Much of the offseason and camp talk at wide receiver has centered on draft picks Brian Quick and Chris Givens. The return to health of Danny Amendola and Greg Salas following season ending surgeries in 2011. Or how free-agent pickup Steve Smith has progressed since signing with the Rams last spring.
Meanwhile, Brandon Gibson just won't go away.
"I'm just trying to do my job — that's it," Gibson laughed.
On Saturday, Gibson's job included two sideline catches, one of which was a highlight-reel grab to the 3-yard line during a two-minute drill.
"Sam (Bradford) has trust in me, and I want to make sure I go out there and make plays when I'm supposed to," Gibson said.
As for all the hype about the other wide receivers, Gibson shrugged and said: "That don't really bother me. I don't pay too much attention to it. It's just camp, meetings, and practice."
Coach Jeff Fisher, obviously, has paid attention to Gibson. Who knows where things will stand on Sept. 9, when the Rams open the regular season in Detroit. But Gibson opened training camp as a starting wide receiver (along with Amendola), and has had a good first week.
"He made two very impressive catches today on the boundary," Fisher said following Saturday's 2½-hour practice in the Edward Jones Dome. "You know, he made another couple catches in the 1-on-1 and the 7-on-7 (drills). When you end up in a jumping contest and the receiver comes down with it, that's important."
On a day where the defense clearly looked like it was ahead of the offense, Gibson's play was one of the few highlights on that side of the ball.
"This is our third year together," Bradford said. "He's someone that I feel extremely comfortable with. Gibby's had a really good camp so far, too. I think he's playing at an extremely high level right now. He's running good routes, he's getting open, and today he made some tough catches. They were contested balls. He used his hands, and he went and got it."
Add Gibson to the list of Rams players who have found an early comfort zone in this offense under coordinator Brian Schottenheimer because of its similarities to the Pat Shurmur scheme used in 2010.
"It's very, very similar," Gibson said. "Heavy West Coast. I like it a lot. I think Schotty's done a good job of being very detail-oriented in explaining it. Making sure guys understand their roles and what it's supposed to be, and where they're supposed to be.
"Once we get in the flow and find out what we do well, I think things will end up being a lot more specific; I think our offense will come along just fine."
Things didn't look very fluid offensively for most of Saturday's session, however, especially with the Rams' second and third units. As always, no contact was allowed on the quarterbacks, but Robert Quinn (on Bradford), Eugene Sims (on Kellen Clemens), and rookie free agent Scott Smith (on Austin Davis) all would've had sacks Saturday during 11-on-11 work.
Third-round draft pick Trumaine Johnson had an interception, and rookie first-rounder Michael Brockers had another strong practice Saturday.
"We were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the shoulder pads, and we got the pads on, and (Brockers) continued to do what we saw without pads and what we expected," Fisher said with a droll smile. "So far he's doing just fine."
Some of the day's biggest cheers from the crowd of 12,753 were for the field goal kicks of Greg Zuerlein and Garrett Lindholm. Lindholm hit on kicks from 39, 44, and 49 yards before Zuerlein — the 6th-round draft pick from Missouri Western — got his turn.
The rookie already known as Greg the Leg made kicks from 39, 44, 49 yards as well, but then kept going. He made field goals from 54 and 59 yards with room to spare, and had the distance but missed wide left from 64. (Lindholm then came back out and made a 54-yarder, before falling short from 59 and 64.)
"Yeah, (Zuerlein)'s got a very, very strong leg," Fisher said. "They both kicked very well today."
As advertised, there was very little in the way of scrimmaging Saturday. Other than goal-line work, the only live tackling came in a half-dozen or so plays for the rookies and younger players at the end of practice.
The team worked in full pads for the first time in camp, but for the most part, it was simply a more intense version of practice, heavy on situational work.
"Really, it was just a normal practice for us," Bradford said. "We went through the same thing we do in a normal day. But I thought we had a great two-minute drill today. It's something that we talked about actually (Friday) night in our meetings. So it was nice to see that carry over onto the field and (for) us to go out and execute the way we did."
The two-minute drill Bradford referred to occurred near the end of practice. He completed three passes on the drive to tight end Mike McNeill, the Kirkwood High product who worked with the starters Saturday. Gibson's diving 28-yard sideline catch advanced the ball to the 3, and then Bradford hit Greg Salas for a touchdown pass.
" 'Fish' put up some slides last night," Bradford said, referring to Fisher. "Just kind of made a presentation on what it takes to be successful in the two-minute drive, both from the offensive standpoint and the defensive standpoint. Mainly for the offense, it's eliminating negative plays, whether they're penalties, sacks, things like that, and I thought we did a good job of that."
