Injury report, Zuerlein's foot?
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Greg once kicked the ball so hard it himself in the back two days later.Another little known fact: Freddy Krueger has vivid nightmares of Legatron's right foot.
RamsFanCK
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Mackeyser
Supernovas are where gold forms; the only place.
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McVay said in his presser today that it was precautionary and he kicked with it during the game.
Which means that definitely the massive game winner was kicked with it and possibly all three of the late FGs if not more.
Should be more than fine. Not worried in the slightest.
Which means that definitely the massive game winner was kicked with it and possibly all three of the late FGs if not more.
Should be more than fine. Not worried in the slightest.
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https://www.therams.com/news/zuerle...-a-few-more-days-of-treatment-and-it-ll-be-go
Zuerlein on his left foot: “Hopefully, a few more days of treatment and it’ll be good to go.”
Myles Simmons
Kicker Greg Zuerlein somewhat surprisingly showed up on the injury report this week with an ailing left foot.
While Zuerlein has never been expected to miss Super Bowl LIII, head coach Sean Mcvay did say that the kicker is progressing in his recovery.
“One day at a time, but he’s feeling good,” McVay said. “No setbacks with that, so all things are pointing in the right direction for us.”
Earlier this week, special teams coordinator John Fassel revealed that Zuerlein hit a steel plate awkwardly in the Superdome’s turf while warming up for the third quarter. Speaking to the media in the locker room following Saturday’s practice, Zuerlein himself said he’s feeling good about his plant foot.
“Yeah, hit something hard in the ground. Just warming up at halftime, landed on something that didn’t give as much as turf and then that’s when it started hurting,” Zuerlein said. “But, hopefully, a few more days of treatment and it’ll be good to go.”
With the injury occurring at halftime, Zuerlein obviously was playing through some kind of pain in the second half when he nailed a 48-yard game-tying field goal late in the fourth quarter, and then a 57-yard game-winning field goal in overtime. But how much pain?
“I don’t really know. It hurt, but not enough to stop me from playing, obviously,” Zuerlein said. “I guess that’s really all I can tell you. It really wasn’t anything special about it, just get the job done.”
Zuerlein said he didn’t tell Fassel about the injury because it wouldn’t have accomplished anything in the moment. Fassel admitted earlier this week that maybe it was best he didn’t know.
The 2012 sixth-round pick has been through the ringer when it comes to injuries over the last couple of years. Zuerlein played the first 14 games of 2017 before undergoing season-ending back surgery. The kicker nevertheless finished the season leading the league in points.
This year, Zuerlein played only 11 games, missing time with a groin injury. Still, Zuerlein connected on 27-of-31 field goals and 35-of-36 extra points.
“He’s a great guy, but as soon as you cross the 50, you legitimately feel like you’re in a position to come away with points,” McVay said. “I just think his resolve, his mental toughness — watching the way that he handled being out earlier in the year and how he was so supportive of the guys that were in his role, I think demonstrated a security that exists on his part. But he’s a really good, productive player. And he’s been outstanding.”
“But just how clutch he was last week, too,” McVay continued “I mean, in that atmosphere to be able to kick two of those field goals with the distance but then also the crowd noise and different things — and he was unfazed by it. And we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.”
As for being that reason, Zuerlein’s been re-living that game-winning kick just like you probably have.
“Yeah, I’d lie to you if I said I don’t think about it. I do think about it. It was a cool occurrence — something that you dream about from the time you’re little. To be able to accomplish something like that was very cool,” Zuerlein said. “But, obviously, that’s in the past. So now it’s Super Bowl week. We’ve got to prepare to play the Patriots and, hopefully, get a win.”
Zuerlein on his left foot: “Hopefully, a few more days of treatment and it’ll be good to go.”
Myles Simmons
Kicker Greg Zuerlein somewhat surprisingly showed up on the injury report this week with an ailing left foot.
While Zuerlein has never been expected to miss Super Bowl LIII, head coach Sean Mcvay did say that the kicker is progressing in his recovery.
“One day at a time, but he’s feeling good,” McVay said. “No setbacks with that, so all things are pointing in the right direction for us.”
Earlier this week, special teams coordinator John Fassel revealed that Zuerlein hit a steel plate awkwardly in the Superdome’s turf while warming up for the third quarter. Speaking to the media in the locker room following Saturday’s practice, Zuerlein himself said he’s feeling good about his plant foot.
“Yeah, hit something hard in the ground. Just warming up at halftime, landed on something that didn’t give as much as turf and then that’s when it started hurting,” Zuerlein said. “But, hopefully, a few more days of treatment and it’ll be good to go.”
With the injury occurring at halftime, Zuerlein obviously was playing through some kind of pain in the second half when he nailed a 48-yard game-tying field goal late in the fourth quarter, and then a 57-yard game-winning field goal in overtime. But how much pain?
“I don’t really know. It hurt, but not enough to stop me from playing, obviously,” Zuerlein said. “I guess that’s really all I can tell you. It really wasn’t anything special about it, just get the job done.”
Zuerlein said he didn’t tell Fassel about the injury because it wouldn’t have accomplished anything in the moment. Fassel admitted earlier this week that maybe it was best he didn’t know.
The 2012 sixth-round pick has been through the ringer when it comes to injuries over the last couple of years. Zuerlein played the first 14 games of 2017 before undergoing season-ending back surgery. The kicker nevertheless finished the season leading the league in points.
This year, Zuerlein played only 11 games, missing time with a groin injury. Still, Zuerlein connected on 27-of-31 field goals and 35-of-36 extra points.
“He’s a great guy, but as soon as you cross the 50, you legitimately feel like you’re in a position to come away with points,” McVay said. “I just think his resolve, his mental toughness — watching the way that he handled being out earlier in the year and how he was so supportive of the guys that were in his role, I think demonstrated a security that exists on his part. But he’s a really good, productive player. And he’s been outstanding.”
“But just how clutch he was last week, too,” McVay continued “I mean, in that atmosphere to be able to kick two of those field goals with the distance but then also the crowd noise and different things — and he was unfazed by it. And we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.”
As for being that reason, Zuerlein’s been re-living that game-winning kick just like you probably have.
“Yeah, I’d lie to you if I said I don’t think about it. I do think about it. It was a cool occurrence — something that you dream about from the time you’re little. To be able to accomplish something like that was very cool,” Zuerlein said. “But, obviously, that’s in the past. So now it’s Super Bowl week. We’ve got to prepare to play the Patriots and, hopefully, get a win.”
1maGoh
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I was just about to mention this article. He says he hurt it during the half time warm ups. Any further goals after half time came with a bad plant foot. That guy is insanely talented.
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Needs to find Reggie Bush's lawyers and sue.
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Inside Greg Zuerlein’s kicking routine and every well-choreographed move
By Sam Fortier 39m ago
More than anything, Greg Zuerlein doesn’t want to see the laces. Some kickers care more about the spot of the ball or its lean than the laces — and, ideally, kickers want all three elements flawless — but if something went wrong and Zuerlein had to choose, he would want the rotation of the stitching pride of Brockton Plastics. When he is striding forward, the Rams kicker wants to see nothing but leather. He wants absolute alignment. He wants the laces halving the uprights because twist creates drag. Drag is dangerous for a man in his business.
The holder, Johnny Hekker, and the long snapper, Jake McQuaide, understand this. The trio has shaped its approach together for seven seasons, tying them with Baltimore for the league’s longest-tenured unit. Last week, in the biggest moments in each of their careers, they orchestrated four Zuerlein field goals, including a 48-yarder to tie the Saints in regulation and a 57-yarder in overtime to send the Rams to the Super Bowl. On Sunday, in their new biggest moment, the Rams likely need repeated perfection from the kicking unit to upset juggernaut New England and bring Los Angeles its first Lombardi Trophy since 1984.
“What he brings to the team is … as soon as you cross the (50-yard line), you legitimately feel like you’re in a position to come away with points,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.”
The 31-year-old Zuerlein seems equipped to deliver — he hit 27 of 31 field-goal attempts and 35 of 36 extra points this season — but he didn’t practice last week. During halftime in New Orleans, the righty stepped on a plate underneath the turf and strained his left foot. He consulted the doctors and trainers on the sideline and elected not to tell John Fassel, his special teams coordinator, because Zuerlein didn’t want him to worry. Zuerlein expects to play against the Patriots, saying the foot “won’t be an issue, I hope.” He knows the pressure will be magnified beyond the game, and he doesn’t want to become the first kicker in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium this season to miss a field goal.
“Just trying to be as calm and as confident as possible,” Zuerlein said about his mindset for the game.
Right away in Super Bowl LIII, Zuerlein wants to establish his routine because the last two years, compared to the rest of his career, have been anything but. Zuerlein still knocked in long field goals and lived up to his nicknames, “Greg the Leg” and “Legatron,” yet he struggled to stay on the field. A back injury ended last season early and a strained groin caused him to miss six of this season’s first seven games. The special teams uncertainty combined with the Rams’ explosive offense meant the kicking team was rarely needed in crunch time, and Hekker noted their dramatics against the Saints inflated the unit’s confidence. They want to carry that consistency into Sunday.
If all goes to plan, the specialists will hit the field about 90 minutes before kickoff as normal. After testing cleats and hitting about five field goals each way, they usually come back out minutes before the game so Zuerlein can implement the adjustments with a few tries from a place-holder tee. Soon enough, though, it’s happening for real and the trio is running onto the field, McQuaide hyping himself up with words “not for public consumption.”
“It takes so many reps to kind of perfect how Greg wants it,” Fassel said. “There’s more than meets the eye for sure.”
The choreograph starts with Hekker and McQuaide ensuring they have lined up exactly eight yards apart by communicating in shorthand. For example, if the ball is on the 9-yard-line, they call it a “minus one, plus two,” or a “one and two” with McQuaide one yard in front of the 10-yard line and Hekker two yards behind the 15. If the ball is on the 10, it’s an “on it and three.”
From there, Hekker kneels down on the nearest hash, right-angled by one of the lines down the middle of the field and selected for its standardized efficiency. He checks for divots or holes where Zuerlein will plant his foot while double-checking the Rams have 11 players on the field and monitoring the play clock. If it’s low, he counts down.
“I’ve held for Greg for thousands and thousands of kicks, so it’s a deal where I know his rhythm, how long he likes to look up at the uprights,” said Hekker, the only holder Zuerlein has ever had in the NFL. “If I need to hustle him, I will, but if I don’t, (it’s because) I know how long (he takes).”
Meanwhile, McQuaide eyeballs the spot. He judges whether the ball is ahead or behind the yard marker, but he doesn’t touch the ball yet. Not wanting to make the offensive linemen stay in their stances too long, the long snapper waits until Zuerlein finishes his steps — three back, two and a half right — and then he knows there are five to eight seconds to the kick. He crouches. He watches Zuerlein look at Hekker, then up to the goal posts and back down to the spot. He grabs the ball.
To compensate for spot variations, some long snappers adjust by rotating the ball in their hands, but others, including McQuaide, move it slightly in their stances. McQuaide wants to regulate the distance to avoid Hekker catching an over- or under-rotated ball and being forced to spin it while he’s putting it down.
“The difference between good laces and bad laces is probably this much,” McQuaide said of where he snaps the ball, holding his right thumb and index finger apart about four inches.
He doesn’t get nervous because “they’re not going to ask me to play quarterback,” McQuaide said. He snaps the ball. From now, the kick needs to be away in less than 1.25 seconds, Fassel said. This is where Zuerlein hopes the muscle memory he began developing as a Nebraska high schooler takes over, where the instructions from Jay White, “the kicker whisperer” and his coach at Missouri Western State, get him locked in.
“You do the exact same thing every time so it feels comfortable and you’re not out there so you’re like, ‘This feels weird, now I’m not confident,’ ” Zuerlein said. “(It’s) just doing the exact same thing every time.”
Hekker catches. He sets. Spot, lean, laces. Zuerlein swings his leg.
https://theathletic.com/788442/2019...ng-routine-and-every-well-choreographed-move/
By Sam Fortier 39m ago
More than anything, Greg Zuerlein doesn’t want to see the laces. Some kickers care more about the spot of the ball or its lean than the laces — and, ideally, kickers want all three elements flawless — but if something went wrong and Zuerlein had to choose, he would want the rotation of the stitching pride of Brockton Plastics. When he is striding forward, the Rams kicker wants to see nothing but leather. He wants absolute alignment. He wants the laces halving the uprights because twist creates drag. Drag is dangerous for a man in his business.
The holder, Johnny Hekker, and the long snapper, Jake McQuaide, understand this. The trio has shaped its approach together for seven seasons, tying them with Baltimore for the league’s longest-tenured unit. Last week, in the biggest moments in each of their careers, they orchestrated four Zuerlein field goals, including a 48-yarder to tie the Saints in regulation and a 57-yarder in overtime to send the Rams to the Super Bowl. On Sunday, in their new biggest moment, the Rams likely need repeated perfection from the kicking unit to upset juggernaut New England and bring Los Angeles its first Lombardi Trophy since 1984.
“What he brings to the team is … as soon as you cross the (50-yard line), you legitimately feel like you’re in a position to come away with points,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.”
The 31-year-old Zuerlein seems equipped to deliver — he hit 27 of 31 field-goal attempts and 35 of 36 extra points this season — but he didn’t practice last week. During halftime in New Orleans, the righty stepped on a plate underneath the turf and strained his left foot. He consulted the doctors and trainers on the sideline and elected not to tell John Fassel, his special teams coordinator, because Zuerlein didn’t want him to worry. Zuerlein expects to play against the Patriots, saying the foot “won’t be an issue, I hope.” He knows the pressure will be magnified beyond the game, and he doesn’t want to become the first kicker in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium this season to miss a field goal.
“Just trying to be as calm and as confident as possible,” Zuerlein said about his mindset for the game.
Right away in Super Bowl LIII, Zuerlein wants to establish his routine because the last two years, compared to the rest of his career, have been anything but. Zuerlein still knocked in long field goals and lived up to his nicknames, “Greg the Leg” and “Legatron,” yet he struggled to stay on the field. A back injury ended last season early and a strained groin caused him to miss six of this season’s first seven games. The special teams uncertainty combined with the Rams’ explosive offense meant the kicking team was rarely needed in crunch time, and Hekker noted their dramatics against the Saints inflated the unit’s confidence. They want to carry that consistency into Sunday.
If all goes to plan, the specialists will hit the field about 90 minutes before kickoff as normal. After testing cleats and hitting about five field goals each way, they usually come back out minutes before the game so Zuerlein can implement the adjustments with a few tries from a place-holder tee. Soon enough, though, it’s happening for real and the trio is running onto the field, McQuaide hyping himself up with words “not for public consumption.”
“It takes so many reps to kind of perfect how Greg wants it,” Fassel said. “There’s more than meets the eye for sure.”
The choreograph starts with Hekker and McQuaide ensuring they have lined up exactly eight yards apart by communicating in shorthand. For example, if the ball is on the 9-yard-line, they call it a “minus one, plus two,” or a “one and two” with McQuaide one yard in front of the 10-yard line and Hekker two yards behind the 15. If the ball is on the 10, it’s an “on it and three.”
From there, Hekker kneels down on the nearest hash, right-angled by one of the lines down the middle of the field and selected for its standardized efficiency. He checks for divots or holes where Zuerlein will plant his foot while double-checking the Rams have 11 players on the field and monitoring the play clock. If it’s low, he counts down.
“I’ve held for Greg for thousands and thousands of kicks, so it’s a deal where I know his rhythm, how long he likes to look up at the uprights,” said Hekker, the only holder Zuerlein has ever had in the NFL. “If I need to hustle him, I will, but if I don’t, (it’s because) I know how long (he takes).”
Meanwhile, McQuaide eyeballs the spot. He judges whether the ball is ahead or behind the yard marker, but he doesn’t touch the ball yet. Not wanting to make the offensive linemen stay in their stances too long, the long snapper waits until Zuerlein finishes his steps — three back, two and a half right — and then he knows there are five to eight seconds to the kick. He crouches. He watches Zuerlein look at Hekker, then up to the goal posts and back down to the spot. He grabs the ball.
To compensate for spot variations, some long snappers adjust by rotating the ball in their hands, but others, including McQuaide, move it slightly in their stances. McQuaide wants to regulate the distance to avoid Hekker catching an over- or under-rotated ball and being forced to spin it while he’s putting it down.
“The difference between good laces and bad laces is probably this much,” McQuaide said of where he snaps the ball, holding his right thumb and index finger apart about four inches.
He doesn’t get nervous because “they’re not going to ask me to play quarterback,” McQuaide said. He snaps the ball. From now, the kick needs to be away in less than 1.25 seconds, Fassel said. This is where Zuerlein hopes the muscle memory he began developing as a Nebraska high schooler takes over, where the instructions from Jay White, “the kicker whisperer” and his coach at Missouri Western State, get him locked in.
“You do the exact same thing every time so it feels comfortable and you’re not out there so you’re like, ‘This feels weird, now I’m not confident,’ ” Zuerlein said. “(It’s) just doing the exact same thing every time.”
Hekker catches. He sets. Spot, lean, laces. Zuerlein swings his leg.
https://theathletic.com/788442/2019...ng-routine-and-every-well-choreographed-move/