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Rams No. 2 QB John Wolford stokes coaches’ confidence
While his training camp has been closely watched amid worries about relying on a backup quarterback without NFL experience, Wolford continued to prove himself at Saturday’s scrimmage at SoFi …
www.ocregister.com
INGLEWOOD — For the second consecutive year, John Wolford is accomplishing about as much as an NFL player can in August.
In 2019, the undrafted free agent quarterback from the short-lived Alliance of American Football used a strong performance with his arm and legs in the Rams’ four preseason games to vault into a job on the practice squad.
This time, with preseason games canceled in the COVID-19 pandemic, Wolford has used near-flawless outings in the Rams’ two intrasquad scrimmages at SoFi Stadium to earn the No. 2 quarterback job and his coach’s confidence.
“I’ve been very pleased with John,” Rams coach Sean McVay said Saturday following the Rams’ last scrimmage at their new Inglewood stadium. “You want Jared (Goff) to stay healthy, but if John had to play, you feel very good about him.”
Wolford has proved to himself that he’s up to the understudy role, even as the wisdom of the Rams not re-signing Blake Bortles and carrying no backups with NFL experience has been questioned.
“I feel ready,” Wolford said. “I’m confident in my abilities, and confident in my ability to run this offense. It’s something I’ve prepped for my entire life. I’ve played a lot of football between college and the AAF. It’s kind of the next step, and I’m ready to go whenever that shot comes.
“From the mental aspect, I think I’ve improved. Physically, I think I’m throwing the ball better than I did last year. I worked hard on that.”
Wolford, 24, who played at Wake Forest, threw three touchdown passes and no interceptions in the 2019 preseason to win the No. 3 quarterback role over Brandon Allen.
He threw for threw touchdowns and zero interceptions again in this month’s two scrimmages. The TDs went to Nsimba Webster (2 yards) and Van Jefferson (7 yards) on Aug. 22, and Earnest Edwards (8 yards) Saturday, as he completed 14 of 16 passes (by an unofficial count). The 6-foot-1 Wolford made two short runs, making use of what McVay has semi-seriously described as Doug Flutie-like skills.
“As he’s accumulated reps, he’s getting more comfortable with the offense, and then you’re seeing the ability to create off-schedule,” McVay said. “He’s got great athleticism. I think he’s decisive.”
Wolford also had to hold on place kicks for the first time since college practice sessions.
Punter Johnny Hekker, the Rams’ holder, was away from the team following the birth of his second child. Wide receiver Cooper Kupp, the backup holder, left the scrimmage early; McVay said Kupp wasn’t injured. Wolford wound up holding for most of several sets of audition kicks for Lirim Hajrullah, Austin MacGinnis and Sam Sloman, who seek to replace Greg Zuerlein.
Overall, McVay sounded pleased with a “sharp operation” by the offense after the first team had an improved day at finishing drives.
Goff (19 for 26 by unofficial count) threw touchdown passes going to Tyler Higbee twice and Robert Woods.
Running backs Cam Akers and John Kelly had short touchdown runs. They and Xavier Jones had the most carries.
The defense had highlights too. Linebacker Micah Kiser batted and intercepted a Goff pass, and safety John Johnson intercepted one.
McVay said communication was smoother Saturday than the previous scrimmage, when persistently loud fake crowd noise and glitches with coaches’ headsets caused trouble.
McVay said Thursday the Rams are waiting to hear NFL policies on artificial crowd noise in empty stadiums, how loud it will be and if home teams can crank it up and down depending on who has the ball.
“We’ve got to do a great job of being ready for whatever that scenario is,” McVay said.
One reason to pipe in crowd noise is to keep players and coaches from overhearing opponents’ conversations during games.
But Goff said it’s possible that could happen anyway and force the Rams to watch how they communicate.
“There could be (that problem), for sure,” Goff said Thursday. “Especially at places that you’re used to it (a real crowd) being loud, in particular Seattle.”
Watching – and hearing – Wolford on Saturday should have some fears about having a backup quarterback with so little experience.
His performance lent credence to something Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell said earlier this month.
“I don’t worry too much with John about the experience,” O’Connell said Aug. 15. “I’ve seen him work already, and just as you get in the meeting room with him, you know he’s prepared to be a professional quarterback and he operates every single day on that basis.”
Notes
The Rams will wear their bone-white uniforms while the Dallas Cowboys wear their blue jerseys for the teams’ season opener at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 13. …
Some of SoFi Stadium’s roof panels were open Saturday. The Rams said this increased air flow inside on a sunny, 74-degree afternoon. …
There were no fans in the stadium Saturday, of course, but Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts and City Council members watched the scrimmage. …
Sunday is a scheduled off day for Rams players.
