Camp Report 8/20/14

[CoachO]

Camp Report 8/20/14

Did not Participate: B. Jones, Rhaney, S. Brown, Gaines, Dunbar, Schiller, McGee, Conrath

• Woodard participated in DB drills, no team drill
• Saffold was back and full participation
• Laurinaitis participated in LB drills, no team drills
• Person participated in Special Team (KO) drills, no team
  
• Wm Hayes participated in DL drills, still no team

Today's Attire: Shoulder pads & shorts

Special Teams: Kickoff Return

• 1st Unit: Alexander Ogletree Armstrong Bates Reynolds C Davis Harkey Barnes Person B. Cunningham Givens
• 2nd Unit: Daniels Steward A. Hill Wilson Sabino Blake Bayer J. Cunningham Washington Watts Veltung
• 3rd Unit: A. Cunningham Millard Moe Harris A. Hill J. Bryant Bayer Sam Westbrooks Stacy Reid/Mason

Theme of the Day: Spirited and vocal Practice

• one of the more "vocal" practices. Lots of players talking and joking
  
• also seemed to be more encouraging words as guys made plays.
• much more contact. put the "thud" in a less than full contact practice
• the team just looks relaxed and starting to feel good about getting key players back

Unit Drills:

• LB's & Safeties: Working on recognition and drops (both zone and man coverages) under the watchful eye of Greg Williams
• CBs: working on press techinique
• TE's & RB's: Blitz Pickup A few highlights:

• B. Cunningham stuffs McDonald
• Kendricks handles Ogletree
• Cook stuffs Armstrong
• Mason whiffs on Ogletree
• Harkey tosses Johnson aside
• Bayer whiffs on Ogletree
• Reynolds misses Bates
• Stacy handles Armstrong

7 on 7:

• Laurinaitis with the 1st unit, Armstrong in for Dunbar
• Steward with nice INT of Hill pass on seam route
• Bradford and Cook hook up a couple of times
• Emory Blake turns an ankle ... returns later
• Bailey and Austin get primary 1st unit reps.
• Quick and Britt limited

11 on 11:

Saffold was back

• took 1st unit reps @ Left Guard
• Robinson took 2nd unit reps

• pretty physical lots of thumping, pads popping
• Pocket collapsed on one play, and Bradford got caught up in some physical play, looked to get stepped on
  
• C. Davis closes on out route to Quick ,and hits him.... Quick shaken up, and doesn't return. Stayed on sideline the rest of practice. Seemed to favor his ribs.
• during one drill with offense backed up near its own goal line, defense was in Nickel Package, and there was some confusion getting lined up. Greg Williams can be heard clearly yelling at Alexander, saying "get them lined up, its YOUR FAULT"
• Practice ended with "dizzy bat" tradition for rookies
• Fisher and the Rams welcomed the HS teams from the Ferguson-Florissant School District (McCluer and McCluer North). they used the indoor practice facility, and then attended the last Training Camp practice of the year.

 

[Dodgersrf]

Thanks for everything Coach. It was a great season of reports.
Reading them, helped me recognize the players the first two preseason games.

 

[Wonderboy]

No joke, thanks for the reports! Awesome stuff!

 

[TheDYVKX]

Bad news about Quick. Hope it's nothing major. They were probably being cautious with him.

Thanks for the reports! Really appreciate them. Excited to see this team go out and play more.

 

[MrMotes]

Thanks Coach...

 

[Alan]

As usual @CoachO !

 

[CoachO]

Bad news about Quick. Hope it's nothing major. They were probably being cautious with him.

Thanks for the reports! Really appreciate them. Excited to see this team go out and play more.

I dont think its anything serious,, but he didnt look happy about it,,

 

[A55VA6]

Thanks again for the report, Coach! Was today the final open practice?

 

[CoachO]

Thanks again for the report, Coach! Was today the final open practice?

yes, they officially broke camp after today's practice.

I plan on working on a final report, giving my general thoughts on where they are, and evaluate the roster kinda like I did at the midway point of camp. There have been a few players who really helped themselves over the final 2 weeks, and some who have slipped. It should be an interesting final two weeks of the Preseason.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Kinda sad this is the last one....Great job Coach0....When you say the blockers "whiff", is Ogletree just running by them or is he doing some sort of swim move? So Cody blasted my boy Quick?!? lol, maybe he sees me pumping him up every chance I get...lol...Did it look serious? How did Tavon look? What type of routes does he run, the same ones we see on TV? Or something deeper? Your boy Hammer is pretty rough on Tavon. I was too before we drafted him(Cord Patterson guy here), he's a Ram now so I'm pulling for him....welp, if Williams is yelling, he must see something in you, hope Mo gets up to speed....You ( and the BR writer) have me looking at the ST lists closer this week, looks like the second unit means something....Thanks again Coach0

 

[12intheBox]

Robinson with the 2s?

How is Givens looking as a return man in practice?

 

[CoachO]

Kinda sad this is the last one....Great job Coach0....When you say the blockers "whiff", is Ogletree just running by them or is he doing some sort of swim move? So Cody blasted my boy Quick?!? lol, maybe he sees me pumping him up every chance I get...lol...Did it look serious? How did Tavon look? What type of routes does he run, the same ones we see on TV? Or something deeper? Your boy Hammer is pretty rough on Tavon. I was too before we drafted him(Cord Patterson guy here), he's a Ram now so I'm pulling for him....welp, if Williams is yelling, he must see something in you, hope Mo gets up to speed....You ( and the BR writer) have me looking at the ST lists closer this week, looks like the second unit means something....Thanks again Coach0

thanks for the comments.

When I use the term "whiffs", it usually mean that he most likely lunged at him, and missed completely. Which was the case with a couple of these guys.

Cody came up quickly after reading the route, and caught Quick in an awkward position, extended and reaching for a high throw. It was not meant to be a hard hit, just ill timed.

Honestly, Austin looks like the 3rd or 4th option on many of the routes he runs. Most are crossing routes, or an occasional wheel route up the sideline. They tried to run the toss/reverse they ran vs. Chicago, and it was sniffed out by Westbrooks who stayed at home, and was waiting for him when he reversed fields.

I have always paid close attention to the Special Teams, especially the 2nd units. They tend to be very fluid, based on who is not practicing, and who the coaches feel deserve an extra look. Fisher commented last week, that every position coach, breaks down the Special Team tapes, so they can see their position players and how they perform. So it's not just Coach Fassel when it comes to input on these teams.

They can be very telling as to the back end of the roster, and who is garnering a second look.

 

[Jorgeh0605]

Interesting that Saffold took reps at LG with the ones instead of Robinson. I'm all for giving guys time to develop as well as putting the best 5 out on the field. With Joseph sounding like he is back to form, we have the luxury of letting G rob develop if he isn't 100% ready. What do you think? Does GRob get the day 1 start?

 

[Slappy967]

Coach thank you for the insightful camp reports again this offseason. Made the long wait to the opener more bearable. I know you are working on a camp finale report but I am just curious who surprised you the most in camp?

 

[Robocop]

Is it safe to say that whenever Mason is in the backfield with Bradford this season 9/10 times he won't be in pass protection. like bailey getting some time with Bradford. he will be huge to get back game 5.

 

[Angry Ram]

The most important question was how did Greg Robinson look in the dizzy bat race?

 

[CoachO]

Coach thank you for the insightful camp reports again this offseason. Made the long wait to the opener more bearable. I know you are working on a camp finale report but I am just curious who surprised you the most in camp?

I would say there are a couple of surprises. On both ends of the spectrum.

On the positive side, one of my biggest surprises is just how good Bradford has looked. The velocity on some of the throws is noticeably better. He is fitting throws into tight windows consistently. Obviously, the combination of Quick and Britt, and how well they have looked has been a big surprise.

On the other end, Givens has been a huge disappointment. I have never been a big fan, but he just looks disinterested, and almost defeated. He contributes next to nothing in practice, and other than a few days two weeks ago, he looks no where near the guy they drafted. The other, again, not a huge fan (obvious to anyone who has read anything I have posted before) but with all the hype and chatter about how Armstrong was poised to step in and "take reps from Dunbar", he has been given every opportunity, and has not shown much at all. In fact, I now hear how "we need to be patient" "he is still earning a new position", "he missed the last year of school" and "at least he still is a value because of his Special Teams play."

 

[ZigZagRam]

Robinson with the 2s?

How is Givens looking as a return man in practice?

I'm hoping this is because Robinson is going to play LT with the first unit on Saturday with Long out again and they want to give Saffold the reps at LG.

I'm hoping...

 

[CoachO]

I'm hoping this is because Robinson is going to play LT with the first unit on Saturday with Long out again and they want to give Saffold the reps at LG.

I'm hoping...

Why would you hope Long is still out?

 

[MFaulk107]

Thank you, much appreciated