is my biggest concern. I’m still not solid on Austin Blythe. He is a good technician though. He Maneuvers defense of lineman around well. He gets over powered easy.

Here is Austin Blythe on his back legs trying to block. Not great form. Just saying I’m not a big fan & this doesnot help change my Perspective of his play. My point is I believe he is the weak link the last 4 games of the season & playoffs. He played real well against Dallas though.

Bump. This is the most interesting thing to come out of camp so far.

Some follow-up & other bits re: Day 4

Safety Blitz

I attended two practices and am again going today. Who impressed me most?

Henderson..amazing acceleration and great hands. This guy will pick up the slack.

Weddle always talking to teammates…great communicator.

Gurley not limping at all and Kupp looks ready to rock.

MCVAY IS A RELATIONSHIP GENIUS.

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theduke

Gaines may be short, but he is wide. I think he and Sebastian-Day will spell for each other on run/pass plays. Gaines is a big boy, and he will be a roadblock in the middle. We don’t need him to get push up the middle (though he certainly does that!!); we need him to just clog the middle.

Rapp looks good, but I’m a bit concerned that he’s often just standing around instead of communicating with the ones in the secondary—Talib, Peters, Weddle, and Johnson. With his helmet off, he really looks like a lost little high school kid, but I think he’s going to factor in pretty well.

David Long is a true technician. His athleticism doesn’t really jump out at you, but he had really good technique. He got beat on a crisp five-yard slant by Michael Thomas, but I think that’s because he was on an island and his responsibility was not to get beat deep. He came in and made the tackle right after the catch was made. On another play, he was isolated wide on Robert Woods, and he was able to knock the ball away. He did a really good job of using the sideline to squeeze Woods before reaching out to bat the ball away. I am VERY excited about David Long.

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So Ram

I think Noteboom & Brian Allen are doing an excellent job upfront. The depth at guard is my biggest concern. I’m still not solid on Austin Blythe. He is a good technician though. He Maneuvers defense of lineman around well. He gets over powered easy.
Kolone actually looks okay. He is a strong guy.Evans & Edwards are moving around a lot.Looking forward to the preseason.

Bill Johnson is gone , so the D’line Is going to bring in a different mind set. Wade adapts well
to different types off fronts.

I saw Marquis Christian in a lot.

The rookie Taylor Rapp did not show much except a little on special teams. Did not pick up on Nick Scott. There were a couple sleepers out there.

The Rams Depth is pretty good.

A late Day 3, 7/29 entry.

Rampage2K

First of all, I wish y’all had a chance to make it out to one of these open practices….the Rams have come along way since their first year back and just keep adding more to an already fantastic experience…shaded bleachers, kids zone, food court, beer garden, team gear store, stage for the legends, autograph booths, free swag, etc. the Rams truly are a first class organization
Amazing thinking back to 1994 when you could just walk up and watch practice on a beat up field with about 10-20 other fans…. no bleachers, no food, no fanfare, nothing. Times sure have changed as it has become a festival of sorts with thousands of fans, even on a Monday afternoon

Ok back to the day….Cool to walk into the main concourse and see all the legends there just hanging out, signing or on stage talking Rams. Not much of an autograph hound so I headed up to the fields to watch the players warm up and get some good seats. Got lucky by sweet talking to some little cutie at the season ticket members booth and she hooked me up with a “preferred seating” pass that was a sectioned off bleacher with free snacks and beverages….definitely a nice surprise.

Watching the QB’s warm up there is no doubt who the starter is as Goff just throws such a better looking ball with zip…Bortles looked good too, he’s a big kid. Him and Goff seem to be buddies as they were always hanging out and doing drills with each other …. at the end of practice they walked over to the southeast side of the fields and had a little battle of throwing the ball in the big yellow trash can….Bortles made one, Goff was close but didn’t get one in. Pretty fun to watch

Gurley, looks fast and no indication that he is hurt…looked great. Once again he ended his day on the juggs machine like he always does.

Looks like McVay finally might have found his Chris Thompson in the form of rookie Darrell Henderson … dude catches everything and is quite shifty. A short guy, but not little… can’t wait to see him in preseason

Not only do the Rams have three great WR’s, they now have four!!! Reynolds looks like a different player compared to last training camp…. he stole the show today by getting wide open on a long bomb with a perfect throw from Goff…. Woods dropped and easy TD in red zone portion, but he won’t do that in a game ever.

Not a lot of physical stuff as they were in shells as opposed to fully padded.

Fun to watch McVay do what he loves and that is coaching them up…he’s all over the place and always coaching.

GZ was booming 60 yarders right at us….and Hekk was drilling punts as usual

NRC made a hell of an INT

Rapp seemed to get plenty of reps with the ones…looks good.

Everett and Higbee look like men amongst boys out there….they should both be improved in 2020

Big Whit had the day off

That’s all I really got….Always seems to go by so fast.

Jared Goff is better than what the fans and the media think #Herdin60 pic.twitter.com/FaVkwufAex

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 31, 2019