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10 Observations from Day 1 of Mandatory Minicamp
1) With the beginning of minicamp on Tuesday, the Rams went through a walk-thru in the morning, then had regular practice in the afternoon following a lunch break. The club started with special teams drills before the rest of the squad went through a stretch prior to individual drills.
2) It’s a pretty minor detail, but the Rams got new scoreboards for practice. They’re bigger and easier to see from any part of the field. There’s a large clock, a play clock, and segment section on the scoreboard to the left. And then an offensive tally and defensive tally to the right for compete periods.
3) The defense began individual drills with each position group — defensive line, linebackers, and secondary — going through takeaway stations. One station simulated strip-sacks, with the defensive players rushing a QB dummy, hitting the ball out, and recovering the fumble. Another practiced the proper technique to dive on the football. And the last simulated a defensive player ripping the ball out from an offensive ballcarrier.
4) As always, head coach Sean McVay was active on the practice field during individual drills, covering different receivers on certain routes — especially Robert Woods
, Brandin Cooks, and Cooper Kupp. McVay also would ask for different routes from the various wide receivers in the group, with routes changing for the X, Z, and F positions.5) Los Angeles began its 7-on-7 drills with the starters on offense going against the starters on defense. It was a move-the-ball period with the offense pushing the tempo and going no huddle. Quarterback Jared Goff
had a few nice completions to wide receivers Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods. He also fit the ball in a tight window to tight ends Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett.6) During 7-on-7 with the second group of offense and defense, cornerback Troy Hill
went up to make a nice pass deflection on a deep pass from Sean Mannion to wide receiver Mike Thomas. Hill and Thomas were down the middle of the field, with the corner effectively keeping up stride for stride until the ball arrived.7) As McVay noted after practice, the Rams kept things a bit lighter for the first team offense and defense, with neither group going through 11-on-11 drills on Tuesday. The second group, however, did go through a full speed 11-on-11 period.
8) That period began with running back Malcolm Brown
ripping off a nice run to the right side of the field. Brown has quietly had a productive offseason program, working as running back Todd Gurley’s backup.9) Wide receiver Fred Brown
ended the 11-on-11 period by making a nice diving catch on the left side of the field from quarterback Brandon Allen. While the Rams have a talented receiving corps, Brown will have a chance to compete for a role on the 53-man roster during training camp.10) Los Angeles ended Tuesday’s session with Sam Ficken
kicking field goals. As McVay has said during the offseason program, L.A. will continue to bring along kicker Greg Zuerlein slowly so as to not risk any setbacks.
