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Rams hold annual night scrimmage after extending Nick Foles
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...al-night-scrimmage-after-extending-nick-foles
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams held their annual scrimmage Friday night at Lindenwood University. The biggest event of the night took place before the team ever stepped on to the field, as the team struck a deal with quarterback Nick Foles on a two-year contract extension.
But Rams coach Jeff Fisher was pleased with more than just getting his starting quarterback signed.
"(It's) just a good change-up and it was another training camp day and we got a lot of stuff," Fisher said. "We got a lot of situational stuff done. Tomorrow we're going to move over to the special teams area and then have a couple good practices before we get in the preseason. So it was a productive week for us."
Some other notes and observations from Friday's scrimmage.
The list of Rams sitting out Friday night included end Chris Long, receiver Kenny Britt, guard Cody Wichmann, linebacker Korey Toomer, defensive tackle Doug Worthington, running back Tre Mason, safety Maurice Alexander and cornerback Brandon McGee.
Pretty much every season, the battle for the backup quarterback job unofficially picks up steam at the scrimmage. This year, it's Austin Davis against Case Keenum for the No. 2 job, with Sean Mannion right behind. Neither had much success Friday. Keenum was up and down as he bounced one swing pass in team and sailed one in seven-on-seven. He later rebounded with a strike to Brian Quick on a comeback route and followed by hitting Bradley Marquez down the seam for what would have been a big gain. The order of substitutions at the position went Foles then Davis then Keenum then Mannion in the first set of team drills. Keenum and Davis switched during the next rotation.
With Mason and Todd Gurley not participating, Isaiah Pead got some work with the first-team offense at running back. Under the same scenario Thursday, Chase Reynolds and Benjamin Cunningham got most of the reps, but Pead got some chances on Friday as well. He had a touchdown catch on a pass from Davis with the second-team offense during red-zone drills.
Mannion continues to have some nice moments. He lofted a perfect touchdown pass to Marquez from 5 yards out to the far right corner of the end zone in 7-on-7. Offering an example of how up and down it can be for a rookie signal-caller, Mannion threw a bad interception on the next play to linebacker Marshall McFadden.
Demetrius Rhaney took his turn with the first team at center. The rotation will start back over with Tim Barnes when the team has its next full-squad practice on Sunday. Barnes stepped in for Rhaney at one point when it appeared Rhaney got something in his eye.
On Thursday, Fisher offered praise for his offensive line and his team as a whole for cutting down on pre-snap penalties. With the officials in attendance Friday night, though, it was back to the usual penalty woes. Garrett Reynolds and Greg Robinson were both responsible for a false start. There were a handful of other miscues as well.
Kicker Greg Zuerlein nailed a 64-yard field goal during special teams portion of the practice. That's nothing new. It was at the team scrimmage his rookie season when he drew attention for converting from distances beyond 60 yards.
In the most lighthearted moment of the night, 318-pound guard Brandon Washington caught a kickoff and ran it back for a "touchdown." Washington drew a loud applause from the fans in attendance. We'll have to double check but I think he fell just short of a land-speed record.
The Rams are back at it Saturday for a special-teams-only practice scheduled for 5:45 p.m. ET. That session is closed to the public.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...al-night-scrimmage-after-extending-nick-foles
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams held their annual scrimmage Friday night at Lindenwood University. The biggest event of the night took place before the team ever stepped on to the field, as the team struck a deal with quarterback Nick Foles on a two-year contract extension.
But Rams coach Jeff Fisher was pleased with more than just getting his starting quarterback signed.
"(It's) just a good change-up and it was another training camp day and we got a lot of stuff," Fisher said. "We got a lot of situational stuff done. Tomorrow we're going to move over to the special teams area and then have a couple good practices before we get in the preseason. So it was a productive week for us."
Some other notes and observations from Friday's scrimmage.
The list of Rams sitting out Friday night included end Chris Long, receiver Kenny Britt, guard Cody Wichmann, linebacker Korey Toomer, defensive tackle Doug Worthington, running back Tre Mason, safety Maurice Alexander and cornerback Brandon McGee.
Pretty much every season, the battle for the backup quarterback job unofficially picks up steam at the scrimmage. This year, it's Austin Davis against Case Keenum for the No. 2 job, with Sean Mannion right behind. Neither had much success Friday. Keenum was up and down as he bounced one swing pass in team and sailed one in seven-on-seven. He later rebounded with a strike to Brian Quick on a comeback route and followed by hitting Bradley Marquez down the seam for what would have been a big gain. The order of substitutions at the position went Foles then Davis then Keenum then Mannion in the first set of team drills. Keenum and Davis switched during the next rotation.
With Mason and Todd Gurley not participating, Isaiah Pead got some work with the first-team offense at running back. Under the same scenario Thursday, Chase Reynolds and Benjamin Cunningham got most of the reps, but Pead got some chances on Friday as well. He had a touchdown catch on a pass from Davis with the second-team offense during red-zone drills.
Mannion continues to have some nice moments. He lofted a perfect touchdown pass to Marquez from 5 yards out to the far right corner of the end zone in 7-on-7. Offering an example of how up and down it can be for a rookie signal-caller, Mannion threw a bad interception on the next play to linebacker Marshall McFadden.
Demetrius Rhaney took his turn with the first team at center. The rotation will start back over with Tim Barnes when the team has its next full-squad practice on Sunday. Barnes stepped in for Rhaney at one point when it appeared Rhaney got something in his eye.
On Thursday, Fisher offered praise for his offensive line and his team as a whole for cutting down on pre-snap penalties. With the officials in attendance Friday night, though, it was back to the usual penalty woes. Garrett Reynolds and Greg Robinson were both responsible for a false start. There were a handful of other miscues as well.
Kicker Greg Zuerlein nailed a 64-yard field goal during special teams portion of the practice. That's nothing new. It was at the team scrimmage his rookie season when he drew attention for converting from distances beyond 60 yards.
In the most lighthearted moment of the night, 318-pound guard Brandon Washington caught a kickoff and ran it back for a "touchdown." Washington drew a loud applause from the fans in attendance. We'll have to double check but I think he fell just short of a land-speed record.
The Rams are back at it Saturday for a special-teams-only practice scheduled for 5:45 p.m. ET. That session is closed to the public.
