Training camp: Los Angeles, day 1

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RamBill

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Big fan turnout welcomes Rams at Southern California workout
Associated Press

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...fans-turn-force-oxnard-training-camp-practice

OXNARD, Calif. -- If the St. Louis Rams are headed back to Southern California, their long-suffering fans there are ready to welcome them home.

The Rams were greeted by a huge contingent of jersey-wearing, flag-waving fans chanting "L.A. Rams!" as they took the practice field Monday in Oxnard, an hour northwest of Los Angeles.

The Rams are in Ventura County for three days of workouts at the Dallas Cowboys' training complex. They're also providing a tantalizing appetizer for fans who know the franchise is weighing a return to Los Angeles, its home for 49 years prior to 1995.

Two decades away haven't dimmed the passion of the fans whose shouts of "Whose house? Rams' house!" echoed through an Oxnard crowd packed with the jerseys of players ranging from Los Angeles favorites Vince Ferragamo and Jack Youngblood to St. Louis stars Robert Quinn and Nick Foles.

Even Rams owner Stan Kroenke was spotted at the Cowboys' training complex, which encompasses most of a hotel a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Kroenke, the billionaire who lives much of the year in Malibu, rarely attends camp in Missouri. He has purchased land in Inglewood and partnered with developers to build a palatial football stadium capable of housing two NFL teams -- but he has done it all without explicitly saying he intends to move the Rams.

The Rams traveled to Los Angeles after a preseason loss in Oakland on Friday, and they had the weekend off.

Many players spent the weekend checking out the town: Linebacker James Laurinaitis ran into Arnold Schwarzenegger while working out at Gold's Gym in Venice, and running back Benny Cunningham hit Hollywood's famed Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles.

Inglewood mayor James T. Butts Jr. also turned out for the Rams' Oxnard trip. He said the stadium site is getting utility and sewer lines, and he believes it will be ready for construction in mid-December.

Butts was impressed but not surprised by the fan turnout in Oxnard.

"I think it's a huge message to the Rams' popularity here in Southern California," Butts said. "The Rams are the team that most of us as children grew up with. Roman Gabriel. Jack Snow. The Fearsome Foursome. That is part of our DNA growing up, so there is no team that can claim they are more integrated into the psyche of the people that were old enough to attend football games than the Rams. That's hands-down. And then would come the Raiders."

The Rams became the first major pro sports team in Los Angeles when, drawn to the growing market and postcard-perfect weather of the West Coast, owner Dan Reeves uprooted his 1945 NFL champion team after eight seasons in Cleveland.

The Rams were a Southland institution for the next five decades. They won the 1951 NFL title and reached the Super Bowl after the 1979 season. Although they went through long stretches of poor play, the Rams made generations of fans with their distinctive uniforms, star players and tradition.

For this three-day engagement, Southern California fans organized $30 round-trip bus rides and packed the parking lots hours before practice. They planned to wrap up each day with food, drinks and partying at a nearby restaurant.

Ray Soto has been a Rams fan since 1960, and he made the drive from Bakersfield to Oxnard to attend practice with his son and grandson. While his brothers gave up on the team after its move to the Midwest, Soto stayed faithful to the franchise that has been in his family's life since he gave a blue-and-white helmet to his son as a child.

"I feel sorry for the St. Louis fans, and I appreciate them taking care of our team," Soto said. "I know for sure they're coming back because Kroenke knows how much value they'll have to bring them back here."
 

badnews

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RamBill

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Cowboys owner Jones takes strong LA stance
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_a1b5d09c-cfb0-5fc2-a4a6-d58621286806.html

OXNARD, CALIF. • If there were any doubts about Jerry Jones’ commitment to having an NFL team in Los Angeles or his commitment to Stan Kroenke, the Dallas Cowboys’ owner did his best to dispel them Monday.

“I’m a real fan of Stan Kroenke, and I’m really a fan of Los Angeles and having the NFL have a major posture relative to the sports scene in Los Angeles,” Jones said Monday night following the Rams-Cowboys joint practice.

Jones, who has done private business deals with Rams owner Kroenke, added: “Stan’s outstanding. He’s been outstanding in the NFL and he’s the kind of people you want to be with.”

When asked by the Post-Dispatch if St. Louis deserves to lose a team, Jones responded: “The main thing is Los Angeles needs the very best team that we can put in Los Angeles. So that’s the big issue. We’re talking about Los Angeles. They’ve been without a team for 20 years. I’m also a fan of St. Louis. But the two aren’t necessarily one without the other.”

Jones wouldn’t rate one LA stadium proposal over the other when asked about the competing projects in Inglewood and Carson. Inglewood, of course, is Kroenke’s project; the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders have teamed on the Carson project.

There were reports, however, coming out of the owners meetings last week in Chicago that Jones spoke on behalf of Kroenke and the Inglewood project.

“Both are excellent (projects),” Jones said. “All the people involved are teammates. We’re all involved in the NFL together. So there’s no guesswork relative to the quality of the people that made the presentations. So all of that is very good. At the end of day there’s a lot to be considered relative to LA. But the focus is on LA.”

When asked about the St. Louis stadium project, Jones replied: “I don’t have any thoughts on it. At all. ... The main thing I’m interested in is having the best franchise in the world in Los Angeles.”

FLAG FOOTBALL

Coach Jeff Fisher said he was neither disappointed nor frustrated by the Rams’ high penalty total in Friday’s 18-3 exhibition-game loss to Oakland.

“But it’s obviously a big point of emphasis for us,” Fisher said. “As is always the case, there’s some you let go because they probably should not have been called.”

The Rams were officially flagged 10 times for 75 yards against the Raiders, but four calls were either declined by Oakland or negated by offsetting penalties. Fisher cited a holding penalty against offensive guard Garrett Reynolds as one he didn’t have a problem with.

“Garrett Reynolds slipped,” Fisher said. “He had bad footing, it might’ve been on the dirt. And he pulled the opponent down because he didn’t want to get the quarterback hit. So that’s a good decision for Garrett.

“Trumaine (Johnson)’s facemask (penalty) was questionable,” Fisher continued. “I didn’t see the hold on the punt return. But we just had one pre-snap (penalty) and I can’t recall having any post-snaps. ... So even though the numbers were up —we always address it — but I’m not necessarily concerned about it.”

OXNARD PLAN

According to Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, the genesis of the Oxnard practices with the Rams came last spring.

“Sometime in the spring we talked about it,” Garrett said before Monday’s practice. “We had opportunities at the (March) owners’ meetings and other places to have conversations between the organizations.“

They had a schedule where they were playing Oakland in their first preseason game, and they were going to be out there. You’re always looking for logistical opportunities to pull this off.

“The way our schedule worked, playing Thursday the first week (of the preseason) and Sunday the next week, there’s a great window in here for us to really get back to work and dig into training camp, and there is no better opportunity to get better than to bring in another team like the Rams.”

BETTING LINE

You can bet on just about anything these days, and with that in mind the BookMaker online sportsbook has established the San Diego Chargers as the favorite to be the first team approved to relocate to the Los Angeles area.

The Chargers are at minus 130, meaning you must risk $130 to win $100. The Rams are next, at even money — a $100 winning wager wins an additional $100. And the Raiders are a big long shot, according to the Costa Rica-based sports book. A $100 wager earns an additional $1,200 if the Raiders are the first team approved for relocation.

LONG IS A ‘WATERBOY’

Defensive end Chris Long is teaming with 16 other NFL athletes to bring clean water to communities in Tanzania and East Africa through the Chris Long Foundation’s “Waterboys” initiative.

Since launching the foundation in May, Long has worked to build a team of NFL waterboys – one player for each of the 32 NFL teams working in their market to raise awareness and funds to build dedicated water wells in East Africa.

Each waterboy will challenge the fan base in his particular market to raise at least $45,000 by the conclusion of the 2015 season, with $45,000 being the minimum cost to build a solar-powered water well.

Long’s brother Kyle is the Chicago Bears’ “Waterboy” representative. Former Rams teammate Sam Bradford is the Philadelphia Eagles’ rep.

For more information, the “Waterboys” website is www.waterboys.org.
 

Young Ram

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Couldn't key in on the D since they were on the other side of the field and didn't take many pictures.

Tavon caught a beautiful long pass from Foles. He is so quick.

Mason looks beastly and can't wait to see him and Gurley pound the rock.

A lot of short passes today from all our QBs.

Bailey has great hands and concentration. Caught some tough balls today.

A couple of small scuffles.

Awesome turnout! More Rams fans than Cowboy fans easily.

YYtarU0.jpg
 

RamBill

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Only a little tension between Cowboys, Rams in first practice
By Todd Archer

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowb...ension-between-cowboys-rams-in-first-practice

OXNARD, Calif. -- Day 1 of practices between the Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Rams were largely calm with only a couple of minor dustups.

Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson took a swing at Cowboys receiver Devin Street after Street didn’t take kindly to Johnson’s hit on Joseph Randle. There was a brief dustup between the Cowboys defense as well but nothing like what occurred last year, when the Cowboys practiced against the Oakland Raiders and a fan took a swing with a helmet at a Cowboys player.

By the end of practice Dez Bryant, who didn’t practice, was visibly upset with something. He kept jawing with several St. Louis defenders and had several coaches and teammates keep him at bay.

“Obviously Dez is a competitor and I’m sure he’s dying to be out there,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “It’s probably a good thing he wasn’t out there today. He probably didn’t need that. It was good for him to have a break today.”

One of the more vocal discussions came between Jason Witten and Rams assistant linebackers coach Joe Bowden. Witten drew two holding penalties and had his t-shirt ripped from the Rams' clutching and grabbing.

“Oh, just a little chit chatting you know?” Witten said. “Got two holding penalties that were there. Ripped the shirt. Told him, ‘If you can’t cover get out of Cover 1.’ Nah, I’m kidding. He’s a former player so he’s definitely passionate. That defense, the style they play, they attack. They’re downhill. [Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams] been that way everywhere he’s been so we knew that and I got lot of respect for their defense.”

On to the observations:

For the first time since the third full-padded practice, Tony Romo was intercepted, a span of 98 throws in team and 7-on-7 drills. With linebacker Alec Ogletree unblocked Romo had to hurry a screen throw that defensive tackle Ethan Westbrooks picked off. Romo finished the day 13 of 15 but did not take many downfield chances. He was without Tyron Smith and Ronald Leary on the left side of the line and Doug Free took only a few turns at right tackle. His best throw in team drills was a seam route to Witten over linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar. In one-on-one work he went deep to Terrance Williams for a 30-yard touchdown on Janoris Jenkins.

Running back Darren McFadden got his first carry of training camp in team drills. Unfortunately the blocking did not give him much of an opportunity to gain any yards. However, McFadden looked fast and strong in one-on-one routes against the St. Louis linebackers.

Much of the anticipation of the work between the Cowboys offensive line and Rams defensive line was lost because of the Cowboys' injuries up front. In the play-action drills to start practice, the Rams won with Robert Quinn beating La'el Collins to stop Randle at the line of scrimmage. In one on one pass rush, Chris Long was able to use a spin move to beat right tackle John Wetzel. Quinn was able to gain the edge on left tackle fill-in Darrion Weems.

Randle had a fumble on a check down from Romo in seven on seven work when linebacker Bryce Hager, the ex-Baylor player, poked the ball free.
Rams corner Lamarcus Joyner really had no answer for Cole Beasley in the slot. Neither did any corner the Rams put on him. In 7-on-7 he was able to run away from a defender and in team drills he worked outside Joyner and ducked under him as he closed to make a tackle.
 

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When asked by the Post-Dispatch if St. Louis deserves to lose a team, Jones responded: “The main thing is Los Angeles needs the very best team that we can put in Los Angeles. So that’s the big issue. We’re talking about Los Angeles. They’ve been without a team for 20 years. I’m also a fan of St. Louis. But the two aren’t necessarily one without the other.”

When asked about the St. Louis stadium project, Jones replied: “I don’t have any thoughts on it. At all. ... The main thing I’m interested in is having the best franchise in the world in Los Angeles.”

Well fuck you too, Jerry. I hope the Cowgirls finish last and your stadium falls to the ground.
 

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http://interact.stltoday.com/forums...=1126153&sid=a9b392931c4bec27c39556b656b8a894


Oxnard report day 1
Posted:
17 Aug 2015 21:04 pm
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I couldn't get around to see what I wanted due to the crowd. So I just parked myself and watched what I could. My "takeaway" is two words.
TAVON AUSTIN
The guy is absolutely RIDICULOUS! Stop and go, left and right, spin and move, there is no way to keep up with this guy. He makes people look completely overmatched. I'm serious. Tavon looked like the best football player on the field. You can't cover him and he's learned a little about getting off of press coverage. He uses his size to HIS advantage. Go head and press the little guy, he will slip around you and make you look (slow) when he runs by you.
In drills Austin got pressed hard for a ball thrown into the corner of the endzone. Austin slipped away and hit a gear I didn't know was humanly possible. He is FAST! The ball was thrown perfectly to the corner by Foles and it looked like it would drop incomplete because Austin got pressed. Austin hit another gear and went and got that ball for the score. It was unbelievable.
The cowgirls were tough on Austin in the drills, and he made them pay. Every. Single. Play. The TD Austin caught on the 2nd play of scrimmage was just Foles flinging it and Austin going and getting it.

Britt- obvious leader of the WR corps. Made some good plays. Looks steady and solid.

Quick- wearing a cap on his helmet to indicate injury. He can get hit but not tackled.
Quick is bigger than I thought. Uses his size well to shield defenders. Good camp today for Quick. One scrimmage play Quick caught a pass and several cowgirls stood him up and smacked him to the ground. Britt and Bailey attacked the defense and a small brawl ensued. The crowd loved it!

Bailey- I didn't see him in scrimmage but he looks good in drills.

Givens- Made some play and looked good.
Cook- Dropped an easy pass, had a fumble on a different play. I didn't see much else.
#15 looked decent but I don't think he replaces Givens.

TJ Mac- My Fresno boy is the obvious leader of the DB's. I watched DB's more than anything since they spent the most time nearby. These guys love to hit each other. TJ and Ogletree seem to get along very well as does 52 and 12. Ogletree seems to command respect on the team. Players like him, he's a leader.

At the suggestion of PF I watched some line drills. I didn't get to see many but it was exciting at times. These guys were slugging it out.
There was a strange drill -
5 RAMS OL lined up, 1 cowgirl DL. QB in shotgun. First snap DL is against RT, next snap RG next snap C etc. OL and DL were rotating players. In that drill G Rob got embarrassed by 94 cowgirl. Other than that I noticed nothing to report.

FOLES- He looks like a QB. His ball has zip and he's accurate. He trusts his receivers to catch the ball. The WR's were getting pushed and held but Foles would fling it where they were supposed to be. Austin and Bailey really impressed me with escapability. Britt and Quick just shoved the defender out if the way. Bottom line Foles knows where to throw the ball and he's not scared to throw it. I was pleasantly surprised by Nick Foles today.

If you think I suffer from "homerism" you are quite incorrect. I don't suffer one bit.

Due to the crowd it's hard to get around and see everything. I hope to see more tomorrow I wanted this little report to be about football rather than anything else.