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<a class="postlink" href="http://blog.stlouisrams.com/2013/07/26/veterans-embrace-camp-fisher/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://blog.stlouisrams.com/2013/07/26/ ... mp-fisher/</a>
- As a former player himself, Rams coach Jeff Fisher has a deep understanding of the rigors and difficulties of an NFL training camp. Combining that knowledge with rules out of his control that have been imposed by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement has allowed for the Rams to put together a training camp schedule that not only is tolerable for players but one that is actually liked by them.
- For as long as training camps have been around, they’ve been viewed as a necessary evil. Sure, players liked camp because it meant they were a step closer to games but nobody actually liked the process of practicing in the heat wearing full pads twice per day and then sitting in meetings for most of the rest of the time. In essence, training camp was something to survive.
- But Fisher has a different approach to camp. He and his staff have spent years trying to figure out best practices for putting the schedule together while maintaining ways to let his team get maximum rest and recovery time between actual practices.
- It starts with staying at home for training camp, a plan that first hatched when Fisher was in Tennessee and his teams never really had any other option. From there, Fisher and his teams began to embrace the idea of training in their backyard and still having a chance to go home to their own beds at night.
- So it is that Fisher’s first training camp took place here at Rams Park last year, is here again this year and will likely remain here for the forseeable future. That’s a nice bonus to begin with for players with families since their loved ones don’t have to travel to a remote college to see him.
- Fisher also goes a step further by not forcing all of his players to stay in a local hotel during training camp. For many years even when the Rams have trained in St. Louis, the entire roster has been forced to stay in a hotel for the duration of camp. Not so anymore. For any player that has at least three full seasons under his belt, he can stay in his own home and sleep in his own bed. It may not sound like much but for the players it’s considered a big deal to the guys in the locker room.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am that Coach Fisher has that policy,” quarterback Sam Bradford said. ”I felt bad for the guys who were going to the hotel last night after we were done with meetings, but I was pretty excited to go home.”
- Bradford said it’s a small thing but those small perks help curry favor for Fisher in the locker room and put the onus on the players not to take advantage of those opportunities.
“I think, obviously, Coach Fisher knows what he’s doing,” Bradford said. “It’s not a huge deal, but to be able to go home – we’re still going to get home at 9 or 9:30 p.m. – but just to be able to spend that 20 minutes on the couch, watching TV and then go to bed in your own bed every night, it’s definitely comforting.”
- Beyond hotel rules and curfews, Fisher and his staff have also extensively studied the reasons and timing for many training camp injuries. One of the conclusions they’ve come to is that players often get hurt when their bodies don’t have enough time to recover. They’ve even done studies on the best times to hold practices. As a general rule, Fisher prefers late afternoon workouts – most of the Rams’ practices this year are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. during camp – and he mandates a minimum of 24 hours between those practices.
- All of that doesn’t stop during the preseason. During the 2012 season, Fisher would occasionally give his team a “sleep in Thursday” in which he’d push practice and meetings back until later in the afternoon so his team could get a bit more rest. Those are just a few of the examples of things Fisher does to keep his team fresh and prepared at all times.
“I like training camp now,” defensive end Chris Long said. “I hated training camp before the new CBA. I like it now because you are not constantly fighting it and being super fatigued where I think it’s like a point of diminishing returns where you work so much that actually you are maybe even getting worse. Now Coach Fish does such a good job of making sure we get our rest and recover so if we are not getting any better it’s on us. Guys really respond to that.”
<a class="postlink" href="http://blog.stlouisrams.com/2013/07/26/veterans-embrace-camp-fisher/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://blog.stlouisrams.com/2013/07/26/ ... mp-fisher/</a>
- As a former player himself, Rams coach Jeff Fisher has a deep understanding of the rigors and difficulties of an NFL training camp. Combining that knowledge with rules out of his control that have been imposed by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement has allowed for the Rams to put together a training camp schedule that not only is tolerable for players but one that is actually liked by them.
- For as long as training camps have been around, they’ve been viewed as a necessary evil. Sure, players liked camp because it meant they were a step closer to games but nobody actually liked the process of practicing in the heat wearing full pads twice per day and then sitting in meetings for most of the rest of the time. In essence, training camp was something to survive.
- But Fisher has a different approach to camp. He and his staff have spent years trying to figure out best practices for putting the schedule together while maintaining ways to let his team get maximum rest and recovery time between actual practices.
- It starts with staying at home for training camp, a plan that first hatched when Fisher was in Tennessee and his teams never really had any other option. From there, Fisher and his teams began to embrace the idea of training in their backyard and still having a chance to go home to their own beds at night.
- So it is that Fisher’s first training camp took place here at Rams Park last year, is here again this year and will likely remain here for the forseeable future. That’s a nice bonus to begin with for players with families since their loved ones don’t have to travel to a remote college to see him.
- Fisher also goes a step further by not forcing all of his players to stay in a local hotel during training camp. For many years even when the Rams have trained in St. Louis, the entire roster has been forced to stay in a hotel for the duration of camp. Not so anymore. For any player that has at least three full seasons under his belt, he can stay in his own home and sleep in his own bed. It may not sound like much but for the players it’s considered a big deal to the guys in the locker room.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am that Coach Fisher has that policy,” quarterback Sam Bradford said. ”I felt bad for the guys who were going to the hotel last night after we were done with meetings, but I was pretty excited to go home.”
- Bradford said it’s a small thing but those small perks help curry favor for Fisher in the locker room and put the onus on the players not to take advantage of those opportunities.
“I think, obviously, Coach Fisher knows what he’s doing,” Bradford said. “It’s not a huge deal, but to be able to go home – we’re still going to get home at 9 or 9:30 p.m. – but just to be able to spend that 20 minutes on the couch, watching TV and then go to bed in your own bed every night, it’s definitely comforting.”
- Beyond hotel rules and curfews, Fisher and his staff have also extensively studied the reasons and timing for many training camp injuries. One of the conclusions they’ve come to is that players often get hurt when their bodies don’t have enough time to recover. They’ve even done studies on the best times to hold practices. As a general rule, Fisher prefers late afternoon workouts – most of the Rams’ practices this year are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. during camp – and he mandates a minimum of 24 hours between those practices.
- All of that doesn’t stop during the preseason. During the 2012 season, Fisher would occasionally give his team a “sleep in Thursday” in which he’d push practice and meetings back until later in the afternoon so his team could get a bit more rest. Those are just a few of the examples of things Fisher does to keep his team fresh and prepared at all times.
“I like training camp now,” defensive end Chris Long said. “I hated training camp before the new CBA. I like it now because you are not constantly fighting it and being super fatigued where I think it’s like a point of diminishing returns where you work so much that actually you are maybe even getting worse. Now Coach Fish does such a good job of making sure we get our rest and recover so if we are not getting any better it’s on us. Guys really respond to that.”