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Jeff Fisher warns Rams of offseason pitfalls
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/19388/jeff-fisher-warns-rams-of-offseason-pitfalls
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- It was an offseason with plenty of change for the St. Louis Rams. On Thursday, they wrapped up their offseason program with their final organized team activity.
Now, they head toward training camp -- the full team reconvenes for that on July 29 -- poised to get rolling with a new quarterback, new offensive coordinator, three new starters on the offensive line and, quite possibly, a new starting running back.
With all of those moving pieces to organize, the Rams have a tall order before the season opens in September. But for at least the portion that ended Thursday, coach Jeff Fisher is pleased with what they accomplished.
"I feel like from an installation standpoint, we’ve introduced a lot of situations to them," Fisher said. "We’re happy to say we’ve got the rookies caught up. They’ve yet to lift with the vets, but they’re caught up on the field. I think the rookie class is doing an outstanding job mentally. We’re very fortunate right now that we haven’t had any setbacks on the practice field. Haven’t had a single soft tissue issue or anything. Had a couple guys that we’re resting, that we’re still kind of rehabbing and bringing along -- day-on day-off type of thing, but I think we’re in pretty good shape."
Now, Fisher and the rest of the coaches and front office staff begin perhaps the most nervous time of the year. With players off for the better part of six weeks and free to go their separate ways, there's not much to do besides worry.
Though the Rams haven't necessarily been guilty of any major indiscretions during the down time in recent seasons, it's been pretty much a sure thing that someone, somewhere in the NFL is going to slip up whether it's via an injury or legal troubles. That's why Fisher goes to great lengths to inform his team about the potential pitfalls of having so much time away from Rams Park.
“Well, it starts with wave runners, then it moves over to four wheelers, then it goes to family picnics and all that stuff, water skiing and all that," Fisher said. "Then it goes into the off-the-field stuff and be smart. Those messages are being sent as we speak.”
Fisher actually goes into great detail when warning his team about the potential for issues to come up during vacation. He's even asked for numbers on which positions groups are most likely to get in trouble during the down time and shows them to the players before they part for the summer.
"We basically throw the stats up," Fisher said. "We have statistics by position groups. I have statistics based on months and years of experience in the league."
Asked what those numbers show, Fisher doesn't go into much detail but does make clear that they tend to skew toward one side of the ball.
"I’ll just say (defensive coordinator Gregg) Williams has his hands full," Fisher said.
In the only true down time the NFL has in a calendar year, the only thing left to do for Fisher is wait and hope that none of his players become the next statistic.
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/19388/jeff-fisher-warns-rams-of-offseason-pitfalls
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- It was an offseason with plenty of change for the St. Louis Rams. On Thursday, they wrapped up their offseason program with their final organized team activity.
Now, they head toward training camp -- the full team reconvenes for that on July 29 -- poised to get rolling with a new quarterback, new offensive coordinator, three new starters on the offensive line and, quite possibly, a new starting running back.
With all of those moving pieces to organize, the Rams have a tall order before the season opens in September. But for at least the portion that ended Thursday, coach Jeff Fisher is pleased with what they accomplished.
"I feel like from an installation standpoint, we’ve introduced a lot of situations to them," Fisher said. "We’re happy to say we’ve got the rookies caught up. They’ve yet to lift with the vets, but they’re caught up on the field. I think the rookie class is doing an outstanding job mentally. We’re very fortunate right now that we haven’t had any setbacks on the practice field. Haven’t had a single soft tissue issue or anything. Had a couple guys that we’re resting, that we’re still kind of rehabbing and bringing along -- day-on day-off type of thing, but I think we’re in pretty good shape."
Now, Fisher and the rest of the coaches and front office staff begin perhaps the most nervous time of the year. With players off for the better part of six weeks and free to go their separate ways, there's not much to do besides worry.
Though the Rams haven't necessarily been guilty of any major indiscretions during the down time in recent seasons, it's been pretty much a sure thing that someone, somewhere in the NFL is going to slip up whether it's via an injury or legal troubles. That's why Fisher goes to great lengths to inform his team about the potential pitfalls of having so much time away from Rams Park.
“Well, it starts with wave runners, then it moves over to four wheelers, then it goes to family picnics and all that stuff, water skiing and all that," Fisher said. "Then it goes into the off-the-field stuff and be smart. Those messages are being sent as we speak.”
Fisher actually goes into great detail when warning his team about the potential for issues to come up during vacation. He's even asked for numbers on which positions groups are most likely to get in trouble during the down time and shows them to the players before they part for the summer.
"We basically throw the stats up," Fisher said. "We have statistics by position groups. I have statistics based on months and years of experience in the league."
Asked what those numbers show, Fisher doesn't go into much detail but does make clear that they tend to skew toward one side of the ball.
"I’ll just say (defensive coordinator Gregg) Williams has his hands full," Fisher said.
In the only true down time the NFL has in a calendar year, the only thing left to do for Fisher is wait and hope that none of his players become the next statistic.
