Rams return to work with sense of urgency/PD

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RamBill

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Rams return to work with sense of urgency
By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_8ecef3ed-dd99-5749-879b-22885a8fb91e.html

It’s still six weeks until the Rams hold an actual practice session. Three months until training camp starts, and 4½ months until the regular-season opener.
But with the start of the offseason conditioning program Monday at Rams Park, veteran linebacker James Laurinaitis said the sense of urgency already is there for 2014.

“(Strength coach) Rock Gullickson made a good point in the weight room today,” Laurinaitis said Monday. “For a lot of us that have been here for a while — myself, Sam (Bradford), Chris Long — it’s enough of, ‘Hey in the future we’re gonna be good.’

In the future, in the future.

“It’s more of, ‘Hey, we need to be good now.’ I wouldn’t say that we’re getting old, but we’re not second-, third-year guys any more. So I think there’s an urgency and kind of a realization that we were fourth in our division.”

That is where the Rams finished last year, with a 7-9 record. Never mind trying to catch reigning NFC West (and Super Bowl) champion Seattle, the Rams can’t get to first place without first getting out of last place.

“We’re still working to catch the Arizona Cardinals, if we’re gonna be honest with ourselves,” Laurinaitis said. “Right now, you can’t play a football game for a while. So just go out there and work your tail off while you can, and realize that’s our goal. Our only vision is to catch everybody else because right now we’re fourth. And that’s the reality no matter how much it stinks.”

Laurinaitis is entering his sixth NFL season and his veteran’s perspective meshes well with the overall organizational view. Tough as the NFC West is these days, expectations are higher entering a key third year of the Jeff Fisher-Les Snead regime.

After years of not just bad football, but historically bad football, Fisher and Snead have pulled the Rams back to respectability. Now, the team wants to move beyond respectable.

“This has got to be the year for us, I feel,” Laurinaitis said. “I just want to get to the postseason. I want to know what it’s like to play postseason football. And I think that’s a lot of our goals in talking to Chris and Sam.”

In other words, it’s on the minds of many of the team’s veterans. But it won’t happen without development by the youngsters, particularly those members of the first two Fisher-Snead drafts.

“We’re at a point right now where the guys that were the first draft class under Coach Fisher and Mr. Snead, they’re going into their third season,” Laurinaitis said. “That’s really a season where you’re supposed to blossom. The season where it’s kinda like, all right this guy’s gonna be a mainstay with us. Or he’s still struggling to find his way.”

One of those third-year players, wide receiver Chris Givens, met with a few reporters Monday and spoke with a newfound maturity and focus.

Of course, the proof will be in the play, but maturity has to set in with several members of the past two draft classes for the Rams to get where they want to go in 2014. In fact, the coaching staff and front office is depending on that if the Rams are to post their first winning record since 2003.

“I was so excited for this, I was up at 4:45 this morning,” Givens said after Monday’s workout. “I love football. And the longer I’m away from it, the more I miss it.”

Givens missed his teammates as much as anything, and liked what he saw from them in the weight room Monday.

“Guys are growing up,” Givens said. “You could just see ’em in the weight room — it was completely different than the last two years I’ve been here. Everybody was together. There wasn’t any complaining.

“Nobody was like, ‘I’m ready to get out of here.’ There wasn’t any of that going on. Everyone just came and was ready to work, and you could tell the guys have been working, too.”

Laurinaitis noticed that, too.

“The best part about today is to see everybody else, and really kind of see the guys who have been working hard,” Laurinaitis said.

As well as those who haven’t.

“You can always tell,” Laurinaitis said. “With us being such a young team, you’re always a little nervous about the guys who were rookies, because this is their first time having money and having time off.”

Before the start of the offseason program Monday, the Rams hadn’t been together as a team since Dec. 30, the day after the club’s regular-season finale against Seattle. That’s more than 3½ months on their own.

“I think we have a pretty good group when it comes to all that because everyone came back in pretty good shape,” Laurinaitis said. “The attendance was great. Guys worked hard, which is good.”

Technically, the offseason program is voluntary throughout the NFL. But by all accounts, the Rams had a full house Monday, with about 60 players on hand.

“We had everybody, and we got to meet the new teammates and just kind of see their faces for the first time,” Laurinaitis said.

That group includes wide receiver Kenny Britt, defensive tackle Alex Carrington, and cornerback/return man Greg Reid.

But for Givens one of the highlights of the day was seeing an old face: Bradford.

“I saw him jogging,” Givens said. “It put a big smile on my face.”

Laurinaitis’ surgery

Laurinaitis said he underwent cleanup ankle surgery at the end of last season, but now is full-go.
“I got my ankle cleaned out,” he said. “It’s no big deal. It was an easy deal. I’m feeling good and I’m 100 percent at everything.”
 

oldramfan

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I really hope they are coming together and realizing that they have a big hill to climb. We ARE 4th in the division and it's time for the young guys to step up. Sam too, this is his last chance with the Rams and he needs to be a more vocal leader and a guy that will lead the team with confidence. I hope all our "what ifs" pan out this year and we start being ferocious on both sides of the ball.
 

RamzFanz

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As much as the Rams need new talent, Laurinaitis may be one of the more under-rated players.
 

SteveBrown

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Better attitude, better team. More accountability. One of the key persons on the whole team: Janoris Jenkins. Has the talent, but fell apart on the road against Seattle, 49ers and Arizona....I think Greg W will have a big say in Janoris having a big year.
 

mr.stlouis

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I really hope they are coming together and realizing that they have a big hill to climb. We ARE 4th in the division and it's time for the young guys to step up. Sam too, this is his last chance with the Rams and he needs to be a more vocal leader and a guy that will lead the team with confidence. I hope all our "what ifs" pan out this year and we start being ferocious on both sides of the ball.

As of now we are fourth in our division. I wonder where we'll be after we land a stud guard and a playmaker like Clowney or Watkins?

We may be fourth, but it's a very tight division. Any of the four teams have a solid chance to win the NFCW title next year.
 

blackbart

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FINALLY some real Rams football news!!!

Great to hear they are coming in ready to work and having a good attitude about doing what it takes as a team to move to the next level.

Sam's last chance talk needs to be shelved not only is it BS it is not welcomed. He is 26 and coming in to his prime.
 

Faceplant

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I really like the nucleus of this team. I know it has been said before, and I know we have been let down, but this team really is in a good place age wise. We have good vets (not too old) and some good youth that should be coming into their own this season. IF they are able to turn the corner, this team could be special for years to come.