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Thumbs-up for Rams quarterback Nick Foles, so far
Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...for-rams-quarterback-nick-foles-so-far-barely
ST. LOUIS -- A quick observation of quarterback Nick Foles and how he has played in preparation for the season opener on Sept. 13 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Before Saturday night's game against the Indianapolis Colts, Foles' struggles in the preseason lined up evenly with those of the offensive line in front of him and the skill position players around him. That made it easy to lump everyone into one group and simply label the offense, which has many moving parts entering the season, as a struggling group with Foles at the forefront.
Foles' performance against the Colts made me look at things a little bit different. Instead of seeing an offense struggling in part because of Foles, the Rams' offense looked more like one that was causing Foles to struggle.
Against the Colts, Foles looked more comfortable maneuvering around the pocket and creating opportunities to throw with his feet. It was a drastic improvement from the week before when he locked on to receivers and looked more skittish in the pocket.
For his part, Foles said he's OK with making things happen on the run while acknowledging that when he does, he's always looking to throw.
"I do feel comfortable throwing on the move," Foles said. "I’m trying to keep my eyes downfield because I don’t have the burners like a lot of guys do, so I try to use my arm in those situations. I think just having a pocket awareness, knowing when it’s breaking down or could break down, getting out. So those are times on third down or throughout the course of the game you’re going to have a couple plays that break down and you just have to use your feet and make something happen.”
Considering the team's struggles on the offensive line, it's something Foles might have to do more than he anticipated upon arrival in St. Louis.
Three preseason games, a training camp and an offseason program in, it's entirely possible that Foles now has a better understanding of the fact that his line is going to take some time to coalesce and has an internal clock that is now ticking faster than it was before. Regardless, Foles had his best outing in the preseason game that "matters" most and he did it without much help from his line, his backs or his pass-catchers.
To be sure, Foles has his warts and still has plenty of strides to make. But for now, the good outweighs the bad and that's why Foles gets a thumb-up for his steady improvement heading toward the regular season.
Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...for-rams-quarterback-nick-foles-so-far-barely
ST. LOUIS -- A quick observation of quarterback Nick Foles and how he has played in preparation for the season opener on Sept. 13 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Before Saturday night's game against the Indianapolis Colts, Foles' struggles in the preseason lined up evenly with those of the offensive line in front of him and the skill position players around him. That made it easy to lump everyone into one group and simply label the offense, which has many moving parts entering the season, as a struggling group with Foles at the forefront.
Foles' performance against the Colts made me look at things a little bit different. Instead of seeing an offense struggling in part because of Foles, the Rams' offense looked more like one that was causing Foles to struggle.
Against the Colts, Foles looked more comfortable maneuvering around the pocket and creating opportunities to throw with his feet. It was a drastic improvement from the week before when he locked on to receivers and looked more skittish in the pocket.
For his part, Foles said he's OK with making things happen on the run while acknowledging that when he does, he's always looking to throw.
"I do feel comfortable throwing on the move," Foles said. "I’m trying to keep my eyes downfield because I don’t have the burners like a lot of guys do, so I try to use my arm in those situations. I think just having a pocket awareness, knowing when it’s breaking down or could break down, getting out. So those are times on third down or throughout the course of the game you’re going to have a couple plays that break down and you just have to use your feet and make something happen.”
Considering the team's struggles on the offensive line, it's something Foles might have to do more than he anticipated upon arrival in St. Louis.
Three preseason games, a training camp and an offseason program in, it's entirely possible that Foles now has a better understanding of the fact that his line is going to take some time to coalesce and has an internal clock that is now ticking faster than it was before. Regardless, Foles had his best outing in the preseason game that "matters" most and he did it without much help from his line, his backs or his pass-catchers.
To be sure, Foles has his warts and still has plenty of strides to make. But for now, the good outweighs the bad and that's why Foles gets a thumb-up for his steady improvement heading toward the regular season.
