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Howard Balzer
http://www.insidestl.com/insideSTLcom/S ... Young.aspx
When the Rams take the field in their season opener Sunday at Detroit, they will be doing it with a roster that includes 17 rookies. Many are expected to have prominent roles.
Rok Watkins might start at left guard, and if he doesn’t, he could still get time there along with Robert Turner. Cornerback Janoris Jenkins will start and Trumaine Johnson could see time as the nickel back.
Both kickers, Greg Zuerlien and punter Johnny Hekker are rookies.
Asked if he’s ever had a group this young, coach Jeff Fisher said, "No. Not close. That's what's exciting about it. ... These guys are anxious and eager, they've got confidence. I'd much rather coach a young team than an old team."
When asked if his coaching style changes with such a young team, Fisher said, "Nothing changes. You take the same approach, preparation-wise. You just have to maybe spend a little extra time with some of the younger guys to let them know what the regular season is all about. Seventeen rookies on this roster and that doesn't include practice squad. There's a good chance that quite a few of them are going to be in this ballgame."
Quarterback Sam Bradford, a grizzly third-year player, admitted he feels old with all the rookies.
He added, “I didn't realize that until we were at the luncheon the other day and, I think, someone asked coach Fisher about it and he said we had 16 or 17 rookies and I was like, 'Oh my God, that seems extremely high.' But looking around I think we've got a lot of young guys, a lot of rookies in this locker room who are going to help us. We're better because they're here. We're better because they're on our team and I look forward to taking the field with them."
Was he surprised by that number? Bradford said, "I think that's really probably why it did surprise me because we've had a lot of rookies step in, handle everything that's been thrown at them. I know the guys on offense have done a great job as far as picking up and retaining information. When they're in the huddle they're just like anyone else and I think that's a good sign."
Two of the rookies are receivers Bradford expects to be throwing to, Brian Quick and Chris Givens.
Bradford said, "The past couple weeks they've been rotating in there with the ones quite a bit. So even though I haven't thrown to them much in games, I think we've developed a nice chemistry in practice the past two weeks."
Is it 16 or 17? The number of rookies is 17 because tackle Ty Nsekhe is technically a rookie; this summer is his first in an NFL training camp. However, Nsekhe will be 27 next month and has played four seasons of indoor football. In the strictest sense because this isn’t his first season right after leaving college.
‘I did nothing wrong:’ Those were the words spoken by Ravens tackle Ramon Harewood, who dived at Michael Brockers’ lower leg last week and knocked Brockers out for up to four weeks. I watched the replay numerous times, and Harewood made no effort to simply block Brockers. He blatantly crashed down from the side and somewhat behind Brockers to hit him in the leg. On the Rams TV broadcast, analyst Ross Tucker, who played offensive line in the league, saw the play immediately and identified it as an illegal chop block where Brockers was being held up high by another lineman.
Harewood was fined $8,000 by the NFL and said he plans to appeal.He told the Baltimore Sun, “I did nothing wrong. I watched the play over and over. I even asked (Ravens defensive tackle) Haloti Ngata if he would call that and he said, ‘No.’ I’m appealing it. It’s a lot of money. They better take off the whole fine.”
While Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Thursday he was unaware of the fine, when asked if he thought it was a legal block, Fisher said, “I did not, no, but I didn’t send it in. I trust the league to do that. It’s not the only play in the game that was not legal; those kinds of things happen all the time. I don’t think it was intentional. The player’s trying to make the team, trying to make a block, but unfortunately, there’s rules by which we have to abide.”
The Quotebook: Rams coach Jeff Fisher on tackle Ty Nsekhe: "He played well all preseason. I feel like he's got some rare athletic ability and technique-wise and all the tape we looked at, we felt like he might have a chance."
Fisher on changes in the roster following the cutdown to 53 players: "We're not done. We're still going to continue to try to upgrade this roster. Considering the resources, we feel like we did a pretty good job and took advantage of most every opportunity."
Quarterback Sam Bradford on his backup, Austin Davis: "Austin is a kid who's come in and gotten better every week that he's been here. From the time that OTAs started to now, he's improved vastly. I think he's got a shot to be a really good quarterback. Hopefully we don't see much of him on the field; that probably means something bad happened to me. But if he does get in there, I'm sure that he'll handle it and he'll play well."
http://www.insidestl.com/insideSTLcom/S ... Young.aspx
When the Rams take the field in their season opener Sunday at Detroit, they will be doing it with a roster that includes 17 rookies. Many are expected to have prominent roles.
Rok Watkins might start at left guard, and if he doesn’t, he could still get time there along with Robert Turner. Cornerback Janoris Jenkins will start and Trumaine Johnson could see time as the nickel back.
Both kickers, Greg Zuerlien and punter Johnny Hekker are rookies.
Asked if he’s ever had a group this young, coach Jeff Fisher said, "No. Not close. That's what's exciting about it. ... These guys are anxious and eager, they've got confidence. I'd much rather coach a young team than an old team."
When asked if his coaching style changes with such a young team, Fisher said, "Nothing changes. You take the same approach, preparation-wise. You just have to maybe spend a little extra time with some of the younger guys to let them know what the regular season is all about. Seventeen rookies on this roster and that doesn't include practice squad. There's a good chance that quite a few of them are going to be in this ballgame."
Quarterback Sam Bradford, a grizzly third-year player, admitted he feels old with all the rookies.
He added, “I didn't realize that until we were at the luncheon the other day and, I think, someone asked coach Fisher about it and he said we had 16 or 17 rookies and I was like, 'Oh my God, that seems extremely high.' But looking around I think we've got a lot of young guys, a lot of rookies in this locker room who are going to help us. We're better because they're here. We're better because they're on our team and I look forward to taking the field with them."
Was he surprised by that number? Bradford said, "I think that's really probably why it did surprise me because we've had a lot of rookies step in, handle everything that's been thrown at them. I know the guys on offense have done a great job as far as picking up and retaining information. When they're in the huddle they're just like anyone else and I think that's a good sign."
Two of the rookies are receivers Bradford expects to be throwing to, Brian Quick and Chris Givens.
Bradford said, "The past couple weeks they've been rotating in there with the ones quite a bit. So even though I haven't thrown to them much in games, I think we've developed a nice chemistry in practice the past two weeks."
Is it 16 or 17? The number of rookies is 17 because tackle Ty Nsekhe is technically a rookie; this summer is his first in an NFL training camp. However, Nsekhe will be 27 next month and has played four seasons of indoor football. In the strictest sense because this isn’t his first season right after leaving college.
‘I did nothing wrong:’ Those were the words spoken by Ravens tackle Ramon Harewood, who dived at Michael Brockers’ lower leg last week and knocked Brockers out for up to four weeks. I watched the replay numerous times, and Harewood made no effort to simply block Brockers. He blatantly crashed down from the side and somewhat behind Brockers to hit him in the leg. On the Rams TV broadcast, analyst Ross Tucker, who played offensive line in the league, saw the play immediately and identified it as an illegal chop block where Brockers was being held up high by another lineman.
Harewood was fined $8,000 by the NFL and said he plans to appeal.He told the Baltimore Sun, “I did nothing wrong. I watched the play over and over. I even asked (Ravens defensive tackle) Haloti Ngata if he would call that and he said, ‘No.’ I’m appealing it. It’s a lot of money. They better take off the whole fine.”
While Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Thursday he was unaware of the fine, when asked if he thought it was a legal block, Fisher said, “I did not, no, but I didn’t send it in. I trust the league to do that. It’s not the only play in the game that was not legal; those kinds of things happen all the time. I don’t think it was intentional. The player’s trying to make the team, trying to make a block, but unfortunately, there’s rules by which we have to abide.”
The Quotebook: Rams coach Jeff Fisher on tackle Ty Nsekhe: "He played well all preseason. I feel like he's got some rare athletic ability and technique-wise and all the tape we looked at, we felt like he might have a chance."
Fisher on changes in the roster following the cutdown to 53 players: "We're not done. We're still going to continue to try to upgrade this roster. Considering the resources, we feel like we did a pretty good job and took advantage of most every opportunity."
Quarterback Sam Bradford on his backup, Austin Davis: "Austin is a kid who's come in and gotten better every week that he's been here. From the time that OTAs started to now, he's improved vastly. I think he's got a shot to be a really good quarterback. Hopefully we don't see much of him on the field; that probably means something bad happened to me. But if he does get in there, I'm sure that he'll handle it and he'll play well."
