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Thursday: Rams (Rams facility, Earth City, Mo.)
Peter King's team report: Rams
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... mqb/1.html
[flv]http://ht.cdn.turner.com/si/big/video/nfl/2012/08/19/081912-st-louis-rams-peter-king.SportsIllustrated.640x360.mp4[/flv]
SI.com's Peter King visits St. Louis and discusses how despite having the best QB in the division in Sam Bradford, the young Rams may still struggle to find wins in 2012.
Three football nuggets: Special teams coach John Fassel was given an assignment after kicker Josh Brown was cut: find the kicker you like best in college football. He did -- a kicker named Greg Zuerlein, who started his college career at Nebraska-Omaha and transferred to Missouri Western. Looked like a good choice from the 59-yarder he drilled with 15 feet above the crossbar in practice when I watched ... Jeff Fisher on starting cornerback Janoris Jenkins, the troubled kid from the April draft: "I have never seen that type of ability and instincts on a kid, and the ability to play right away at a high level level.'' ... By my count, 32 of 53 prospective Rams on the opening day roster will be 25 or younger.
A good story brews in St. Louis.
TRAINING CAMP 2012
Wanna know what's going on at camps league-wide? We've got you covered with our one-stop guide.
The other day, Chris Long was talking to one of his teammates, middle linebacker James Laurinaitis, and said, "You know, I'm the second-longest-tenured Ram.'' A player entering his fifth year, and only one man (nine-year-veteran running back Steven Jackson) has been on the team longer. Even in the transient world of the NFL, that's pretty amazing. It's no surprise, then, that the offensive signal-caller is a 24-year-old: Sam Bradford. And the defensive signal-caller is Laurinaitis, 25.
So if a 27-year-old coach calls the defensive signals anywhere, it would seem to fit here the best. And on this afternoon, inside the team's indoor facility, young Blake Williams -- Princeton-educated son of suspended defensive coordinator Gregg Williams -- constantly has a walkie-talkie to his mouth before plays when the offense squares off against the defense. And Laurinaitis and his backups take the play call and give it to the huddle.
Now, coach Jeff Fisher hasn't said yet who will make the defensive calls. When Williams' father, Gregg, was hired Jan. 16 to be Fisher's defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams installed the defense with the rest of the defensive staff in the room -- including former NFL coordinators Dave McGinnis and Chuck Cecil -- and with linebackers coach Blake Williams on the staff too.
When word came down of the Saints' bounty scandal and Gregg Williams' role in it, he had to leave the staff, and was later suspended by commissioner Roger Goodell for at least the season. Fisher decided to make the defensive duties a team effort and didn't name anyone the play-caller. But in some ways it seems smart to let the person closest to Gregg Williams, the person who's been in training to someday use this attacking defensive system as a coordinator himself, have a chance to call the plays. Which is what Williams was doing throughout this practice.
This is a sensitive topic around the Rams, of course. Fisher has been clear to this point that all three men -- Blake Williams, Cecil and McGinnis, who was coaching Mike Singletary as Bears linebacker coach in 1986 when Laurinaitis was in his mother's womb -- will team up to run the defense. But make no mistake: I watched Blake Williams throughout a lengthy practice, and I didn't see Cecil or McGinnis make a call. It was all Williams, mouth to walkie-talkie before every play, calling the plays and formations for a young defense.
He moved around the place with confidence and intensity, coaching his position group when not calling plays.
"He's extremely smart,'' said Laurinaitis. "He's won everyone here over with his knowledge of the game. The defense has been a little bit of Blake, a little of coach Cecil and a little of coach Mac. The play gets called into my ear and then I call it -- and I really don't know whose call it is.''
Said Long: "He comes from a football background and has done a great job of hitting the ground running following the whole conflict. We've done a great job of keeping that separate from here. It's almost as if it didn't happen. We've got so many good coaches on this staff -- he's one of them -- and it's been a seamless transition. He's doing a great job. It's been a non-issue. We're all adults here. Things happen. He comes from a football background, he's got good football knowledge and he's not one of those guys who rests on his laurels because his Dad was whoever. He's just a good coach. He doesn't make any issue of what happen with his Dad. It's not something that comes up.''
Blake Williams hasn't done any interviews, and other than exchanging pleasantries after practice, he wasn't made available to me to speak. "He's extremely bright, and I can tell he's going to be a good coach,'' Fisher said.
But neither Fisher nor the Rams want to make a big scene over Blake Williams, and the reason is obvious: If we're talking about Blake Williams, we're talking about Gregg Williams, and we're talking about the bounty scandal, and that can't help a fledgling team with its own issues.
I remember Gregg Williams bragging to me a couple of years ago about what a great coach Blake would become, because he loved the game so much and was curious about all facets of the job, and about all different schemes. "I see the way the game is going,'' Williams told me. "Owners love the young coaches today. I'd love to see Blake work his way up and prove to some owner he deserves a chance at a head-coaching job.''
But Gregg Williams couldn't know what lay ahead. Now, the future is fraught with pratfalls. What if Blake Williams turns out to be the wunderkind that an Ivy League special teamer and smart kid might be, and what if the Rams play well on defense this year with Blake Williams handling either a pivotal role or the play-calling role? How could Gregg Williams come back and take the defensive coordinator job back? Never mind the fact that Gregg Williams' reputation among some players would be in tatters based on the damaging recording of him telling his players in New Orleans last January where to target injured and vulnerable 49ers? It's not going to be an easy call for the Rams after this season, if Gregg Williams is cleared to return by the NFL.
For now, the Rams will watch Williams develop as a coach this year, and they'll decide who's best to call the defense with what seems natural and best for the team. It's going to be a great story to watch.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... z24JdSbJ4K
Peter King's team report: Rams
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... mqb/1.html
[flv]http://ht.cdn.turner.com/si/big/video/nfl/2012/08/19/081912-st-louis-rams-peter-king.SportsIllustrated.640x360.mp4[/flv]
SI.com's Peter King visits St. Louis and discusses how despite having the best QB in the division in Sam Bradford, the young Rams may still struggle to find wins in 2012.
Three football nuggets: Special teams coach John Fassel was given an assignment after kicker Josh Brown was cut: find the kicker you like best in college football. He did -- a kicker named Greg Zuerlein, who started his college career at Nebraska-Omaha and transferred to Missouri Western. Looked like a good choice from the 59-yarder he drilled with 15 feet above the crossbar in practice when I watched ... Jeff Fisher on starting cornerback Janoris Jenkins, the troubled kid from the April draft: "I have never seen that type of ability and instincts on a kid, and the ability to play right away at a high level level.'' ... By my count, 32 of 53 prospective Rams on the opening day roster will be 25 or younger.
A good story brews in St. Louis.
TRAINING CAMP 2012
Wanna know what's going on at camps league-wide? We've got you covered with our one-stop guide.
The other day, Chris Long was talking to one of his teammates, middle linebacker James Laurinaitis, and said, "You know, I'm the second-longest-tenured Ram.'' A player entering his fifth year, and only one man (nine-year-veteran running back Steven Jackson) has been on the team longer. Even in the transient world of the NFL, that's pretty amazing. It's no surprise, then, that the offensive signal-caller is a 24-year-old: Sam Bradford. And the defensive signal-caller is Laurinaitis, 25.
So if a 27-year-old coach calls the defensive signals anywhere, it would seem to fit here the best. And on this afternoon, inside the team's indoor facility, young Blake Williams -- Princeton-educated son of suspended defensive coordinator Gregg Williams -- constantly has a walkie-talkie to his mouth before plays when the offense squares off against the defense. And Laurinaitis and his backups take the play call and give it to the huddle.
Now, coach Jeff Fisher hasn't said yet who will make the defensive calls. When Williams' father, Gregg, was hired Jan. 16 to be Fisher's defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams installed the defense with the rest of the defensive staff in the room -- including former NFL coordinators Dave McGinnis and Chuck Cecil -- and with linebackers coach Blake Williams on the staff too.
When word came down of the Saints' bounty scandal and Gregg Williams' role in it, he had to leave the staff, and was later suspended by commissioner Roger Goodell for at least the season. Fisher decided to make the defensive duties a team effort and didn't name anyone the play-caller. But in some ways it seems smart to let the person closest to Gregg Williams, the person who's been in training to someday use this attacking defensive system as a coordinator himself, have a chance to call the plays. Which is what Williams was doing throughout this practice.
This is a sensitive topic around the Rams, of course. Fisher has been clear to this point that all three men -- Blake Williams, Cecil and McGinnis, who was coaching Mike Singletary as Bears linebacker coach in 1986 when Laurinaitis was in his mother's womb -- will team up to run the defense. But make no mistake: I watched Blake Williams throughout a lengthy practice, and I didn't see Cecil or McGinnis make a call. It was all Williams, mouth to walkie-talkie before every play, calling the plays and formations for a young defense.
He moved around the place with confidence and intensity, coaching his position group when not calling plays.
"He's extremely smart,'' said Laurinaitis. "He's won everyone here over with his knowledge of the game. The defense has been a little bit of Blake, a little of coach Cecil and a little of coach Mac. The play gets called into my ear and then I call it -- and I really don't know whose call it is.''
Said Long: "He comes from a football background and has done a great job of hitting the ground running following the whole conflict. We've done a great job of keeping that separate from here. It's almost as if it didn't happen. We've got so many good coaches on this staff -- he's one of them -- and it's been a seamless transition. He's doing a great job. It's been a non-issue. We're all adults here. Things happen. He comes from a football background, he's got good football knowledge and he's not one of those guys who rests on his laurels because his Dad was whoever. He's just a good coach. He doesn't make any issue of what happen with his Dad. It's not something that comes up.''
Blake Williams hasn't done any interviews, and other than exchanging pleasantries after practice, he wasn't made available to me to speak. "He's extremely bright, and I can tell he's going to be a good coach,'' Fisher said.
But neither Fisher nor the Rams want to make a big scene over Blake Williams, and the reason is obvious: If we're talking about Blake Williams, we're talking about Gregg Williams, and we're talking about the bounty scandal, and that can't help a fledgling team with its own issues.
I remember Gregg Williams bragging to me a couple of years ago about what a great coach Blake would become, because he loved the game so much and was curious about all facets of the job, and about all different schemes. "I see the way the game is going,'' Williams told me. "Owners love the young coaches today. I'd love to see Blake work his way up and prove to some owner he deserves a chance at a head-coaching job.''
But Gregg Williams couldn't know what lay ahead. Now, the future is fraught with pratfalls. What if Blake Williams turns out to be the wunderkind that an Ivy League special teamer and smart kid might be, and what if the Rams play well on defense this year with Blake Williams handling either a pivotal role or the play-calling role? How could Gregg Williams come back and take the defensive coordinator job back? Never mind the fact that Gregg Williams' reputation among some players would be in tatters based on the damaging recording of him telling his players in New Orleans last January where to target injured and vulnerable 49ers? It's not going to be an easy call for the Rams after this season, if Gregg Williams is cleared to return by the NFL.
For now, the Rams will watch Williams develop as a coach this year, and they'll decide who's best to call the defense with what seems natural and best for the team. It's going to be a great story to watch.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... z24JdSbJ4K