Threads
-
To unlock all of features of Rams On Demand please take a brief moment to register. Registering is not only quick and easy, it also allows you access to additional features such as live chat, private messaging, and a host of other apps exclusive to Rams On Demand.
Jon Gruden to coach the Bucs in 2018?
- By Prime Time
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 43 Replies
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...of-dirk-koetter-for-jon-gruden-swap-persists/
Scuttlebutt of Dirk Koetter for Jon Gruden swap persists
Posted by Mike Florio on December 24, 2017
One week from today, the coaching carousel will go from dormant to high speed. And one of the various vacancies (there could be anywhere from eight to 10 total) could arise in Tampa, where a termination of Dirk Koetter would continue the team’s recent two-and-out trend.
The current thinking is that G.M. Jason Licht will remain in place, but that coach Dirk Koetter will be replaced, potentially by former Bucs coach Jon Gruden.
It remains unclear whether Gruden wants to return to coaching. Indeed, it’s unclear what he wants at all. Though he initiated the chatter in 2017 by speaking openly about returning at a time when many had assumed that he’d joined Bill Cowher as guys who won’t ever be coming back, there has been no clarity regarding whether Gruden is looking to return to the Bucs, to join some other team, or to parlay interest in his coaching services into a better deal with ESPN. (Or, given Bristol’s current financial difficulties, a deal not as bad as what ESPN may want him to take.)
Whatever the Buccaneers do, the sense is that they already know what it will be. Ownership has a habit of making a move to dump a coach only when they know the name of the replacement. And so, for Koetter, the question becomes whether he returns for a third season if Gruden ultimately decides not to return to coaching.
He returned to the Bucs on Monday night, donning his visor and saying all the right things about ownership as the franchise placed him in the Ring of Honor. Few get to go to work in a place where their names already have been immortalized; that dynamic could make ownership somewhat less inclined to continue to shove a revolving door that spins after ever few full-season cycles.
Since making Gruden a surprise firing after the 2008 season, the Bucs have hired, and fired, Raheem Morris (three years), Greg Schiano (two), and Lovie Smith (two). Koetter got the job in 2016, at a time when it’s believed the Buccaneers feared that another team would hire him to be a head coach elsewhere.
The two years under Koetter have been average at best. A late-season run in 2016 helped boost expectations to an arguably unrealistic level in 2017. Now, with the Bucs possibly being the only team in the NFC South not to make the playoffs, the Glazer family may be ready to bring back the last coach who took them to the postseason.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...th-assistant-coaches-about-joining-his-staff/
Jon Gruden touching base with assistant coaches about joining his staff
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 24, 2017
Getty Images
Amid increasing talk that Jon Gruden will coach the Buccaneers next season, he’s taking the first steps toward compiling a staff.
Gruden has reached out to former assistants and friends in the coaching business to see if they’d be interested in joining his staff if he takes another head-coaching job, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
That doesn’t mean Gruden is going to take another job, but it does mean he’s interested enough in the possibility that he is thinking about more than just what he’ll say if some owner offers him more money than ESPN is currently paying him.
The 54-year-old Gruden has been out of coaching for nine years, and it’s anyone’s guess how many of his past assistants would jump at the opportunity to work for him again. But he’s going to see what kind of staff he can build, even before he has a new job.
Scuttlebutt of Dirk Koetter for Jon Gruden swap persists
Posted by Mike Florio on December 24, 2017
One week from today, the coaching carousel will go from dormant to high speed. And one of the various vacancies (there could be anywhere from eight to 10 total) could arise in Tampa, where a termination of Dirk Koetter would continue the team’s recent two-and-out trend.
The current thinking is that G.M. Jason Licht will remain in place, but that coach Dirk Koetter will be replaced, potentially by former Bucs coach Jon Gruden.
It remains unclear whether Gruden wants to return to coaching. Indeed, it’s unclear what he wants at all. Though he initiated the chatter in 2017 by speaking openly about returning at a time when many had assumed that he’d joined Bill Cowher as guys who won’t ever be coming back, there has been no clarity regarding whether Gruden is looking to return to the Bucs, to join some other team, or to parlay interest in his coaching services into a better deal with ESPN. (Or, given Bristol’s current financial difficulties, a deal not as bad as what ESPN may want him to take.)
Whatever the Buccaneers do, the sense is that they already know what it will be. Ownership has a habit of making a move to dump a coach only when they know the name of the replacement. And so, for Koetter, the question becomes whether he returns for a third season if Gruden ultimately decides not to return to coaching.
He returned to the Bucs on Monday night, donning his visor and saying all the right things about ownership as the franchise placed him in the Ring of Honor. Few get to go to work in a place where their names already have been immortalized; that dynamic could make ownership somewhat less inclined to continue to shove a revolving door that spins after ever few full-season cycles.
Since making Gruden a surprise firing after the 2008 season, the Bucs have hired, and fired, Raheem Morris (three years), Greg Schiano (two), and Lovie Smith (two). Koetter got the job in 2016, at a time when it’s believed the Buccaneers feared that another team would hire him to be a head coach elsewhere.
The two years under Koetter have been average at best. A late-season run in 2016 helped boost expectations to an arguably unrealistic level in 2017. Now, with the Bucs possibly being the only team in the NFC South not to make the playoffs, the Glazer family may be ready to bring back the last coach who took them to the postseason.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...th-assistant-coaches-about-joining-his-staff/
Jon Gruden touching base with assistant coaches about joining his staff
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 24, 2017
Getty Images
Amid increasing talk that Jon Gruden will coach the Buccaneers next season, he’s taking the first steps toward compiling a staff.
Gruden has reached out to former assistants and friends in the coaching business to see if they’d be interested in joining his staff if he takes another head-coaching job, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
That doesn’t mean Gruden is going to take another job, but it does mean he’s interested enough in the possibility that he is thinking about more than just what he’ll say if some owner offers him more money than ESPN is currently paying him.
The 54-year-old Gruden has been out of coaching for nine years, and it’s anyone’s guess how many of his past assistants would jump at the opportunity to work for him again. But he’s going to see what kind of staff he can build, even before he has a new job.
Bonsignore: Jeff Fisher taking credit where it isn’t due, and still making excuses for failures
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 35 Replies
Former Rams coach Jeff Fisher, seen last season with quarterback Jared Goff, said he projected Goff to be capable of the kind of season he’s had in 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)
By VINCENT BONSIGNORE | vbonsignore@scng.com | Daily News
December 23, 2017 at 2:01 pm
In the spirit of the holiday season, it’s probably best we simply let Jeff Fisher’s comments about the Rams remarkable turnaround season, and the over-inflated role he believes he played in it, slide.
On the night before Christmas, with Sean McVay and Jared Goff and Todd Gurley and Aaron Donald one win away from delivering to their fans and Los Angeles an NFC West division championship — and who could have imagined that big shiny gift sitting under their Christmas tree one year ago? — the noble thing would be to laugh off Fisher as a guy who had one too many egg noggs.
But then Fisher and Dave McGinnis, his right-hand man during an unremarkable five-year Rams coaching run, were so egregious in their attempt to prop themselves up as the architects of this emerging power steamrolling its way across the NFL, it simply can’t go discarded.
The Rams can secure their first NFC West title in 14 years Sunday with a win over the Tennessee Titans. If so, they’ll culminate one of the most stunning about faces in NFL history by roaring all the way back from a 4-12 record in 2016 and the 13 other non-winning seasons that preceded it.
The way Fisher and McGinnis would have us believe, they set the whole thing up for McVay to simply swoop on in, tinker with things a little bit and then enjoy the ride of his life thanks to the stacked team they graciously left behind.
In a pair of recent interviews that can only be described as widely myopic, Fisher and McGinnis took some incredible leeway in taking some massive bows for the work McVay, the nearly completely overhauled coaching staff he built, and general manager Les Snead have done to turn the Rams around.
“I’m a huge fan of the Ram players,” Fisher said on Nashville’s The Midday 180 on Friday. “They’re basically — I don’t want to say my players, but I had a lot to do with that roster. Left them in pretty good shape. And Sean, as he’s proven in this very short period of time, is an outstanding young coach. And he’s got the offense rolling, which they needed.”
Said McGinnis: “First of all, Jeff Fisher and I, we built this roster, you know what I’m saying? So I know these guys very, very well.”
You can read everything McGinnis said here. And you can read what Fisher said — including all the excuses he makes for his overall Rams failure here.
To which we say to all of it: Bah humbug!
Yes, Fisher deserves some credit for some of the defensive players he and Snead drafted during their five years together. Donald, Alec Ogletree, Michael Brockers, Trumaine Johnson and Lamarcus Joyner were all drafted under Fisher’s watch.
And absolutely Fisher was in charge when Gurley, Goff and starting linemen Rob Havenstein, Jamon Brown were drafted and special teams aces Pharoh Cooper, Johnny Hekker and Greg Zuerlein were acquired.
He also had help from Snead and the Rams scouting department, although you’d never know that listening to him and McGinnis rewrite history as the two men most responsible for the current Rams roster.
In the meantime, they completely glossed over the whole part about developing players and putting them in the best possible position to succeed and, ultimately, building a cohesive, competitive, functional team that can compete at the highest levels of the NFL.
For which Fisher was an abstract failure with the Rams. So for him to suggest he had everything set up for McVay is, frankly, laughable.
Fisher was in charge of the Rams for five seasons, including last year’s laughable first step back into Los Angeles in which 90,000+ crowds to begin the season dwindled to the mid 40,000’s after thousands upon thousands of fans decided they no longer wanted to waste their Sunday afternoon watching the kind of stomach-turning product Fisher and his staff were delivering.
The Rams weren’t just bad, they were epically boring and unimaginative.
The offensive philosophy was some dusted off relic straight out of the 1970’s, the foundation of which rested on a run game that would ultimately open things up through the air. The way Fisher saw it, you establish Gurley on the ground then create favorable situations for quarterbacks Case Keenum, and later Goff, with play action passes. Behind all that, you had a stellar defense and potent special teams to help keep games close.
What could go wrong, right? Everything, as it turns out.
All because Fisher was too hard-headed to make the necessary offensive adjustments to support the philosophy he preached.
After trading away six picks to surge to the top of the draft to select Goff, Fisher hung his young rookie out to dry by paying lip service to the necessary elements of quarterback and offensive development.
A defensive-minded head coach, Fisher inexplicably elevated veteran tight ends coach Rob Boras to offensive coordinator. Chris Weinke, who had absolutely zero track record in honing and nurturing rookie quarterbacks into eventual NFL standouts, was entrusted as Goff’s quarterback coach.
No upgrades were made along the offensive line, specifically left tackle, where Greg Robinson was grading out among the worst in the NFL.
And with an obvious need to improve a woeful wide receivers group, Fisher stubbornly kept the status quo intact. That meant Kenny Britt and Brian Quick and Tavon Austin were the three primary targets for Keenum and then Goff.
The lack of any real attention to the offense was an appalling oversight by Fisher. Gurley went from NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year to bust, as teams continually stacked the line of scrimmage and dared the Rams to beat them through the air.
A woeful offensive line could not counter by powering open holes. The pass protection was even worse. Britt, Quick and Austin were unreliable route runners and inconsistent pass catchers to whom defenses paid minimal respect.
By the end of the year, Gurley was calling the Rams offense “middle school” caliber. From overall talent to scheme to play calling, he was spot on.
When Goff finally got the starting role in the second half of the season, he was nothing more than a punching bag while getting ravaged by 26 sacks across seven games. Done in by a woeful supporting cast, unimaginative game plans and a complete and utter inability by coaches to make any adjustment.
In lieu of actual solutions to pressing issues, Fisher and his staff kept feeding us: “We’ll fix it.” “We just have to execute better.” For longtime Rams fans, it was the frustrating loop that played over and over and over during Fisher’s tenure.
When he was finally let go with three games left in the 2016 season, his final tally as the chief architect of the Rams was 31-45-1 and not a single playoff appearance. By the end of his run the Rams were getting worse, not better.
Fisher wasn’t solely responsible for the awful football teams he oversaw. But the bulk of the buck always has to stop somewhere, and with Fisher having the loudest say in coaching and personnel decisions and carte blanche to impose his will on the direction and vision of the on-field product, he was absolutely the most culpable.
It’s taken McVay mere months to do what Fisher never could: Build, develop and coach up a worthy NFL offense and construct an accountable, cohesive, complete team that’s s on the cusp of a division title.
Andrew Whitworth was brought in at left tackle, immediately turning a weakness into a strength. Veteran John Sullivan was brought in to solidify the center position. Rodger Saffold, Brown and Havenstein, now playing alongside better line-mates in a system more conducive to their talents, have emerged to lift the Rams line to among the best in the NFL.
That’s on McVay and Snead, not Fisher.
Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Sammy Watkins turned a mediocre wide receiver group into one of the most dangerous in the NFL. Fisher had nothing to do with any of them being acquired.
Goff, now surrounded by a much better supporting cast and playing in an imaginative, creative offensive system that always seems a step ahead of the defense, is a Pro Bowl alternate in his second year.
Gurley is flourishing in the run and pass game and is garnering recognition as the NFL MVP.
There are three groups that deserve to take bows right now: Mcvay and his staff. Snead and his staff. And the players.
Fisher deserves some credit. He was here when many of these players were drafted. But he also deserves a ton of blame for never taking them from Point A to Point B. Let alone Point Z.
Looks like he wants all of the former and plenty more that’s undeserved. But he completely glosses over the later.
To which we say: Bah Humbug.
Vinny B Rips Jeff Fisher a New One
Rams at Titans
- By CGI_Ram
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 1114 Replies
It's Game Day!
The GDT is a live thread tradition here at ROD.
While we all get fired up watching the game, please remember one of our core principles; we always aim to show respect for our team.
Despite the emotional highs and lows watching a game, we will moderate this thread with that in mind, however please refrain from name calling. This applies to players, the Rams organization, and others.
This is our team. Win or lose. Good days and bad.
Go Rams!
Login to view embedded media
SportsBook wagers here:
http://www.ramsondemand.com/sportsb...eles-rams-tennessee-titans-special-bets.1954/
Kupp proving he belongs
- By Tron
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 11 Replies
Rams rookie Cooper Kupp proves he belongs as he strives for perfection
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp #18 runs into Seattle Seahawks defensive back Shaquill Griffin #26 as he is pushed out on the sideline after a 3rd quarter reception. The Los Angeles Rams were defeated by the Seattle Seahawks 16-10 in a regular season NFL game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Los Angeles,, CA 10/9/2017 (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
By Ryan Kartje | rkartje@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: December 22, 2017 at 5:20 pm | UPDATED: December 22, 2017 at 6:08 pm
There’s a quote that has always stuck with Cooper Kupp, one he first heard from his father, Craig, who learned it years before as a quarterback at Pacific Lutheran University.
The original quote is attributed to Vince Lombardi. Over time, the coach’s words have been distilled down the way such adages often are, altered to fit motivational coffee mugs and company newsletters, but the message remains the same, and for most of Kupp’s life, he has held it close in everything he does. When all the odds seemed stacked against him, it was a lodestar, pushing him from Yakima, Washington to Los Angeles, from small-town high school football to the NFL.
Late last week, in front of his locker, Kupp recited it casually, unprompted.
“When you strive for perfection,” he said, “you’re bound to meet excellence along the way.”
The message sounds lifted from a cliche, motivational poster. But, then again, so does Kupp himself. His profile was made for the back of a Wheaties box: Humble and mild-mannered, hard-working and faith-driven, a small-town underdog who went from zero college offers to breaking Division-1 records for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, all the while willing himself forward through sheer work ethic and faith. It’s enough to make even Rudy feel inadequate.
His path to this point tiptoes the lines of too-good-to-be-true. And yet, here he is, anyway: the anonymous receiver recruit turned indispensable Rams rookie, living proof of Lombardi’s message.
“He’s the epitome of consistency in everything he’s done, right from the day he got here,” Rams offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur said.
Kupp is the first to admit his rookie season has not been perfect. But certainly, it has been nothing short of excellent. Through 14 games, the third-round pick has lapped the field of first-year NFL receivers. With two games remaining, he’s already set a Rams rookie record for receptions (58). With 120 more yards, Kupp will break another rookie receiving record, set by Eddie Kennison in 1996.
The standard he has set in 2017 is beyond what most rookies are capable, and those who know him best will tell you this is what he’s done all of his life. In the Kupp family, his grandfather says, that drive is genetic.
“There’s just this want to be the very best,” says Jake Kupp, who played 10 years as an offensive lineman with the Saints. “In some ways, it’s a rare gift. But in other ways, it can hurt you. Sometimes, we have trouble flushing away the mistakes.”
Kupp’s few miscues this season have been blips on the radar of those with reasonable expectations. But to the rookie himself, they’ve been agonizing. “I tend to take mistakes really hard,” he admits, and after a drop in the waning moments of the Rams first matchup with Seattle, that much was obvious. His face in the locker room was a ghostly shade of white. Months later, another drop and a goalline fumble in Minnesota left him morose, forcing him to confront the burden of his own self-expectation.
“There was some real soul-searching,” Craig says.
Kupp’s uncommon success is a product of this endless pursuit of perfection. And yet, as he deals with the inevitable growing pains of being an NFL rookie, it’s that very drive which, in his most challenging moments, threatened to weigh him down.
Back in front of his locker, he considers, again, the quote that has stuck with him all these years. He smiles.
“I tend to get caught up in striving for perfection,” Kupp admits, “and not so much the accepting excellence part.”
Acing the interview
Last February, in a small meeting room in Indianapolis, Kupp met with Sean McVay and his Rams staff for an interview. The 15 minutes spent in that room can make or break how a team feels about a prospect. The Rams were scheduled to meet with several other wideouts that week, many of whom tested better during the Combine, but in Kupp’s case, they needed only one question to be convinced.
They asked Kupp to draw up his favorite third-down play at Eastern Washington. That’s when the lesson began.
“He didn’t just draw up the play,” receivers coach Eric Yarber recalls. “He was able to draw up the play, tell us what the line did with their blocking scheme, tell us the job of all five eligibles, and go through the quarterback’s reads. No other receiver at the Combine could come even close to that.”
Coaches and scouts in the room looked at each other, stunned. To Yarber, it almost seemed as if Kupp was there to coach them.
“We were just like, “Oh my goodness. This kid is magnificent,’” Yarber says.
Even from an early age, his drive appeared extraordinary. As a toddler, his family marveled at how he could focus on a single task for hours. At 5 years old, his grandfather remembers watching in awe during a YMCA basketball game. Kupp’s team won, 41-2, and while other players lost interest, Kupp was locked in. “Cooper scored 39 of the 41 points,” Jake says, chuckling.
In junior high, when he was moved up to a better AAU basketball team, Kupp found himself riding the bench behind bigger, more developed players. He locked in again.
“He came home and worked — shooting, dribbling — every night until the sun went down,” Craig recalls.
When it came to football, though, that drive only seemed to take him so far. The two generations of Kupp men before him made it to the NFL. A future following in their footsteps became his dream. “I knew that’s what I was meant to do,” he says. But one look at him then suggested that was unlikely. As a freshman at Davis High, he weighed no more than 115 pounds.
Still, he was determined. He convinced himself to push harder, that any misstep might derail his mission.
“I was already behind,” Kupp says. “Any mistake I made, with my size, it felt like I had no chance.”
His father tried to sell college coaches on his passion, his work ethic, his football IQ, but it was no use. He was too small. Even as he grew to 170 pounds as a senior, colleges overlooked him. He left the field after his final high school game without a single scholarship offer — a feeling, Kupp says, he wouldn’t wish on anyone.
Beau Baldwin had been watching from afar, familiar with Kupp from summer football camps. When Idaho State swooped in with a late, full scholarship, the Eastern Washington coach did, too. It was a decision he’d look back on as one of the best of his tenure.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp catches a pass against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first half of an NFL game Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)
Kupp redshirted as a freshman, but from there, the undersized wideout became a colossal presence wherever he went. He broke nearly every FCS receiving record, smashing Jerry Rice’s previously unmatched stats. When Eastern Washington played Pac-12 or Mountain West teams, coaches would often marvel to Baldwin after: How could they have overlooked this guy?
Kupp was determined to never let that happen again. He spent long nights in the Eastern Washington film room, learning every detail of the offense. When he got engaged and his soon-to-be wife, Anna, moved to campus, he would bring her along while he studied film. He rarely spent time elsewhere.
“Sometimes, we had to remind him to be more human,” Baldwin, now Cal’s offensive coordinator, says. “But he was just driven that way. He would say, ‘There’s just not enough time to do anything else.’ ”
It would all pay off on draft day. His family gathered in Newport Beach, where Kupp, perhaps prophetically, had rented a home to train for the Combine. He worried his 40 time (4.62) might be his latest obstacle in fulfilling a NFL dream. But his week of Senior Bowl practice had impressed scouts. All it took was one team to believe, and that belief, he reasoned, was most important.
Then, as the 69th picked rolled around, the Rams recalled that interview from February and the college tape that, to the team’s new 31-year-old coach, jumped off the screen. “Oh yeah,” McVay joked with his staff months earlier. “We’re going to get this guy.”
In Newport Beach, the phone rang. It was a local number.
The drop, and what followed
His ascent was swift. “It didn’t take him any time at all to learn our offense,” Yarber says. No one who knew him was surprised. Within weeks, it seemed, he was already one of the Rams’ most reliable offensive weapons, leading the team in receiving, surpassing even the wildest of expectations for a third-round receiver.
And so, when Cooper Kupp caught a pass over the middle in Minnesota, darting between two defenders near the goalline, it was almost jarring to see the ball slip from his grasp and tumble to the turf. The Vikings recovered. The Rams never did.
After the game, McVay brushed off the mistake, but Kupp shouldered the blame. It seemed to weigh heavy on him. “I’m a better player than what I showed out there,” he said in the locker room. When he arrived home, the frustration remained. Since high school, he’d conditioned himself that there was no room for error, and in a crucial moment, he’d made his worst yet. He couldn’t shake it.
“Things were happening that had never happened to him in his career,” Craig says.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp signs autographs before an NFL game against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
He knew he needed to confront this creeping sense of self-doubt, so that night, he reflected on all he’d done to get here — the years of hard work, the long nights in the film room, the relentless, unending pursuit to show that he belonged. Since his journey began, he’d put so much pressure on himself to be great, convinced that anything less would mean coming up short.
“It took a lot of faith along the way to believe that this was going to work out,” Kupp said, and as he considered then how to move forward, it was faith that he needed most. Faith in God. Faith in himself. Faith that, in spite of being undersized, in spite of a lack of recruiting buzz, in spite of his 40 time, he’d gotten this far for a reason.
Moving forward, past this brief brush with failure, would only make him stronger, Anna told him — stronger than perfection ever would.
“I needed to be brought back to what my purpose was,” Kupp said. “I needed to realize that I belonged here, that I could play free.”
Back at the facility, he felt teammates rally around him. Rodger Saffold, the Rams starting guard, pulled him off to the side. “These things happen,” he told him.
That week, his father could sense a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He seemed “free,” Craig says. The next Sunday, Kupp reeled in a career-high eight catches, his first game over 100 receiving yards.
After the game, Saffold approached the rookie wideout. He patted him on the back.
He never doubted that Kupp would bounce back. No one had.
The pride of Yakima
Last Sunday, the Kupp family sojourned west to Seattle to watch the Rams play the Seahawks. Two dozen family and friends — not counting the many others who made the two-hour drive from Yakima — sat high up in the CenturyLink Stadium stands, eager to see for themselves how far Cooper Kupp had come.
On a third down, in the first quarter, Jared Goff spotted Kupp alone in the middle of the field. He fired a pass in low. The ball slipped through Kupp’s fingers and fell to the turf.
There would be no dwelling on his mistake this time. A quarter later, Kupp flared out in the flat on playaction, and Goff found him. Running up the right sideline, he dodged a tackle from All-Pro Earl Thomas, spun out of another tackle, and pushed himself backwards toward the end zone.
From the stands, his personal cheering section roared. The play fell just short of the goal line. But those extra few feet — they hardly mattered. Kupp had willed himself further, like he always had, and for now, that pursuit was perfect enough.
https://www.ocregister.com/2017/12/...oves-he-belongs-as-he-strives-for-perfection/
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp #18 runs into Seattle Seahawks defensive back Shaquill Griffin #26 as he is pushed out on the sideline after a 3rd quarter reception. The Los Angeles Rams were defeated by the Seattle Seahawks 16-10 in a regular season NFL game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Los Angeles,, CA 10/9/2017 (Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
By Ryan Kartje | rkartje@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: December 22, 2017 at 5:20 pm | UPDATED: December 22, 2017 at 6:08 pm
There’s a quote that has always stuck with Cooper Kupp, one he first heard from his father, Craig, who learned it years before as a quarterback at Pacific Lutheran University.
The original quote is attributed to Vince Lombardi. Over time, the coach’s words have been distilled down the way such adages often are, altered to fit motivational coffee mugs and company newsletters, but the message remains the same, and for most of Kupp’s life, he has held it close in everything he does. When all the odds seemed stacked against him, it was a lodestar, pushing him from Yakima, Washington to Los Angeles, from small-town high school football to the NFL.
Late last week, in front of his locker, Kupp recited it casually, unprompted.
“When you strive for perfection,” he said, “you’re bound to meet excellence along the way.”
The message sounds lifted from a cliche, motivational poster. But, then again, so does Kupp himself. His profile was made for the back of a Wheaties box: Humble and mild-mannered, hard-working and faith-driven, a small-town underdog who went from zero college offers to breaking Division-1 records for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, all the while willing himself forward through sheer work ethic and faith. It’s enough to make even Rudy feel inadequate.
His path to this point tiptoes the lines of too-good-to-be-true. And yet, here he is, anyway: the anonymous receiver recruit turned indispensable Rams rookie, living proof of Lombardi’s message.
“He’s the epitome of consistency in everything he’s done, right from the day he got here,” Rams offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur said.
Kupp is the first to admit his rookie season has not been perfect. But certainly, it has been nothing short of excellent. Through 14 games, the third-round pick has lapped the field of first-year NFL receivers. With two games remaining, he’s already set a Rams rookie record for receptions (58). With 120 more yards, Kupp will break another rookie receiving record, set by Eddie Kennison in 1996.
The standard he has set in 2017 is beyond what most rookies are capable, and those who know him best will tell you this is what he’s done all of his life. In the Kupp family, his grandfather says, that drive is genetic.
“There’s just this want to be the very best,” says Jake Kupp, who played 10 years as an offensive lineman with the Saints. “In some ways, it’s a rare gift. But in other ways, it can hurt you. Sometimes, we have trouble flushing away the mistakes.”
Kupp’s few miscues this season have been blips on the radar of those with reasonable expectations. But to the rookie himself, they’ve been agonizing. “I tend to take mistakes really hard,” he admits, and after a drop in the waning moments of the Rams first matchup with Seattle, that much was obvious. His face in the locker room was a ghostly shade of white. Months later, another drop and a goalline fumble in Minnesota left him morose, forcing him to confront the burden of his own self-expectation.
“There was some real soul-searching,” Craig says.
Kupp’s uncommon success is a product of this endless pursuit of perfection. And yet, as he deals with the inevitable growing pains of being an NFL rookie, it’s that very drive which, in his most challenging moments, threatened to weigh him down.
Back in front of his locker, he considers, again, the quote that has stuck with him all these years. He smiles.
“I tend to get caught up in striving for perfection,” Kupp admits, “and not so much the accepting excellence part.”
Acing the interview
Last February, in a small meeting room in Indianapolis, Kupp met with Sean McVay and his Rams staff for an interview. The 15 minutes spent in that room can make or break how a team feels about a prospect. The Rams were scheduled to meet with several other wideouts that week, many of whom tested better during the Combine, but in Kupp’s case, they needed only one question to be convinced.
They asked Kupp to draw up his favorite third-down play at Eastern Washington. That’s when the lesson began.
“He didn’t just draw up the play,” receivers coach Eric Yarber recalls. “He was able to draw up the play, tell us what the line did with their blocking scheme, tell us the job of all five eligibles, and go through the quarterback’s reads. No other receiver at the Combine could come even close to that.”
Coaches and scouts in the room looked at each other, stunned. To Yarber, it almost seemed as if Kupp was there to coach them.
“We were just like, “Oh my goodness. This kid is magnificent,’” Yarber says.
Even from an early age, his drive appeared extraordinary. As a toddler, his family marveled at how he could focus on a single task for hours. At 5 years old, his grandfather remembers watching in awe during a YMCA basketball game. Kupp’s team won, 41-2, and while other players lost interest, Kupp was locked in. “Cooper scored 39 of the 41 points,” Jake says, chuckling.
In junior high, when he was moved up to a better AAU basketball team, Kupp found himself riding the bench behind bigger, more developed players. He locked in again.
“He came home and worked — shooting, dribbling — every night until the sun went down,” Craig recalls.
When it came to football, though, that drive only seemed to take him so far. The two generations of Kupp men before him made it to the NFL. A future following in their footsteps became his dream. “I knew that’s what I was meant to do,” he says. But one look at him then suggested that was unlikely. As a freshman at Davis High, he weighed no more than 115 pounds.
Still, he was determined. He convinced himself to push harder, that any misstep might derail his mission.
“I was already behind,” Kupp says. “Any mistake I made, with my size, it felt like I had no chance.”
His father tried to sell college coaches on his passion, his work ethic, his football IQ, but it was no use. He was too small. Even as he grew to 170 pounds as a senior, colleges overlooked him. He left the field after his final high school game without a single scholarship offer — a feeling, Kupp says, he wouldn’t wish on anyone.
Beau Baldwin had been watching from afar, familiar with Kupp from summer football camps. When Idaho State swooped in with a late, full scholarship, the Eastern Washington coach did, too. It was a decision he’d look back on as one of the best of his tenure.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp catches a pass against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first half of an NFL game Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo)
Kupp redshirted as a freshman, but from there, the undersized wideout became a colossal presence wherever he went. He broke nearly every FCS receiving record, smashing Jerry Rice’s previously unmatched stats. When Eastern Washington played Pac-12 or Mountain West teams, coaches would often marvel to Baldwin after: How could they have overlooked this guy?
Kupp was determined to never let that happen again. He spent long nights in the Eastern Washington film room, learning every detail of the offense. When he got engaged and his soon-to-be wife, Anna, moved to campus, he would bring her along while he studied film. He rarely spent time elsewhere.
“Sometimes, we had to remind him to be more human,” Baldwin, now Cal’s offensive coordinator, says. “But he was just driven that way. He would say, ‘There’s just not enough time to do anything else.’ ”
It would all pay off on draft day. His family gathered in Newport Beach, where Kupp, perhaps prophetically, had rented a home to train for the Combine. He worried his 40 time (4.62) might be his latest obstacle in fulfilling a NFL dream. But his week of Senior Bowl practice had impressed scouts. All it took was one team to believe, and that belief, he reasoned, was most important.
Then, as the 69th picked rolled around, the Rams recalled that interview from February and the college tape that, to the team’s new 31-year-old coach, jumped off the screen. “Oh yeah,” McVay joked with his staff months earlier. “We’re going to get this guy.”
In Newport Beach, the phone rang. It was a local number.
The drop, and what followed
His ascent was swift. “It didn’t take him any time at all to learn our offense,” Yarber says. No one who knew him was surprised. Within weeks, it seemed, he was already one of the Rams’ most reliable offensive weapons, leading the team in receiving, surpassing even the wildest of expectations for a third-round receiver.
And so, when Cooper Kupp caught a pass over the middle in Minnesota, darting between two defenders near the goalline, it was almost jarring to see the ball slip from his grasp and tumble to the turf. The Vikings recovered. The Rams never did.
After the game, McVay brushed off the mistake, but Kupp shouldered the blame. It seemed to weigh heavy on him. “I’m a better player than what I showed out there,” he said in the locker room. When he arrived home, the frustration remained. Since high school, he’d conditioned himself that there was no room for error, and in a crucial moment, he’d made his worst yet. He couldn’t shake it.
“Things were happening that had never happened to him in his career,” Craig says.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp signs autographs before an NFL game against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
He knew he needed to confront this creeping sense of self-doubt, so that night, he reflected on all he’d done to get here — the years of hard work, the long nights in the film room, the relentless, unending pursuit to show that he belonged. Since his journey began, he’d put so much pressure on himself to be great, convinced that anything less would mean coming up short.
“It took a lot of faith along the way to believe that this was going to work out,” Kupp said, and as he considered then how to move forward, it was faith that he needed most. Faith in God. Faith in himself. Faith that, in spite of being undersized, in spite of a lack of recruiting buzz, in spite of his 40 time, he’d gotten this far for a reason.
Moving forward, past this brief brush with failure, would only make him stronger, Anna told him — stronger than perfection ever would.
“I needed to be brought back to what my purpose was,” Kupp said. “I needed to realize that I belonged here, that I could play free.”
Back at the facility, he felt teammates rally around him. Rodger Saffold, the Rams starting guard, pulled him off to the side. “These things happen,” he told him.
That week, his father could sense a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He seemed “free,” Craig says. The next Sunday, Kupp reeled in a career-high eight catches, his first game over 100 receiving yards.
After the game, Saffold approached the rookie wideout. He patted him on the back.
He never doubted that Kupp would bounce back. No one had.
The pride of Yakima
Last Sunday, the Kupp family sojourned west to Seattle to watch the Rams play the Seahawks. Two dozen family and friends — not counting the many others who made the two-hour drive from Yakima — sat high up in the CenturyLink Stadium stands, eager to see for themselves how far Cooper Kupp had come.
On a third down, in the first quarter, Jared Goff spotted Kupp alone in the middle of the field. He fired a pass in low. The ball slipped through Kupp’s fingers and fell to the turf.
There would be no dwelling on his mistake this time. A quarter later, Kupp flared out in the flat on playaction, and Goff found him. Running up the right sideline, he dodged a tackle from All-Pro Earl Thomas, spun out of another tackle, and pushed himself backwards toward the end zone.
From the stands, his personal cheering section roared. The play fell just short of the goal line. But those extra few feet — they hardly mattered. Kupp had willed himself further, like he always had, and for now, that pursuit was perfect enough.
https://www.ocregister.com/2017/12/...oves-he-belongs-as-he-strives-for-perfection/
Practice and injury report 12-22
- By OldSchool
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 2 Replies
Last practice before the game Sunday.
Login to view embedded media View: http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-practicereport/Practice-Report-Rams-Prep-for-Cold-Weather-A-Division-Title-at-Stake/d33090cb-6b98-423e-91b6-1ba9063667a5
L.A. held a light practice on Friday morning, before it hits the road for Tennessee this afternoon. The Rams will take on the Titans on Sundayin a Christmas Eve showdown that could clinch the club’s first division title since 2003.
INJURY UPDATE
After losing their Pro Bowl kicker Greg Zuerlein
— who will be out for the remainder of the season with a back injury — the Rams received some positive news on the injury front on Friday.
Left tackle Andrew Whitworth (rest), center John Sullivan (rest), linebacker Mark Barron (rest), and cornerback Troy Hill (illness) returned to Friday’s practice as full participants.
The only player who did not take part in the session was outside linebacker Matt Longacre (back). Head coach Sean McVay announced that he had been ruled out for Sunday’s contest.
“That means that Carlos Thompson will have to step up and fill the void [and] Samson Ebukam will get some more opportunities to rush off the edge,” McVay said. “Getting Connor Barwin back last week, we feel like we’ve got some good depth up front, but certainly it is tough to replace a player like Matt.”
In Tennessee, the Titans also turned in a relatively clean bill of health.
But the club could be without its No. 1 cornerback Logan Ryan (ankle) who did not practice all week and is listed as questionable. Aside from Ryan, Tennessee placed its No. 3 cornerback LeShaun Sims (ankle) on the injured reserve list on Friday. He will be out for the remainder of the season.
RAMS NOT DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS
For Rams fans here in Los Angeles, the forecast for Christmas Eve is a high of 70 degrees and sunny. But for those travelling to Nashville for the team’s matchup with the Titans, the weather should be a very different story.
When the Rams take on Tennessee at Nissan Stadium this Sunday, the team will be looking at a high of 40 degrees and a low of just 23. And while there is no snow predicted in the forecast as of yet, McVay did acknowledge that the cold weather could push some players a bit out of their element.
“You always have to have some specific adjustments as far as some of your play calls and different things, especially from an offensive standpoint and how that affects your ability to handle the ball,” McVay said. “And a lot of times, especially in that weather, it feels like a rock.”
“But, it’s something that guys will do a good job adjusting to just like they did [in Seattle],” he added.
Wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who spent the last three seasons playing in Buffalo, said there is no way to fully prepare for cold weather conditions or playing in snow. And though he much prefers playing in the sun where “your muscles are loose” and you “can take hits” more easily, he believes the Rams should be just fine this Sunday.
“To play in the cold it’s kind of hard to get warm, more injuries,” Watkins said. “So you just have to be warmed up and be ready to compete. We can’t go out there playing slow.”
PLAYING FOR THE NFC WEST
The Rams control their own destiny in the NFC West heading into Sunday’s contest. A win would guarantee the club a division title for the first time in over a decade.
As such, this weekend’s game takes on a little bit more meaning for a team that has traditionally viewed no week as any bigger than the other.
“We know what’s at stake for us. We don’t shy away from the opportunity to go in a tough atmosphere — try to come away with our 11th win,” McVay said. “And we know that if we’re able to accomplish that, that means a division championship as well. So it’s a great opportunity.”
Very few of the Rams’ starters have ever been associated with winning a division title. And while the magnitude of the game is something they talk about in the locker room, right guard Jamon Brown said the players have been careful not to “get too caught up in it.”
“We talk about it, but we also approach every week as the same,” Brown said. “The game at hand is our goal. That’s what we try to focus on and then we know the importance of the game obviously. But we never try to get caught up in, ‘this game clinches this or the hype behind the game.’ It’s more about winning.”
For cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman, who came to Los Angeles this season, the game represents “something I have dreamed about.” It also allows the team to prove just how far they have come.
“It makes it all make sense by winning this game and going to the playoffs,” he said. “Everything that we hoped for, dreamed for, and set our goals for is happening right now. So we have to go out, just embrace it and take advantage.”
Login to view embedded media View: http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-practicereport/Practice-Report-Rams-Prep-for-Cold-Weather-A-Division-Title-at-Stake/d33090cb-6b98-423e-91b6-1ba9063667a5
L.A. held a light practice on Friday morning, before it hits the road for Tennessee this afternoon. The Rams will take on the Titans on Sundayin a Christmas Eve showdown that could clinch the club’s first division title since 2003.
INJURY UPDATE
After losing their Pro Bowl kicker Greg Zuerlein
— who will be out for the remainder of the season with a back injury — the Rams received some positive news on the injury front on Friday.Left tackle Andrew Whitworth
(rest), center John Sullivan (rest), linebacker Mark Barron (rest), and cornerback Troy Hill (illness) returned to Friday’s practice as full participants.The only player who did not take part in the session was outside linebacker Matt Longacre
(back). Head coach Sean McVay announced that he had been ruled out for Sunday’s contest.“That means that Carlos Thompson
will have to step up and fill the void [and] Samson Ebukam will get some more opportunities to rush off the edge,” McVay said. “Getting Connor Barwin back last week, we feel like we’ve got some good depth up front, but certainly it is tough to replace a player like Matt.”In Tennessee, the Titans also turned in a relatively clean bill of health.
But the club could be without its No. 1 cornerback Logan Ryan (ankle) who did not practice all week and is listed as questionable. Aside from Ryan, Tennessee placed its No. 3 cornerback LeShaun Sims (ankle) on the injured reserve list on Friday. He will be out for the remainder of the season.
RAMS NOT DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS
For Rams fans here in Los Angeles, the forecast for Christmas Eve is a high of 70 degrees and sunny. But for those travelling to Nashville for the team’s matchup with the Titans, the weather should be a very different story.
When the Rams take on Tennessee at Nissan Stadium this Sunday, the team will be looking at a high of 40 degrees and a low of just 23. And while there is no snow predicted in the forecast as of yet, McVay did acknowledge that the cold weather could push some players a bit out of their element.
“You always have to have some specific adjustments as far as some of your play calls and different things, especially from an offensive standpoint and how that affects your ability to handle the ball,” McVay said. “And a lot of times, especially in that weather, it feels like a rock.”
“But, it’s something that guys will do a good job adjusting to just like they did [in Seattle],” he added.
Wide receiver Sammy Watkins
, who spent the last three seasons playing in Buffalo, said there is no way to fully prepare for cold weather conditions or playing in snow. And though he much prefers playing in the sun where “your muscles are loose” and you “can take hits” more easily, he believes the Rams should be just fine this Sunday.“To play in the cold it’s kind of hard to get warm, more injuries,” Watkins said. “So you just have to be warmed up and be ready to compete. We can’t go out there playing slow.”
PLAYING FOR THE NFC WEST
The Rams control their own destiny in the NFC West heading into Sunday’s contest. A win would guarantee the club a division title for the first time in over a decade.
As such, this weekend’s game takes on a little bit more meaning for a team that has traditionally viewed no week as any bigger than the other.
“We know what’s at stake for us. We don’t shy away from the opportunity to go in a tough atmosphere — try to come away with our 11th win,” McVay said. “And we know that if we’re able to accomplish that, that means a division championship as well. So it’s a great opportunity.”
Very few of the Rams’ starters have ever been associated with winning a division title. And while the magnitude of the game is something they talk about in the locker room, right guard Jamon Brown
said the players have been careful not to “get too caught up in it.”“We talk about it, but we also approach every week as the same,” Brown said. “The game at hand is our goal. That’s what we try to focus on and then we know the importance of the game obviously. But we never try to get caught up in, ‘this game clinches this or the hype behind the game.’ It’s more about winning.”
For cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman
, who came to Los Angeles this season, the game represents “something I have dreamed about.” It also allows the team to prove just how far they have come.“It makes it all make sense by winning this game and going to the playoffs,” he said. “Everything that we hoped for, dreamed for, and set our goals for is happening right now. So we have to go out, just embrace it and take advantage.”
Steelers have released OLB James Harrison/Signs with Patriots
- By Stl2La
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 53 Replies
Login to view embedded media
View: https://twitter.com/josinaanderson/status/944658022344904704
Should the Rams take a look at him for the playoff run? Not sure how much he has left but he would only need to play for 4 games max. Maybe he could help in a situational pass rushing role idk
Should the Rams take a look at him for the playoff run? Not sure how much he has left but he would only need to play for 4 games max. Maybe he could help in a situational pass rushing role idk
Rams Assistant Coach of the Year? Discussion
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 29 Replies
Offensive Line Coach Aaron Kromer (Center) with his right hand man son Zak to his side.
As many of us sit on the cusp of Christmas Eve and get ready for a showdown with the Tenseness Titans who were responsible for giving the Rams the opportunity to draft Jared Thomas Goff, I thought it would be fun to discuss who many felt was the top Assistant Coach of the year....And I realize that Wade Phillips has been amazing, not just for his schemes, but the esprit de corps he has help McVay build in the locker room and also because of Wade being on board, the Rams were able to add other quality defensive assistants like CB Coach Aubrey Pleasant for example, who could have stayed in Washington, but wanted to come to Los Angeles for the Opportunity of working under Wade so I don't want to take away from Wade's impact, but IMO, for Assistant Coach of the year, I'm going in another direction.
Offensive Line Coach Aaron Kromer....All of us knew this was a crucial hire as the Rams had been under only two Offensive Line Coaches since 2006, that being Paul Boudreau & Steve Loney. That's right Scott Linehan hired Bourdreau in his first year, then fired him for Loney the following season. Although the offensive line had issues, new Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo in 2009 shockingly kept Loney on and in 2012 Jeff Fisher hired Paul Boudreau so in essence the Rams have only had two Offensive Line Coaches since 2006 and in most cases they were forgettable years.
Sean McVay reached out to the Miami Dolphins for permission to hire their Offensive Line Coach Chris "snuff" Foerster to be OC/OL Coach much in the fashion that Bill Callahan has with the Redskins, it seems the Dolphins did the Rams a huge favor denying permission so the Rams had to look in another direction. The Buffalo Bills had let their staff go and thankfully on that staff was one of the renown Offensive Line Coaches in the Game Aaron Kromer, now Kromer did come with some beach chair baggage, however, coming to Los Angles seemed like a perfect fit because people don't steal beach chairs in L.A., because you can purchase them year round.
Kromer had built stellar offensive lines at every stop, New Orleans, Chicago & Buffalo and most of us on this board were clamoring for his appointment, some had reservations, however, there was no debating his accomplishments and the wunderkind Sean McVay realized the golden opportunity in hiring one of the games best so Kromer was brought on board with his son Zak as Offensive Quality Control and the Rams kept Assistant OL Coach Andy Dickerson.
Aaron Kromer faced quite a task rebuilding a unit that rated last in the NFL, there was the Greg Robinson conundrum combined with finding a center that could actually hold up at the point of attack. Kromer quickly determine that the Rams should cut bait with Robinson who was traded to the Detroit Lions for a 6th round selection, many felt the Lions committed highway robbery, however, it appears now that Kromer was correct as Robinson is now on IR after he was benched and not active for the Lions, second verse same as the first.
Kromer played musical chairs with Rob Havenstein and Jamon Brown, but finally settled on Brown at Guard and Havenstein at RT, where they seemed most comfortable also the signing of LT Andrew Whitworth made Kromer's job much easier as Whitworth has been the best free agent signing in Ram history along with Center John Sullivan and now the unit with Rodger Saffold entrenched at LG this unit was now ready to perform at a top level and Kromer has had his unit ready week in and week out and last week the holes by the offensive line, led by Saffold blocking two players at once to spring Gurley for his 57 yard scamper putting the Los Angeles Rams up 34-0 at halftime sending many of the 12th man brigade home early was epic and is why I believe Aaron Kromer deserves this honor as the best Assistant Coach of the Los Angeles Rams this season!
Discuss amongst yourselves.
Jeff Fisher says he left Rams in 'good shape,' lauds Sean McVay
- By Alaskan Ram
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 151 Replies
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21852646/jeff-fisher-says-left-los-angeles-rams-pretty-good-shape
Ahead of the Rams' matchup with the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Fisher, a longtime head coach for both organizations, took part in an hour-long interview with The Midday 180 radio show in Nashville and touched on his most recent employer.
Fisher was fired 13 games into his fifth season with the Rams in 2016, which ended with a 4-12 record in the franchise's return to L.A. Now, under first-year head coach Sean McVay, the Rams are 10-4 and can lock up their first division title since 2003 this weekend.
"I'm a huge fan of the Ram players," Fisher told The Midday 180 on Friday. "They're basically -- I don't want to say my players, but I had a lot to do with that roster. Left them in pretty good shape. And Sean, as he's proven in this very short period of time, is an outstanding young coach. And he's got the offense rolling, which they needed."
The Rams were no better than 7-8-1 in Fisher's five seasons as head coach. During that time, the offense finished no better than 21st in scoring and ranked last in every major category last season.
This season, the Rams lead the NFL in total points, point differential and rank 10th in yards per game.
Fisher, who has a home near Nashville and spent 2017 away from coaching, said he is "really, really excited for the players. They did what we wanted to do before I left."
Fisher credited the additions on the offensive line, with left tackle Andrew Whitworth and center John Sullivan, as well as a trio of new receivers in Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp. He also said McVay has "done a great job" with Jared Goff, whom Fisher played a part in drafting No. 1 overall in 2016.
Goff struggled mightily while starting the final seven games last season, finishing with an 18.3 Total QBR that was the lowest by a wide margin for those who attempted at least 200 passes.
This year, with McVay guiding him, Goff is a first alternate for the Pro Bowl.
"We knew that was coming," Fisher said. "... That's why we traded up with you guys here [the Titans] to get him, because we knew he had that kind of potential. We felt like both the quarterbacks had a chance to be franchise quarterbacks. We were right. Philly got theirs [with Carson Wentz], and the Rams got theirs."
Earlier this week, Fisher's longtime right-hand man, Dave McGinnis, now a radio color commentator for the Titans, was asked about the resurgent Rams by The Tennessean and said: "First of all, Jeff Fisher and I, we built this roster, you know what I'm saying?"
Former coach Jeff Fisher, who inherited a Rams team that had lost 65 of 80 games over five seasons, defended his track record in a radio show Friday, saying his "perspective's different because I went through it, and I know exactly what I went through." Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
McGinnis, the Rams' assistant head coach under Fisher from 2012 to 2016, said the team's defense and special teams "has been playoff ready for two years" and that it was only the offense that needed to get right. McGinnis credited McVay for bringing "a tremendous offensive system in there," but also credited Fisher -- and never once mentioned sixth-year general manager Les Snead -- for drafting star running back Todd Gurley.
"It's just, we were the youngest team in the league four years in a row," McGinnis told The Tennessean. "This team has grown up together. This is one of the better teams in the league right now, personnel-wise and the way they're playing."
At full health, 12 of the Rams' 22 starters were brought in while Fisher was the head coach, in addition to the team's kicker (Greg Zuerlein), punter (Johnny Hekker) and return specialist (Pharoh Cooper), all three of whom were selected to the Pro Bowl.
Special teams was a consistent strength under current special teams coordinator John Fassel, and the defense showed spurts of dominance under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. But the offense was a top-to-bottom mess, at offensive line, receiver, quarterback and, as last year showed, even running back.
Fisher was head coach for the Titans from 1995 to 2010, starting when they were the Houston Oilers. He led them to six playoff appearances from 1999 to 2008, including a close Super Bowl loss to the Rams. But it has been nine years since Fisher, 59, last coached a team that finished with a winning record.
Fisher, who inherited a Rams franchise that had lost 65 of 80 games over five seasons, defended his track record on The Midday 180.
"My perspective's different because I went through it, and I know exactly what I went through," he said. "I get a kick out of people who [say], 'Oh, you just tied Dan Reeves for the most losses in the history of the National Football League.' Well I'm a few wins away from being in the top 10. So, where do you want to emphasize; what's your point? Two franchises, five different cities, six different stadiums. Not an easy thing to do.
"Chargers moved from San Diego to Orange County and started 0-4. Relocation is huge. I'm not making excuses, but last year we moved from St. Louis to Oxnard, Oxnard to UC Irvine, UC Irvine to Thousand Oaks. And that's what our offseason was about."
Alden GonzalezESPN Staff Writer
Ahead of the Rams' matchup with the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Fisher, a longtime head coach for both organizations, took part in an hour-long interview with The Midday 180 radio show in Nashville and touched on his most recent employer.
Fisher was fired 13 games into his fifth season with the Rams in 2016, which ended with a 4-12 record in the franchise's return to L.A. Now, under first-year head coach Sean McVay, the Rams are 10-4 and can lock up their first division title since 2003 this weekend.
"I'm a huge fan of the Ram players," Fisher told The Midday 180 on Friday. "They're basically -- I don't want to say my players, but I had a lot to do with that roster. Left them in pretty good shape. And Sean, as he's proven in this very short period of time, is an outstanding young coach. And he's got the offense rolling, which they needed."
The Rams were no better than 7-8-1 in Fisher's five seasons as head coach. During that time, the offense finished no better than 21st in scoring and ranked last in every major category last season.
This season, the Rams lead the NFL in total points, point differential and rank 10th in yards per game.
Fisher, who has a home near Nashville and spent 2017 away from coaching, said he is "really, really excited for the players. They did what we wanted to do before I left."
Fisher credited the additions on the offensive line, with left tackle Andrew Whitworth and center John Sullivan, as well as a trio of new receivers in Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp. He also said McVay has "done a great job" with Jared Goff, whom Fisher played a part in drafting No. 1 overall in 2016.
Goff struggled mightily while starting the final seven games last season, finishing with an 18.3 Total QBR that was the lowest by a wide margin for those who attempted at least 200 passes.
This year, with McVay guiding him, Goff is a first alternate for the Pro Bowl.
"We knew that was coming," Fisher said. "... That's why we traded up with you guys here [the Titans] to get him, because we knew he had that kind of potential. We felt like both the quarterbacks had a chance to be franchise quarterbacks. We were right. Philly got theirs [with Carson Wentz], and the Rams got theirs."
Earlier this week, Fisher's longtime right-hand man, Dave McGinnis, now a radio color commentator for the Titans, was asked about the resurgent Rams by The Tennessean and said: "First of all, Jeff Fisher and I, we built this roster, you know what I'm saying?"
Former coach Jeff Fisher, who inherited a Rams team that had lost 65 of 80 games over five seasons, defended his track record in a radio show Friday, saying his "perspective's different because I went through it, and I know exactly what I went through." Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
McGinnis, the Rams' assistant head coach under Fisher from 2012 to 2016, said the team's defense and special teams "has been playoff ready for two years" and that it was only the offense that needed to get right. McGinnis credited McVay for bringing "a tremendous offensive system in there," but also credited Fisher -- and never once mentioned sixth-year general manager Les Snead -- for drafting star running back Todd Gurley.
"It's just, we were the youngest team in the league four years in a row," McGinnis told The Tennessean. "This team has grown up together. This is one of the better teams in the league right now, personnel-wise and the way they're playing."
At full health, 12 of the Rams' 22 starters were brought in while Fisher was the head coach, in addition to the team's kicker (Greg Zuerlein), punter (Johnny Hekker) and return specialist (Pharoh Cooper), all three of whom were selected to the Pro Bowl.
Special teams was a consistent strength under current special teams coordinator John Fassel, and the defense showed spurts of dominance under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. But the offense was a top-to-bottom mess, at offensive line, receiver, quarterback and, as last year showed, even running back.
Fisher was head coach for the Titans from 1995 to 2010, starting when they were the Houston Oilers. He led them to six playoff appearances from 1999 to 2008, including a close Super Bowl loss to the Rams. But it has been nine years since Fisher, 59, last coached a team that finished with a winning record.
Fisher, who inherited a Rams franchise that had lost 65 of 80 games over five seasons, defended his track record on The Midday 180.
"My perspective's different because I went through it, and I know exactly what I went through," he said. "I get a kick out of people who [say], 'Oh, you just tied Dan Reeves for the most losses in the history of the National Football League.' Well I'm a few wins away from being in the top 10. So, where do you want to emphasize; what's your point? Two franchises, five different cities, six different stadiums. Not an easy thing to do.
"Chargers moved from San Diego to Orange County and started 0-4. Relocation is huge. I'm not making excuses, but last year we moved from St. Louis to Oxnard, Oxnard to UC Irvine, UC Irvine to Thousand Oaks. And that's what our offseason was about."
Robert Quinn and Nickell Robey-Coleman among those fined for actions in Seahawks-Rams game
- By Prime Time
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 17 Replies
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...hose-fined-for-actions-in-seahawks-rams-game/
Delano Hill, Robert Quinn among those fined for actions in Seahawks-Rams game
Posted by Charean Williams on December 22, 2017
Getty Images
Seattle safety Delano Hill was the latest to see his pay docked as the NFL fined him $12,154 after his ejection from Sunday’s loss to the Rams.
Hill became the third Seattle player ejected in two weeks. He threw two punches at Michael Thomas in the third quarter following a Seattle punt.
The league also fined two Rams players as Robert Quinn was docked $12,154 for unsportsmanlike conduct and Nickell Robey-Coleman saw his pay reduced $9,115 for unnecessary roughness.
Delano Hill, Robert Quinn among those fined for actions in Seahawks-Rams game
Posted by Charean Williams on December 22, 2017
Getty Images
Seattle safety Delano Hill was the latest to see his pay docked as the NFL fined him $12,154 after his ejection from Sunday’s loss to the Rams.
Hill became the third Seattle player ejected in two weeks. He threw two punches at Michael Thomas in the third quarter following a Seattle punt.
The league also fined two Rams players as Robert Quinn was docked $12,154 for unsportsmanlike conduct and Nickell Robey-Coleman saw his pay reduced $9,115 for unnecessary roughness.
Rams' scramble to replace NFL's best kicker yields trader banking on break
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 25 Replies
Rams' scramble to replace NFL's best kicker yields day-time trader banking on break
Sam Ficken, who will take over for injured Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein the rest of the season, has spent time in training camps but has yet to attempt a kick in the regular season.
Alden GonzalezESPN Staff Writer
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Los Angeles Rams special teams coordinator John Fassel called his punter, Johnny Hekker, on Tuesday night. He wanted to congratulate him on his fourth Pro Bowl invite, but really, he wanted him to clear his schedule Wednesday morning. Greg Zuerlein, the NFL's most productive kicker this season, suddenly needed surgery to repair a herniated disk, and the Rams were scrambling to find a replacement with a little more than two weeks left before the playoffs.
Hekker made his way to the team facility as instructed, ready to hold, and he saw six kickers preparing for a tryout.
"Man," he thought, "that's a lot of kickers."
"Oh," someone said, "that's only the first group."
The Rams held two workouts for 12 kickers Wednesday, one at 8 a.m. and the other at 9:15. They each got 12 field goal attempts and five kickoffs, with Hekker holding every snap from a couple of experienced
he Rams held two workouts for 12 kickers Wednesday, one at 8 a.m. and the other at 9:15. They each got 12 field goal attempts and five kickoffs, with Hekker holding every snap from a couple of experienced reinforcements. Fassel called it "more like a gong show than a workout."
There was a 2016 second-round pick in Roberto Aguayo, a nine-year veteran in Dan Carpenter, a couple of recent Los Angeles Chargers in Travis Coons and Younghoe Koo, and others with NFL experience like Andrew Franks, Garrett Hartley and Jason Myers. Ultimately, the first-place Rams went with Sam Ficken, a former Penn State kicker who went undrafted in 2015, has never kicked in a regular-season game and was working as a broker-dealer in Greenwich, Connecticut.
"I just wanted myself to not go in with any bias based on anybody's history, successes or failures and just say, 'You know what, there's 12 guys who are coming in, so let's just go clean slate for everyone and pick who we think had the best workout,'" Fassel said. "You could argue a lot of ways that other guys did this or that, but we thought that Sam did the best job."
Ficken was a finance major in college and was employed at a brokerage called Weeden & Co. He worked out up to six times a week and kicked up to three times a week just in case a professional team needed his services. On Monday, he passed the Series 57 exam to make him a more qualified trader. On Tuesday, he got a call from the Rams asking him to fly to Southern California for an important tryout.
The higher-ups at his company told Ficken that they hoped to never see him again.
They're super-thrilled for me," Ficken, 25, said underneath a yellow Rams beanie. "They're more than excited for me about the opportunity."
It's the type Ficken had spent years waiting on.
Ficken was Penn State's full-time kicker from 2012-14 and improved his accuracy as a senior, making 24 of 29 field goal attempts and all 28 extra points. But every team passed on him in the draft. He attended minicamps but never signed. He spent the summer of 2016 in training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars but was cut before the season began. He did the same in the summer of 2017, this time with the Kansas City Chiefs. Then he went back home, returned to his real job and waited again, still believing the dream was within reach.
Ficken has a mentor in San Francisco 49ers kicker and fellow Penn State alum Robbie Gould, who's in his 13th NFL season despite initially going undrafted.
On Wednesday, Ficken brought up Giorgio Tavecchio, who finally got an opportunity with the Oakland Raiders this season -- five years after going undrafted himself.
"He's had a bunch of preseasons," Ficken said. "He's always kicked well in them but just was never given the chance to kind of step foot on a real field. Hopefully, I can do a similar thing. I believe in myself. I believe in the work that I've put in. It was just a matter of time to be given a chance."
Ficken went 6-for-7 in field goals and 8-for-9 in extra points during his two preseason stints. He had worked out for the Chargers a couple of weeks earlier, and Fassel said he outperformed his competitors in "everything" earlier this week.
"I thought he hit a really good ball," Fassel said. "A lot of guys did, but there was something about him where you see a really true flight of the football, good enough distance where if you needed a low-50 or a mid-50 in a critical situation, he could probably give you that shot. And his kickoff ability was good."
There was another reason he chose Ficken.
"He doesn't have any bad mental scars," Fassel said. "... He seemed like a kid who hasn't been bothered by any misses."
Zuerlein underwent successful surgery Thursday morning, two days after being named to his first Pro Bowl. Through his first 13 games, he made 36 of 38 field goals -- including 6 of 7 from 50 or more yards -- and 40 of his 41 extra points. His 148 points led the NFL and put him on pace to surpass the 166 compiled by David Akers in 2011 for the most by a kicker.
But Zuerlein woke up on game day with his back barking. It had been sore throughout the season but never to the point where it caused him to miss practice or even come close to missing a game. While grabbing breakfast in Seattle on Sunday morning, Zuerlein could barely sit. He told Fassel that he couldn't walk, and Fassel sheepishly asked if he could kick.
Zuerlein played.
It wasn't surprising," Rams long snapper Jake McQuaide said. "But it was inspiring."
Zuerlein led the NFL in touchbacks by a wide margin, but most of his kickoffs Sunday traveled short. He missed one of his five extra-point attempts but made two field goals, from 36 and 31 yards out. By the second half, it got so bad that the Rams were considering their emergency plan, which involved Hekker kicking and rookie receiver Cooper Kupp holding. The Rams had to go for it on two fourth downs while in field goal range in the fourth quarter, even though they led big in an eventual 42-7 rout of the Seattle Seahawks.
Fassel drove Zuerlein home after they reached Los Angeles International Airport later that night. He pushed the seats down in his car and Zuerlein sprawled on his stomach. When they reached his house, Zuerlein had to wrap his arms around Fassel and his wife to get through his front door.
"Gosh," Fassel said, "that was as gritty an effort as I've ever seen in an NFL football game."
The Rams will go on without him. First-year head coach Sean McVay said Zuerlein's absence will affect his playcalling "just a little bit," mostly with regard to the regularity of his 50-plus-yard attempts. The Rams won't go for it on fourth down more often, McVay added. They believe in Ficken, who will have two games to get the rust off before the playoffs, a strong likelihood for the 10-4 Rams.
"It's not something that I haven't done before," Ficken said. "I've kicked in games; I've kicked in preseason games. Everyone, I think, puts [an emphasis] on the fact that I haven't kicked in a regular-season game, but again, day-to-day job stays the exact same -- put it through the uprights and take care of business."
[www.espn.com]
Sam Ficken, who will take over for injured Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein the rest of the season, has spent time in training camps but has yet to attempt a kick in the regular season.
Alden GonzalezESPN Staff Writer
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Los Angeles Rams special teams coordinator John Fassel called his punter, Johnny Hekker, on Tuesday night. He wanted to congratulate him on his fourth Pro Bowl invite, but really, he wanted him to clear his schedule Wednesday morning. Greg Zuerlein, the NFL's most productive kicker this season, suddenly needed surgery to repair a herniated disk, and the Rams were scrambling to find a replacement with a little more than two weeks left before the playoffs.
Hekker made his way to the team facility as instructed, ready to hold, and he saw six kickers preparing for a tryout.
"Man," he thought, "that's a lot of kickers."
"Oh," someone said, "that's only the first group."
The Rams held two workouts for 12 kickers Wednesday, one at 8 a.m. and the other at 9:15. They each got 12 field goal attempts and five kickoffs, with Hekker holding every snap from a couple of experienced
he Rams held two workouts for 12 kickers Wednesday, one at 8 a.m. and the other at 9:15. They each got 12 field goal attempts and five kickoffs, with Hekker holding every snap from a couple of experienced reinforcements. Fassel called it "more like a gong show than a workout."
There was a 2016 second-round pick in Roberto Aguayo, a nine-year veteran in Dan Carpenter, a couple of recent Los Angeles Chargers in Travis Coons and Younghoe Koo, and others with NFL experience like Andrew Franks, Garrett Hartley and Jason Myers. Ultimately, the first-place Rams went with Sam Ficken, a former Penn State kicker who went undrafted in 2015, has never kicked in a regular-season game and was working as a broker-dealer in Greenwich, Connecticut.
"I just wanted myself to not go in with any bias based on anybody's history, successes or failures and just say, 'You know what, there's 12 guys who are coming in, so let's just go clean slate for everyone and pick who we think had the best workout,'" Fassel said. "You could argue a lot of ways that other guys did this or that, but we thought that Sam did the best job."
Ficken was a finance major in college and was employed at a brokerage called Weeden & Co. He worked out up to six times a week and kicked up to three times a week just in case a professional team needed his services. On Monday, he passed the Series 57 exam to make him a more qualified trader. On Tuesday, he got a call from the Rams asking him to fly to Southern California for an important tryout.
The higher-ups at his company told Ficken that they hoped to never see him again.
They're super-thrilled for me," Ficken, 25, said underneath a yellow Rams beanie. "They're more than excited for me about the opportunity."
It's the type Ficken had spent years waiting on.
Ficken was Penn State's full-time kicker from 2012-14 and improved his accuracy as a senior, making 24 of 29 field goal attempts and all 28 extra points. But every team passed on him in the draft. He attended minicamps but never signed. He spent the summer of 2016 in training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars but was cut before the season began. He did the same in the summer of 2017, this time with the Kansas City Chiefs. Then he went back home, returned to his real job and waited again, still believing the dream was within reach.
Ficken has a mentor in San Francisco 49ers kicker and fellow Penn State alum Robbie Gould, who's in his 13th NFL season despite initially going undrafted.
On Wednesday, Ficken brought up Giorgio Tavecchio, who finally got an opportunity with the Oakland Raiders this season -- five years after going undrafted himself.
"He's had a bunch of preseasons," Ficken said. "He's always kicked well in them but just was never given the chance to kind of step foot on a real field. Hopefully, I can do a similar thing. I believe in myself. I believe in the work that I've put in. It was just a matter of time to be given a chance."
Ficken went 6-for-7 in field goals and 8-for-9 in extra points during his two preseason stints. He had worked out for the Chargers a couple of weeks earlier, and Fassel said he outperformed his competitors in "everything" earlier this week.
"I thought he hit a really good ball," Fassel said. "A lot of guys did, but there was something about him where you see a really true flight of the football, good enough distance where if you needed a low-50 or a mid-50 in a critical situation, he could probably give you that shot. And his kickoff ability was good."
There was another reason he chose Ficken.
"He doesn't have any bad mental scars," Fassel said. "... He seemed like a kid who hasn't been bothered by any misses."
Zuerlein underwent successful surgery Thursday morning, two days after being named to his first Pro Bowl. Through his first 13 games, he made 36 of 38 field goals -- including 6 of 7 from 50 or more yards -- and 40 of his 41 extra points. His 148 points led the NFL and put him on pace to surpass the 166 compiled by David Akers in 2011 for the most by a kicker.
But Zuerlein woke up on game day with his back barking. It had been sore throughout the season but never to the point where it caused him to miss practice or even come close to missing a game. While grabbing breakfast in Seattle on Sunday morning, Zuerlein could barely sit. He told Fassel that he couldn't walk, and Fassel sheepishly asked if he could kick.
Zuerlein played.
It wasn't surprising," Rams long snapper Jake McQuaide said. "But it was inspiring."
Zuerlein led the NFL in touchbacks by a wide margin, but most of his kickoffs Sunday traveled short. He missed one of his five extra-point attempts but made two field goals, from 36 and 31 yards out. By the second half, it got so bad that the Rams were considering their emergency plan, which involved Hekker kicking and rookie receiver Cooper Kupp holding. The Rams had to go for it on two fourth downs while in field goal range in the fourth quarter, even though they led big in an eventual 42-7 rout of the Seattle Seahawks.
Fassel drove Zuerlein home after they reached Los Angeles International Airport later that night. He pushed the seats down in his car and Zuerlein sprawled on his stomach. When they reached his house, Zuerlein had to wrap his arms around Fassel and his wife to get through his front door.
"Gosh," Fassel said, "that was as gritty an effort as I've ever seen in an NFL football game."
The Rams will go on without him. First-year head coach Sean McVay said Zuerlein's absence will affect his playcalling "just a little bit," mostly with regard to the regularity of his 50-plus-yard attempts. The Rams won't go for it on fourth down more often, McVay added. They believe in Ficken, who will have two games to get the rust off before the playoffs, a strong likelihood for the 10-4 Rams.
"It's not something that I haven't done before," Ficken said. "I've kicked in games; I've kicked in preseason games. Everyone, I think, puts [an emphasis] on the fact that I haven't kicked in a regular-season game, but again, day-to-day job stays the exact same -- put it through the uprights and take care of business."
[www.espn.com]