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Nick Foles looking to bounce back, offer more for Rams after bye
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...-to-bounce-back-offer-more-for-rams-after-bye
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Five games into his fresh start with the St. Louis Rams, quarterback Nick Foles' comfort level is a good barometer for the offense at large.
Which is to say that Foles' development in the Rams' scheme is much like the scheme itself: A work in progress.
“I felt like I progressed," Foles said. "There definitely has been some growing pains and I’m learning. But, where I want to be right now, I want to keep improving every day. I am where I am right now, but I want to keep getting better. I want to keep building, keep improving. The big thing is just being consistent every week and putting us in a situation where we can win the game.”
Foles and the Rams have been in position to win four of their five games so far, coming away with victories against NFC West division foes Seattle and Arizona but falling short despite opportunities against Pittsburgh and Green Bay. While you'd be hard-pressed to find any player who will say the bye week comes at a bad time, Foles would probably be the first to say that the Rams' bye last week came at an ideal time.
The Rams' week 5 loss to the Packers was Foles' worst NFL game, a combination of his own mistakes, receiver miscues and an offensive line that allowed the Packers to batter him to the tune of three sacks and 12 quarterback hits on 33 drop backs. Foles threw four interceptions, two more than he'd thrown in any of his previous 32 career games. Foles' 1.5 QBR was also the worst of his career amongst games in which he's thrown more than one pass.
Despite the many hits and the costly turnovers, Foles kept getting up and going back at it. If nothing else, he's already proved to teammates that he's not afraid to keep coming even when things aren't going well.
"He’s tough, not just physically but mentally tough," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "He’s a guy that even when things aren’t going well you won’t see him on the sidelines pouting. He’s not going to get down because he threw a pick. He really just forgets about it and goes out there the next drive and just plays and knows the next drive is going to be successful. I think in the long run that’s going to help us. You have a QB who is even keel like that, it allows the guys around them to have more confidence. He’s not going to shy away from his mistakes. When you have a guy who is not too high or too low like that, a lot of times it bodes well in the long run."
But the Rams will need more than intangibles from Foles in the long run. While Foles already has a good grasp on the offense, he hasn't yet reached the point where he's completely comfortable. That's a process that takes more than one offseason and six NFL weeks to reach.
Along with that, Foles also doesn't have an extensive amount of freedom to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage. He says he has some leeway depending on the play call but also acknowledged that as he gets more experience in the system, he'll get more chances to identify things and make adjustments at the line.
“Yeah, absolutely," Foles said. "I have a long ways to go. I have a long ways to go. I have a lot of work to improve. That will be the case for as long as I play the game. I’ll always have a lot of room to improve on. That’s why we go out there each and every day and try to get a little better.”
Foles also made it clear that some of the early part of this season has been spent shaking off the rust after missing the last half of the 2014 season because of injury. He doesn't use that as an excuse but he's also trying to do that while acclimating to an offense that went through well-documented changes during the offseason.
Foles is playing for a new quarterbacks coach and new coordinator with the league's youngest offensive line and a mostly unproven group of pass catchers, so it's understandable why his play has been up and down in the first five games. And there hasn't been much rhyme or reason behind Foles' success or mistakes since he's been under pressure in pretty much every game. Sometimes he beats it consistently, as he did against Seattle and Arizona, and sometimes he struggles mightily like he did against Green Bay and Washington.
Which is why Foles could be found during the bye week spending extra time on the practice field working on timing with receivers. Based on what we know about the team, Foles doesn't need to return to the Pro Bowl level of 2013 (though the Rams wouldn't mind). Instead, he needs to be more consistent in the face of pressure and keep turnovers to a minimum. That, along with the emergence of running back Todd Gurley, would go a long way toward getting the Rams where they want to go in 2015.
“I think it’s just learning a new system," Foles said. "It’s not, like we’ve said, second nature. The offense I had been in was second nature to me because I had been in it for two years and felt real comfortable. You’re learning a new system, so as you learn, you just got to get to the point where it’s second nature so you can just go out there and react to it. I’m getting more and more comfortable each week.”
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...-to-bounce-back-offer-more-for-rams-after-bye
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Five games into his fresh start with the St. Louis Rams, quarterback Nick Foles' comfort level is a good barometer for the offense at large.
Which is to say that Foles' development in the Rams' scheme is much like the scheme itself: A work in progress.
“I felt like I progressed," Foles said. "There definitely has been some growing pains and I’m learning. But, where I want to be right now, I want to keep improving every day. I am where I am right now, but I want to keep getting better. I want to keep building, keep improving. The big thing is just being consistent every week and putting us in a situation where we can win the game.”
Foles and the Rams have been in position to win four of their five games so far, coming away with victories against NFC West division foes Seattle and Arizona but falling short despite opportunities against Pittsburgh and Green Bay. While you'd be hard-pressed to find any player who will say the bye week comes at a bad time, Foles would probably be the first to say that the Rams' bye last week came at an ideal time.
The Rams' week 5 loss to the Packers was Foles' worst NFL game, a combination of his own mistakes, receiver miscues and an offensive line that allowed the Packers to batter him to the tune of three sacks and 12 quarterback hits on 33 drop backs. Foles threw four interceptions, two more than he'd thrown in any of his previous 32 career games. Foles' 1.5 QBR was also the worst of his career amongst games in which he's thrown more than one pass.
Despite the many hits and the costly turnovers, Foles kept getting up and going back at it. If nothing else, he's already proved to teammates that he's not afraid to keep coming even when things aren't going well.
"He’s tough, not just physically but mentally tough," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "He’s a guy that even when things aren’t going well you won’t see him on the sidelines pouting. He’s not going to get down because he threw a pick. He really just forgets about it and goes out there the next drive and just plays and knows the next drive is going to be successful. I think in the long run that’s going to help us. You have a QB who is even keel like that, it allows the guys around them to have more confidence. He’s not going to shy away from his mistakes. When you have a guy who is not too high or too low like that, a lot of times it bodes well in the long run."
But the Rams will need more than intangibles from Foles in the long run. While Foles already has a good grasp on the offense, he hasn't yet reached the point where he's completely comfortable. That's a process that takes more than one offseason and six NFL weeks to reach.
Along with that, Foles also doesn't have an extensive amount of freedom to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage. He says he has some leeway depending on the play call but also acknowledged that as he gets more experience in the system, he'll get more chances to identify things and make adjustments at the line.
“Yeah, absolutely," Foles said. "I have a long ways to go. I have a long ways to go. I have a lot of work to improve. That will be the case for as long as I play the game. I’ll always have a lot of room to improve on. That’s why we go out there each and every day and try to get a little better.”
Foles also made it clear that some of the early part of this season has been spent shaking off the rust after missing the last half of the 2014 season because of injury. He doesn't use that as an excuse but he's also trying to do that while acclimating to an offense that went through well-documented changes during the offseason.
Foles is playing for a new quarterbacks coach and new coordinator with the league's youngest offensive line and a mostly unproven group of pass catchers, so it's understandable why his play has been up and down in the first five games. And there hasn't been much rhyme or reason behind Foles' success or mistakes since he's been under pressure in pretty much every game. Sometimes he beats it consistently, as he did against Seattle and Arizona, and sometimes he struggles mightily like he did against Green Bay and Washington.
Which is why Foles could be found during the bye week spending extra time on the practice field working on timing with receivers. Based on what we know about the team, Foles doesn't need to return to the Pro Bowl level of 2013 (though the Rams wouldn't mind). Instead, he needs to be more consistent in the face of pressure and keep turnovers to a minimum. That, along with the emergence of running back Todd Gurley, would go a long way toward getting the Rams where they want to go in 2015.
“I think it’s just learning a new system," Foles said. "It’s not, like we’ve said, second nature. The offense I had been in was second nature to me because I had been in it for two years and felt real comfortable. You’re learning a new system, so as you learn, you just got to get to the point where it’s second nature so you can just go out there and react to it. I’m getting more and more comfortable each week.”
