Rams notes: Robinson gets first NFL start --PD

[RamBill]

Rams notes: Robinson gets first NFL start
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_161e814d-83e2-5f69-a79b-91044993feaf.html

Mr. Robinson, meet Mr. Smith. The moment finally arrived Monday night for offensive lineman Greg Robinson. Robinson, the No. 2 overall draft pick from Auburn in the 2014 draft, started for the Rams at left guard.

No better time to get your career going than in front of a national television audience against the mighty San Francisco 49ers, right? With Robinson’s insertion into the starting lineup, Rodger Saffold is on the move — again.

Saffold started at right guard — the spot where he first made the switch from tackle to guard last season. Veteran Davin Joseph, who started the first four games at right guard, was the player replaced in the starting lineup.

And that wasn’t the only lineup change for the Rams. On defense, rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald started ahead of Kendall Langford.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams provided a strong hint of the Donald lineup move after Saturday’s practice, saying Donald “would be a guy that I hope you guys have a chance to take a good look at this week.”

Five weeks into the regular season, the Rams feel that Robinson, who has played only on the extra point-field goal unit this season, has enough of a grasp of the team’s pass-blocking schemes and techniques to make his NFL debut on the offensive line.

“First and foremost, you hear him making calls and understanding the system,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said during the practice week. “That’s been good to see. ... It’s a process. We saw it last year with some of those guys like Tavon (Austin) — some of the younger players. It takes time.

“Especially for a guy coming from a school that had a limited playbook. They didn’t do a whole lot. Again, you see the confidence, you see him making calls. You see him in meetings even kind of communicating things that he wouldn’t have seen maybe three, four months ago. So that’s exciting.”

With a physical San Francisco defensive front, led by former Missouri star Justin Smith, coach Jeff Fisher figured this would be the week to get the 332-pound Robinson out on the field.

Between Robinson and Saffold, the Rams threw about 650 pounds of guards at the physical 49ers.

“We’re a couple of strong guys,” Saffold said.

Robinson appeared to hold his own Monday, but the 49ers overall got plenty of pressure on Austin Davis.

THE 1999 RAMS

A busy and memorable weekend for the Rams’ Super Bowl XXXIV championship team culminated with halftime ceremonies in their honor. All but nine members of that squad were on hand for a “Greatest Show on Turf Celebration” on Sunday night at the Union Station Hotel.

On Monday afternoon, coach Dick Vermeil spoke to the ’99 team at a Hall of Legends luncheon. That must have been fun.

When asked about the Super Bowl XXXIV 15-year reunion during the week, Fisher said: “I’m actually thinking about the 49ers on Monday night. No, I’ve been here for a few years now. I’m reminded on a daily basis inside the building. So I’m used to it now.”

The halftime celebration was understated, with the entire team coming out to midfield. Marshall Faulk and Vermeil spoke to the crowd, and then they headed off the field, waving and saluting the crowd. Several Rams did a nostalgic version of the Bob ’n’ Weave in the north end zone, much to the delight of the crowd, before leaving the field.

GIVENS SITS AGAIN

For the second week in a row, wide receiver Chris Givens was a pregame inactive for the Rams.

The rest of the pregame inactives: QB Case Keenum, CB Trumaine Johnson (knee), CB Brandon McGee (foot), RB Chase Reynolds (hip), C-G Barrett Jones (back), and DT Alex Carrington (knee).

As a result of those decisions, RB Tre Mason suited up, as did S Maurice Alexander. Mason had been inactive in the Rams’ first four games. Alexander played against Tampa Bay in Game 2 but has been inactive in the other three games. So for the Eureka High player, who once worked as a janitor at the Edward Jones Dome, this marked his hometown NFL debut.

For San Francisco, CB Tramaine Brock (toe) and RT Anthony Davis (knee, ankle) were among the team’s pregame scratches. Both are normally starters.

 

[RamBill]

Rams start fast, then fizzle in loss to 49ers
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_eb85989f-a92f-5aeb-8e5a-ab7f7be72e8d.html

The Rams came out breathing fire Monday night. All things considered, it was a fair approximation of the group being honored — the Super Bowl XXXIV champion Rams of 1999.

In his fourth NFL start at quarterback, Austin Davis did his best impersonation of Kurt Warner, leading the Rams on an 11-yard, 80-yard touchdown drive off the opening kickoff. The Rams’ lead grew to 14-0 before the end of the first quarter, but the 49ers slowly but completely squeezed the life out of the Rams.

When all was said and done, it was a 31-17 loss to San Francisco in the Edward Jones Dome, leaving the Rams at 1-4 and lacking much in the way of answers.

“You’re up 14-0 and you lose a game, this (bleep) gets old, man,” defensive end William Hayes said. “We better figure some things out. I know I keep telling you the same thing every week.”

A couple of colossal blunders in coverage resulted in a couple of easy touchdown catches to help the 49ers erase that early deficit. But it wasn’t just the secondary. After gaining 151 yards in the first quarter, the Rams’ offense got stuck in the mud for most of the remaining three quarters.

Quarterback Austin Davis completed seven of eight passes for 103 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter. He completed only 14 of his final 34 passes, throwing his third “pick 6” of the season, resulting in the final San Francisco touchdown.

“I feel like this one’s really on me,” Davis said. “I didn’t play very good, and I’ve got to find a way to lead this team.”

But the Rams’ pass-blocking left something to be desired, not just the offensive line but the tight ends as well. The 49ers sacked Davis five times, and he seemed to increasingly get flustered by the pressure as the game progressed.

On the whole, Rams receivers didn’t seem to get much separation on routes, but Davis also missed a couple of open receivers.

“The coverage was pretty tight at times, but there were throws to be made,” Davis said. “I probably flushed the pocket a little too soon at times.”

Gaining momentum with an 80-yard touchdown strike in the closing seconds of the first half, San Francisco scored 24 unanswered points in the second and third quarters. A late Rams field goal made things briefly interesting. At this point, the Rams trailed by only 24-17.

But San Francisco recovered an onside kick with 2 minutes, 23 seconds to go. And the 49ers tacked on seven exclamation points when cornerback Dontae Johnson stepped in front of a Davis pass intended for Kenny Britt and returned the interception 20 yards for a TD and a 31-17 lead with 53 seconds remaining.

The 1-4 record marks the worst start in Jeff Fisher’s three seasons in St. Louis. San Francisco, after struggling to a 1-2 start, won its third in a row to improve to 4-2. Things get no easier for the Rams, what with defending Super Bowl champion Seattle coming to town Sunday.

“Obviously I’m very disappointed, disappointed for our players,” Fisher said. “We got up and got some points. The ... events that happened right before the half were pretty much hard for us to overcome.

“One, the offensive pass interference call on Jared (Cook). That’s a point swing. We’re in field goal range, we’ve got a pretty good kicker. It might even be seven (points). And then we come back and we give up the long touchdown pass.”

What looked to be an illegal contact penalty against the 49ers instead was called offensive pass interference against Cook, negating a 21-yard gain to the San Francisco 25 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the first half and the Rams up 14-3.

Instead the Rams had to punt, and that’s when San Francisco got its first touchdown of the game.

Backed up with 27 seconds left in the half, the 49ers faced a third-and-6 from their 20. Colin Kaepernick threw deep to former Rams wide receiver Brandon Lloyd. Defender Janoris Jenkins bit on a double move, leaving Lloyd all by himself running down field.

It was an easy throw-and-catch with Lloyd outracing Jenkins to the end zone for an 80-yard touchdown. That made it 14-10 Rams with just 14 seconds left in the first half.

“(Jenkins) should stay on top,” Fisher said. “In retrospect, we should probably not put him in that position.”

In other words, it was one-on-one coverage, and it didn’t appear that Jenkins had any safety help.

The 49ers were just getting started.

Taking the opening kickoff in the third quarter, the 49ers drove 80 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. They completed three third-down opportunities, and even a successful challenge by Fisher — negating what would have been a 27-yard completion to Frank Gore — couldn’t keep San Francisco out of the end zone.

Once again, Jenkins was victimized on the TD pass, an 11-yard pass to Anquan Boldin. Under pressure, Kaepernick rolled to his left to escape pressure and lobbed a pass off his back foot that got over Jenkins and to Boldin for a 17-14 lead with 9:58 left in the third quarter. Jenkins got caught watching Kaepernick and lost track of Boldin.

The Rams were limited to 21 yards in the third quarter; meanwhile, the 49ers rang up 155. The 49ers’ lead reached double digits late in the quarter when Kaepernick connected with Michael Crabtree for 32 yards and a 24-14 lead. Once again, it was a double move. This time, the victim was Missouri rookie E.J. Gaines who was badly beaten.

 

[RamBill]

Greg Robinson: “I’ve Just Got to Get Better and Better”
Casey Phillips talks with Greg Robinson about his first NFL start after Wednesday’s Week 7 practice. (3:40)

Watch Robinson's Comments

 

[DaveFan'51]

Nice interview, but I get a little distracted, by Casey, when I'm trying to listen to Robinson. Know what I mean?