Setting up Rams' preseason Week 3/Wagoner

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Setting up Rams' preseason Week 3
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/10633/setting-up-rams-preseason-week-3

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The preseason is halfway done, which means we are now only a few short weeks from finally arriving at regular-season football.

The St. Louis Rams wrapped up their second preseason game Saturday afternoon with a 21-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The loss didn't inspire much confidence aside from quarterback Sam Bradford's strong return, but the reality remains that it's preseason and all of this will be forgotten soon enough.

In a small scheduling quirk, the Rams are done with the home portion of their preseason schedule and will now take to the road to wrap up the preseason. It starts this week with a trip to Cleveland for preseason game No. 3. Think Johnny Manziel and Michael Sam on the same field will garner much attention?

Here's the Rams' practice schedule for the week:

-- Tuesday: 3:30 p.m. CT (open to fans)

-- Wednesday: 3:30 p.m. CT (open to fans); Rams break training camp

-- Thursday: 4 p.m. CT (closed to fans)

The Rams will have their normal day before the game routine Friday before traveling to Cleveland in the afternoon.

In most cases, the third preseason game is viewed as the closest thing to a "dress rehearsal" as there is in the preseason. Many teams use the third preseason game to play their starters the longest amount of time before backing them down in the final game. Rams coach Jeff Fisher usually strays from that routine and plays his starters in the fourth game more than other teams. So it will be interesting to see how much they play against the Browns.

Beyond that, the most interesting part of the week will be to see how some of the key injured Rams are faring in their efforts to return. The Rams don't have to rush them back by any means but with each week that passes, it's important to know that guys like linebacker James Laurinaitis, defensive tackle Michael Brockers and guard Rodger Saffold are close to returning and can get back in the mix sooner than later.

After this week, the Rams will have to make their first round of cuts and trim the roster to 75 before a short turnaround and a trip to Miami to close out the preseason.