Barkevious Mingo to the Patriots for a 2017 5th rd pick.

Now watch him turn it on.

Nine possible surprise cuts the Rams would need to look at

http://www.downtownrams.com/single-...-surprise-cuts-the-Rams-would-need-to-look-at

August 22, 2016 | By: Jake Ellenbogen


It's that time again. . .Players are about to be released from their teams and join new teams which could help out. Sometimes a change of scenery is all it takes for a player to reach their potential. Here are 12 players that I believe could be handed their walking papers. If this is the case the Rams would need to take a look.


JaCorey Shepherd, Cornerback, Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles were about to name their late round rookie JaCorey Shepherd the nickel corner. Well unfortunately the former Kansas star ended up colliding into teammate Darren Sproles in camp and he tore his ACL which would end his rookie season before it started. Now he is trying to come back and still hasn't been able to suit up in preseason so with a different coaching staff and not the one that originally drafted him. This could be the end of Shepherd in an eagles uniform.


The Rams are in dire need of finding talent at the CB position whether they want to admit it or not. The 23-year-old corner has the talent to be in the nickel spot which the Rams could look to bolster if Joyner and company continues to struggle.


Dee Milliner, Cornerback, New York Jets

The former first-round pick is treading in deep water and it's only a matter until he drowns. Milliner self proclaimed himself the best corner in the league and he has yet to show that he is a solid corner in the league yet. I think the Jets could end up cutting him. While you hear all the positive stuff in the world about Milliner in camp, you just don't see it on the field and thats a problem.


Again, the Rams are in need of talent at the CB position. While Milliner has struggled again a change of scenery could help him and especially playing more zone which is what Gregg Williams' defense does.


Marquess Wilson, Wide receiver, Chicago Bears

Interesting name here and I don't expect many to recognize it. Marquess Wilson is a 6-foot-4 206 pound wide receiver. He has been trying to come back from a fractured foot injury but the problem is guys are impressing during his time on the shelf. So Wilson figures to be cut.


Mike Groh is used to coaching this guy, Wilson is only 23 years old and with the size he has and being familiar with Groh. Wilson could pay off in a big way. This move would really signal the end of Brian Quick if it came after the final roster was decided.


Pierre Garcon, Wide receiver, Washington Redskins

A veteran possession receiver who is going downhill and being less a part of the offense in Washington.


Garcon could come in and be the no. 2 wide receiver alongside Kenny Britt. I don't think he's a guaranteed cut nor do I think Garcon would be a game changer but at this point he would be useful for a Rams team that are lacking big play wide receivers who can actually be a weapon instead of a liability with unreliable hands.


Brandon Coleman, Wide receiver, New Orleans Saints

Perhaps one of my favorite WRs just based off his size. I watched him at Rutgers he's 6-foot-6 220 pounds. He was a projected third-round pick by Mel Kiper on draft night back in the 2014 NFL draft. He is only 24-years-old and with his size and the way he flashed potential last season he could be a red-zone specialist if need be.


The Rams might be better off with trying Coleman out since none of the WRs vying for a spot have really done anything to stand out in game besides Nelson Spruce.

Read more...

Los Angeles Rams Fantasy football preview

http://www.downtownrams.com/single-post/2016/08/18/Los-Angeles-Rams-Fantasy-football-preview

August 18, 2016 | By : Jake Ellenbogen

The L.A. Rams open up the regular season September 12th, and if you play fantasy football here is a look at the Rams from a fantasy football perspective.


Must-have Rams


Todd Gurley, RB - Well there is not much to say that has already said about the former Georgia product. The only debate fantasy wise is this, "Should you draft Todd Gurley number one overall?". I have the answer for you and the answer is yes and here's why:

• He's the number one back on the team by a country mile
  
  
• He is going into the 2016 season fully healthy unlike last year
  
  
• Gurley is the obvious focal point of the Ram offense
  
  
• He is only going to improve with better QB play and that play can only go up from here
  
  
• The Rams will use Gurley in the passing game much more often
  
  
• If you are tied between Gurley and Peterson then your tie-breaker should be who you would rather root for. Well if you are a Rams fan then that is a no-brainer
  

Average draft position: 1st overall-5th overall


Rams D/ST - Every year the Rams have a formidable defense and especially fantasy. The Rams have the best defensive line in all of football that should get you sack after sack. Hard-hitting players such as linebacker/safety Mark Barron, new starting safety Maurice Alexander and safety T.J. McDonald should force some fumbles during this season. Ball hawk shutdown corner Trumaine Johnson is coming off a breakout season in which he had seven interceptions. All in all this unit should net you a top five fantasy defense if they perform to their fullest.


Average draft position: 2nd-to-last round


Tavon Austin, WR - Austin has not been the most reliable fantasy option but he did enjoy a season in which he had ten total touchdowns. He also is looking at the same offensive coordinator Rob Boras calling the shots as well as respected new-comer former Bears WR coach now turned rams passing game coordinator and WR coach -- Mike Groh. Austin should end up having the rookie no. 1 overall pick throwing to him too so this could be the season Austin finally catches 100+ balls and flirts with 800-1,000 yards. If he does that he could be a highly coveted fantasy player.


Average draft position: 9th round


Tyler Higbee, TE - Make this pick towards the end of the draft and no one will know what you just did. Tyler Higbee might already be the best receiving option on the Rams. With a rookie quarterback in Jared Goff and an offense with heavy emphasis on tight ends Higbee could shine early on. He already has looked good in camp don't miss out on him when he becomes a waiver-wire steal halfway through the year. You are the only one who will think of drafting him so pull the trigger.


Average draft position: Undrafted


Rams to monitor


Jared Goff, QB - I personally would avoid him at all costs but maybe that's because I am superstitious and don't like having Rams QB's. Anyway Goff is a guy to monitor he most likely won't have a ROY season. However if he does explode be ready to scoop him up in free agency. I could see any scenario with Goff the issue is that rookie quarterbacks are often times hit-or-miss.

Read more...

Rams 53-man roster predictions: Preseason week two edition

http://www.downtownrams.com/single-...roster-predictions-Preseason-week-two-edition

August 18, 2016 | By: Jake Ellenbogen

The Rams made it through week one of the preseason and now they will play their last game in L.A. until week two of the regular season against the Seattle Seahawks. After this game it will be time to cut the roster down to 75. Here is the updated regular season week one roster prediction as of preseason week two.


1.QB1: Jared Goff

2.QB2: Case Keenum

3.QB3: Sean Mannion

4.RB1: Todd Gurley

5.RB2: Benny Cunningham

6.RB3: Malcolm Brown

7.RB4: Chase Reynolds

8.WR1: Kenny Britt

9.WR2: Tavon Austin

10.WR3: Pharoh Cooper

11.WR4: Bradley Marquez

12.WR5: Nelson Spruce

13.WR6: Duke Williams

14.TE1: Lance Kendricks

15.TE2: Tyler Higbee

16.TE3: Cory Harkey

17.TE4: Temarrick Hemingway

18.LT1: Greg Robinson

19.LT2: Darrell Williams

20.LG1: Rodger Saffold

21.LG2: Garrett Reynolds

22.C1: Tim Barnes

23.C2: Eric Kush

24.RG1: Jamon Brown

25.RG2: Cody Wichmann

26.RT: Rob Havenstein

27.DE1: Robert Quinn

28.DE2: William Hayes

29.DE3: Eugene Sims

30.DE4: Quinton Coples

31.DE5: Ethan Westbrooks

32.DE6: Matt Longacre

33.DT1: Aaron Donald

34.DT2: Michael Brockers

35.DT3: Dominique Easley

36.MLB: Alec Ogletree

37.OLB1: Mark Barron

38.OLB2: Akeem Ayers

39.OLB3: Cameron Lynch

40.OLB4: Bryce Hager

41.CB1: Trumaine Johnson

42.CB2: LaMarcus Joyner

43.CB3: E.J. Gaines

44.CB4: Coty Sensabaugh

45.CB5: Marcus Roberson

46.CB6: Mike Jordan

47.FS1: Mo Alexander

48.FS2: Cody Davis

49.FS3: Christian Bryant

50.SS1: T.J. McDonald

51.K: Greg Zuerlein

52.P: Johnny Hekker

53.LS: Jake McQuaide


Notable roster cuts:


Aaron Green, Running back - This is only going to get tougher as the preseason moves along. Green has already looked like a back worth keeping.


Brian Quick, Wide receiver - Still don't see him making the roster. The emergence of guys like Nelson Spruce and hopefully Duke Williams will be too much for Quick to overcome.


Mike Thomas, Wide receiver - Thomas had a couple of drops week one or the preseason and as of right now Nelson Spruce poured on some pressure for the 6th round pick out of Southern Miss. We will see if Thomas can bounce back, if not he could be looking at practice squad stint at best.

Read more...

http://www.espn.com/blog/st-louis-r...eg-zuerlein-awaiting-chance-to-redeem-himself

Alden Gonzalez


IRVINE, Calif. -- Los Angeles Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein spent the entire offseason poring through video, trying to figure out how to improve on a season in which he missed a third of his field-goal attempts. Several of those misses sailed wide right, and Zuerlein noticed that sometimes he was opening his foot up just a tad. So he worked on it. He also only made a third of his attempts from 50-plus yards away, so he has made sure to take additional reps from a great distance.

Now he just needs to implement it all in a game.

The Rams' preseason schedule is halfway done, and Zuerlein, in desperate need of a bounce-back season, has yet to attempt a field goal. He's kicked three extra points and nothing else, with backup kicker Taylor Bertolet taking the other four. So Zuerlein is hoping for some work on Saturday, Week 3 of the preseason schedule, when the Rams play the defending-champion Broncos in Denver at 6 p.m. PT.


"I’ll never be mad scoring touchdowns," Zuerlein said. "But ideally you get some kicks in the game, because you can’t mimic those in practice. You can get close, but to feel the rush, and just the atmosphere, everything -- the actual goal post, instead of what we have here. It’s important to get that. I’m confident we will get some."

Zuerlein, 28, made only 20 of his 30 field-goal attempts last season, a rate of 66.7 percent. It was by far the worst percentage in the NFL among kickers who attempted at least 20 field goals. The man directly above Zuerlein, Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders, converted 80.8 percent of his field goals. And among those with at least 30 attempts since 2006, Zuerlein's mark was the third-worst.

"It was not a good year, just simply put," said Zuerlein, who made 82 percent of his attempts during his previous three seasons. "I’m a lot better than what I showed. Really, I just have to do better."


It isn't far-fetched to say that a better Zuerlein might have made the Rams a playoff team last year.

Consider: They lost nine games, and three of those losses were decided by three points. And in each of those, Zuerlein missed a field goal wide right. There was the Nov. 8 game in Minnesota, down 18-15 with less than two minutes left, when Zuerlein missed a 48-yard attempt (though he later made the 53-yard field goal that sent the game to overtime). There was the Nov. 22 game in Baltimore, when Zuerlein missed a 52-yard field goal with the score knotted at 13 and less than two minutes left. And there was the Jan. 3 finale from San Francisco, when he missed another 52-yarder with the Rams up by three late in the third quarter.

None of those were easy, of course.

Zurelein's nine attempts from 50 or more yards out were tied for the second-most in the league last year. But his conversion rate from that distance (33 percent) was well below the NFL average (65 percent).

"The way I see it is the opportunities are there for me to be great," Zuerlein said of how he evaluates his success rate from so far away. "Getting that many opportunities to kick from deep is awesome. Teams don’t even try them. And so I look at it from the standpoint of I’m given the opportunity to do really big things, and unfortunately I haven’t converted on them. And that’s what I’ve been working on in the offseason, trying to make as many of those long kicks as possible so I can convert on those for the team in the future."

Might be cleaner for the board if we have one thread where we can discuss players cut by other teams we could contemplate signing. We all know there will be the first level of cut downs on Tuesday 15 people a team there's 480 potential future former Rams we could contemplate signing. I can update the title with notable cuts I think?

Tomorrow's practice @ Cal St. Irvine is open to the public for the last time before they move up north to Lutheran Univ. Campus to continue TC. Will any of the practices be open to the public up there?

Don't know if anybody is there and if we'll get reports but saw a couple tweets that they're starting up now.

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http://profootballspot.com/nfl/arti...le-rams-patience-for-quick-running-thin-r299/

By Tim Godfrey


The Rams are going into Year Five of the Quick Project and the receiver has yet to catch 1,000 yards for his career. Photo Credit: USA Today - Sports

Fisher could finally pull the plug on the Brian Quick Project after 5 years

The Los Angeles Rams brought back Brian Quick on a one-year/$1.5 million contract. But he might not even make it to the end of training camp, let alone the end of the year.

Quick needed solid performances during his preseason appearances against the Dallas Cowboys and the Kansas City Chiefs. He failed to accomplish to do to just that in either game. Against the Chiefs, Quick recorded two catches. The week prior, he only caught one.

Now, he could be dropped himself.

Quick’s lack of catches falls more on himself than it does on the quarterback. During the Chiefs game, Quick dropped a couple of passes. One pass was directly into his chest with the nearest defender being a few yards from him. Quick dropped it.

“I have confidence in my hands,” Quick said to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. “Most of those things are just timing anyway, with the quarterback and me.”

Regardless of what it falls on, head coach Jeff Fisher said it plain and simple: “Your receivers have to catch (the ball).”

“(Quick)’s had too many drops, so he’s going to have to focus on that,” Fisher said.

Quick was a second-round draft pick that many expected to be a project. Fisher and general manager Les Snead felt confident in his ability, however, and felt they needed to take him high before anyone else did.

Now, the project looks to have run it’s course. The Rams are going into Year Five of the Quick Project and the receiver has yet to catch 1,000 yards for his career.

From 2012 to 2015, Quick’s catching percentage has been well below average; catching 47 percent of the 135 targets over five years.

A more disappointing look at the number finds that despite playing in 51 games, Quick was targeted less than twice-a-game (1.7).

The team will certainly have Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt, and rookie Pharoh Cooper be a big part of their passing game. After that, Fisher said the competition to make the final 53 is wide-open.

The Rams wide receiver competition is proving to be a lot more competitive than in recent years. Outside the previous three, guys like Nelson Spruce and Paul McRoberts have made names for themselves in the last few weeks.

Spruce had a great game against Dallas, but fell to a sprained knee. When healthy, Spruce is a great option in the passing game.

Bradley Marquez has proven himself to be a great special teams player.

Quick could find himself the odd-man-out. He can’t contribute on special teams and he has proven to be a less than reliable receiver on offense.

Quick has shown he can be a good receiver. In 2014, Quick appeared to be turning in a career season. He played seven games before he was knocked out for the season with a shoulder injury, as luck would have it.

But during those seven games, his catching percentage increased, he turned in the highest amount of receiving yards (375) and caught a career-high three touchdowns.

Those numbers seem rather meager, but for Quick, this was improvement. He was proving his worth.

But the following year, he regressed dramatically, only catching 10 passes in 13 games.

This weekend’s game against the Denver Broncos is do-or-die for Quick. Roster cuts are due by the end of the month and his name is not off the chopping block.

This weekend could be the last time we see Quick in a Los Angeles Rams jersey. Should he play well and catch more than two passes, he could stave off the roster cuts another week.

But time is running out.




B.Quick is in the fight of his life... I give him an 80% chance to make the final 53 if he catches every ball that touches his hands at Denver and Minnesota. If he has drops at Denver he's likely cut on 08/30/2016.

Now this is important to understand. I have followed this team through the highs and the lows. The move from LA (Anaheim) to St. Louis didn’t deter me. I have watched this team every year and hoping that this is the year. 1999 was magical, we all know that. I can’t put my finger on it but this team is different. They are going places. Whether it is the play calling of Boras, the route running of the receivers, the line blocking of the offense. Something is different and in a good way. To add to this, the intensity level was cranked way up. The players were showing what they could bring to the table. It made for an enjoyable practice.

On to the camp report. The usual warm ups took place. Special teams kick off and returns. Defense was on the far field so I didn’t see much of what was going on over there.

Battle and Havenstein were dressed but did individual drills on the sidelines. Kenny Britt didn’t participate in the practice but was on the field helping out. Never saw #3 WR North. Quinn was dressed but didn’t participate in any contact drills.

During 7 on 7, Goff went through his progressions but in four passes, he went to Higbee three times and Quick once. Quick dropped a sure catch, hit him in the hands and it would have been a TD. Higbee caught one about 3 yards’ shy of the end zone along the sideline, made a spin move and fought his way in for the TD. Nice move. Two takeaways from the 7 on 7. Goff went through his progressions and chose the safe outlet, Higbee. Modest gains in yards but they add up. The corners were covering well. That would be Tru J. and EJ. It wasn’t no picnic for the WR.

Keenum looked good during 7 on 7 as did Mannion although Mannion was not as crisp. Did well but didn’t make you go WOW. Hemmingway caught a TD from Keenum that looked real good. Good route, good patience from Case to wait for the open man. If I remember correctly, Hemminway was lined up in the slot on that play.

The real fun started when Goff started the 11 on 11 session with the 1st string. He was a different QB from what we have seen so far. He got the play call through the headset in the huddle, called the play, every skill position player lined up correctly (no last second changes from Goff) and executed the count. My point is he showed a command of the huddle, an understanding of the play called and his teammates responded like pro-football players should. The O line provided good protection and I didn’t see anyone getting close to the QB for a sack.

There were the obligatory hand offs to Gurley that went smooth as silk. Goff was showing a good fake after the hand-off too. The D line and linebackers did their part too. Run players were pretty much a stalemate. Then the passes started.

We all know Goff has a quick release. He demonstrated that a plenty Tuesday. One of his most impressive throws was a streaking Lance Kendricks going up the left sideline, made some sort of move to create separation from an unknown defender, had a two-step cushion and Goff throws a pass like he did to Cooper in the Dallas game. A frozen rope, a line drive. Hit Kendricks in stride, right in the hands and Lance trots in for the TD. This was a 30-40yard throw in the air. Most QB’s tend to arc the ball up high and let it fall into the receivers’ hands. Not Goff. His type of throw does not allow a safety to react and have a chance for a pass breakup. It was beautiful and the crowd responded with claps and cheers.

Other throws were right on the money. Higbee caught a pass at the right sideline then spun towards the inside of the field freeing himself from a sure tackle or knocked out of bounds then fought his way into the end zone.

T. Magee took a screen pass out of the backfield and gained some good yards. Can’t wait to see Gurley do that. By the way, Gurley was used sparingly.

Case Keenum came in with the second team for his turn during the 11 on 11. It was not all that good for him. First he did a simple handoff to the running back Brown but either Brown didn’t take the right angle or Case stepped too far out and they had a mild collision. No fumble but Brown was stopped at the line. Is this a case of a new QB playing for the first time with this unit? Maybe. But Case had difficulties connecting with his receivers. On a deep post route to the end zone, a fast moving David Richards #12 was open but the ball was horribly overthrown.

Hemmingway looks like a keeper. Could be used in a WR role and not so much shoe horned in at TE. Higbee is riped and has great hands. Didn’t see if he had blocking assignments but he sure knows how to get open and catches the ball. Missed seeing Spruce, still in a knee brace. Cory Harkey is very good at blocking and can catch although he was only targeted I think once during 7 on 7 and once more on 11 on 11. The other receivers did well with the exception of Quick.

Quick dropped a sure TD that square in his hands in the end zone. He was covered tightly but the ball was perfect. Goff threw it. On another play I think it was Mannion throwing, Quick catches one going up the seam and scores a TD. Now this was with the second team defense and offense. If you read my posts from camp on August 23 you’ll recall a moment when there was a break in the action and Quick was on the near sideline talking with Britt and one of the coaches I couldn’t recognized. He was visibly upset with something. I walked down to the fence to try and hear what was being said but I couldn’t make it out. Quick was on one knee at times then would get up and pace around Britt and the coach then back to the knee. It appeared that Britt and coach were trying to lighten things up with smiles, jokes of sorts and such. Quick never smiled. He knows the pressure is on.

In summary, Goff looked totally different than in the past. Keenum struggled at times as did Mannion. It was Goff’s team that day and he made the best of it. If you saw Coach Fishers presser after that practice you could tell he was very pleased with Goff. As you can tell, I’m all about the offense in this report. I felt we know what we have in our DB’s now that Gains is back. We know our front four are set, OH! By the way, Easley is a great addition to the D line. Expect great things from him. He is very quick off the ball. Linebackers will take some work, learning to play with each other but I’m not worried.

I cannot wait for Saturday against Denver and I want to see Goff start the game. I think you all will be pleasantly surprised with his improvement.


Take care my Rams Brothers!

Watching Hard Knocks last night I figured out why the gold horns look lighter. There is no glitter/sparkle in the horns, it's a completely solid color, think of it as Grey Poupon!

Wondering if you wanted to respond to ED tossing you under the bus in the Hard Knocks episode 3 exchange with Mike Singletary? It was just a quick comment, but seeing as you are here....what say you? :boxing:opcorn:

Forgive me, if it's obviously right in front of my face, but I didn't see it. Are you cats doing a league again this year??

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/08/23/nfl-training-camp-tour-jacksonville-jaguars-peter-king-mailbag

Training Camp Conclusions
By Peter King

• FANS WHO MIGHT SURPRISE THE LEAGUE: Rams fans. As one Los Angeles vet told me after last Saturday’s win over the Chiefs, “We might have the kind of home field advantage the Seahawks have.” Too early to tell if the honeymoon will last, but a crowd helps a team’s defense the most, because the opposing offense has to struggle to hear itself over the din of the crowd. And Seattle will be in L.A. first, in Week 2, so we’ll see if preseason madness will carry over. But those were some crazy fans I saw Saturday night at the Coliseum.

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Alden Gonzalez ESPN Staff Writer

http://www.espn.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/30302/rams-deep-at-rb-even-without-tre-mason

IRVINE, Calif. -- Nearly four weeks into training camp, the Los Angeles Rams' most impressive department is their backfield. Perhaps that was predictable, given the presence of star running back Todd Gurley. But it's the personnel beyond Gurley that makes the collective group so formidable, which is surprising when you consider the absentee.

In the wake of Tre Mason's bizarre disappearance, Benny Cunningham and Malcolm Brown have stepped up. The two have combined to rush for 195 yards on 28 carries through the first two preseason games, comeback victories against the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs. That's nearly 7 yards per carry. The NFL leader in that department last year, Thomas Rawls of the Seattle Seahawks, averaged 5.6.

"It’s a good feeling to see the work everybody’s put in kind of pay off," Cunningham said. "We want to just continue to compete and try to contribute to the offense."

Aaron Green, all of whom joined the Rams as undrafted free agents, are the ones taking advantage.

Green amassed 64 yards and caught the winning touchdown in Week 1. He sat out Week 2, but has since returned to practice and will probably play in Week 3. Cunningham rushed four times for 38 yards in Week 1 and four times for 23 yards in Week 2. And Brown has led the Rams in rushing each of the first two games, going 66 yards on eight carries in Week 1 and 68 yards on 12 carries in Week 2.

Brown also caught the winning touchdown on Saturday, reaching across his body to haul in a 10-yard pass from rookie quarterback Jared Goff.

"From last year to this year is a complete difference in my head," said Brown, who played in only one game as a rookie in 2015. "Confidence was really my biggest thing. I had to trust in myself, I had to trust in the offensive line, I had to trust in what the coaches were telling me. Confidence can go a long way.”

Practice Report 8/23: Defense Under Williams


Myles Simmons

[www.therams.com]

Gregg Williams is heading into his third season as the Rams’ defensive coordinator. Known as a coach who can adapt his scheme to get the most out of his players, Williams has a kind of advantage going into Year 3 with the club.

“There’s not a lot of new stuff. They’re used to me, I’m used to them,” Williams said. “It’s been a real productive spring, and I do like how they’ve come back from the spring OTAs, and coming back in condition here for these training camp practices. It’s been a real positive format, so far.”

The familiarity Williams has with Los Angeles’ veterans means more time can be devoted in preseason games to players he may not know as much about. For instance, Williams said he wasn’t concerned about defensive end Robert Quinn not playing much in the preseason because he knows what the lineman can do.

“I need to see him play on gameday in [the] regular season,” Williams said. “I’ve been through a lot of games with him, I see him in practice every day. He’ll got some limited reps, but not looking to get a lot of banging around because I want to see him banging around come Monday Night Football against San Francisco.”

When a player has recorded 50 sacks in only 71 games over five seasons, it’s a clear indication of elite-level talent. It’s another reason why Williams doesn’t feel a need to see Quinn do much in games that don’t count, especially given that Quinn is returning from back surgery.

“He does things that you can’t coach, he has some of the fastest-twitch pass-rushing I’ve ever seen,” Williams said.

One of the ways that comes through on the field is how quickly Quinn can turn the corner on an offensive tackle.


“When you watch a pass rusher turn the corner, everybody in the National Football League has to turn the corner at nine yards. The good ones start turning the corner at eight yards, the Pro Bowlers will start turning the corners at seven yards,” Williams said. “You’ll see Robert turn [the corner on an offensive tackle] it at a four, five and six [yards – not very many people can do that, only the elite of the elite.

“I can’t coach that,” Williams continued. “I’m a better coach when he plays and does that — I’m telling you that.”

Williams likes to let players use their natural instincts. He’s talked about it with defensive tackle Aaron Donald, and mentioned a same sort of principle when discussing Mark Barron’s transition from safety to weakside linebacker.

“Last year, the biggest thing we wanted to do as a staff is not overload him, not slow him down,” Williams said. “I told the staff ‘don’t coach him. Unless he asks a question, let him alone – and then when he asks a question, that’s what he needs to know to figure it out.’

“Now, this year, we’ve started from day one, scratch one, building him back up through there and the light has really clicked on for him,” Williams added. “He’ll be even better this year.”

Plus, between Barron and middle linebacker Alec Ogletree, Williams thinks the Rams can be one of the fastest teams on defense in the league.

“I really can’t wait to see he and Ogletree play together,” Williams said. “You guys are going to see a pretty good, fast pair of backers doing things.”

But those are players Williams knows well. For the ones he doesn’t, he relies on preseason playing time to see who can realistically contribute to the defense.

“Practices are so much different now in the NFL and training camp, with the non-contact that you have — the ways with not very many padded practices,” Williams said. “So now you get a chance to get them into a game, especially some of these young college guys coming in as rookies. And even some of the veteran guys that we sign free agents that came from other teams.”

The next chance to evaluate will come on Saturday in Denver — a team that will certainly present challenges in all three phases as the reigning Super Bowl Champions.

“The things that have happened in the first half in a couple of these games have been very good correctable things that these guys have grown from,” Williams said. “So far, so good. Now when they take the next step this week, It’ll be interesting to see these guys play.”

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J.K Simmons in "Whiplash".

Wish I knew how to post pics.

J.K. could play Waufle's life story without any makeup!.

Goff needs to find himself a girlfriend who knows the offensive plays as well as Keenum's wife.

CBS in L.A. will broadcast the Denver game live on Sat. Aug. 27 at 6:OO PM PST. CBS Pre-Game show begins at 5:30 PST.

NFL Network will broadcast the Rams/Denver game 3 hours later (pretty much as the CBS game ends) at 9:00 PM PST

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Check out who came to see Hayes at camp. LOL

http://www.theramswire.usatoday.com/2016/08/23jared-goff-reportedly-isnt-even-the-no-2-quarterback-currently/

According to this talking head. I tend to agree. If Goff ain't ready, he ain't ready. Mannion has a better understanding and reading the field better than Goff, CURRENTLY. That could change.

Warm ups underway.

Helmets and shoulderpads today

Battle, Quinn, Higbee all dressed.

Worried about Battle. Heis with Saffold, Brown and other olinemen but is off by himself. Not conversing or stretching or working on technique with the others. Is he being held out? More to follow

Havenstien on the sideline but dressed