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Kinda saw this coming... Lloyd mentioned this in passing weeks ago.
Jim Thomas
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-lloyd-will-follow-mcdaniels/article_d673e251-dbb8-59f6-9a6f-5d2665d39a20.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... 39a20.html</a>
[wrapimg=left]http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/48/848fecce-13cb-11e1-a6f9-001a4bcf6878/4efd416f9a4fc.preview-300.jpg[/wrapimg]Brandon Lloyd has experienced only two victories in 10 games with the Rams. And after leading the NFL in reception yards (1,448) in 2010 as a Denver Bronco, he might not reach 1,000 this season.
Nonetheless, Lloyd has been happy as a Ram and says he wants to return to St. Louis next season and beyond.
"I would like to stay here," he told the Post-Dispatch. "I've been well-received by the players, by the coaches, by the community. It's been overwhelming; an overwhelmingly warm reception. Coming back to Missouri and St. Louis. I would love to grow with Sam Bradford; that would be awesome. I've never had a true elite-level quarterback in my career."
But there's a catch for Lloyd, the Kansas City area native who's scheduled for unrestricted free agency after this season. If offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels leaves St. Louis, Lloyd would attempt to follow.
"I can't even lie about that," Lloyd said. "I'm tied to McDaniels. He uses me differently than other offensive coordinators used me in my entire career. He uses me as an every-play receiver. The short game, mid-range game, gimmick passes, deep balls.
"I do everything in this offense as opposed to other coordinators who would just run me off as the deep guy; run me off into double coverage and then say I'm not open. So I really like how Josh uses me within the offense. I'm extremely comfortable in the offense. So that is definitely going to be a. ...
At this point Lloyd paused and didn't finish the thought.
A consideration? A factor?
"Probably No. 1 (as a factor)," Lloyd replied. "Because I want to be successful, and I want to earn whatever money I'm making. I want to be used in ways where I feel comfortable and I can be successful. And Josh knows how to do that."
When informed of those comments by Lloyd, McDaniels replied: "I appreciate that, and he knows I feel that way about him, too. I would love to have an opportunity to continue working with him. I think you grow fond of certain players; you grow fond of all of them. But some of 'em you may get closer with than others, and that's definitely true with him.
"Any time you have a chance to work with good people, that play hard, and give you a chance to win, that's the best for everybody."
Obviously, at this point it's difficult to say whether McDaniels will be back with the Rams in 2012. For one, head coach Steve Spagnuolo could get fired — and a new head coach might want a different coordinator.
And even in a season in which the Rams have struggled mightily to score, his name has been mentioned as a head-coaching possibility in Kansas City.
Lloyd leads the Rams in receptions (45), reception yards (583), and touchdown catches (four) despite the extra attention he gets from opposing defenses. Counting his time with the Broncos this season, Lloyd has 64 catches for 866 yards.
"He's been a tremendous addition for us with what he's done this year," Spagnuolo said. "He's been through three quarterbacks — so to get the timing, it's been hard for him. He's a competitor and a prideful guy, and we love that about him, so I'm sure it hasn't been easy. And yet you don't see it in him when you look out there watching practice."
Lloyd was traded to the Rams on Oct. 17, or the day after Bradford suffered his initial high ankle sprain.
After parachuting into a new club in the middle of a season, Lloyd had A.J. Feeley throwing to him for two games, followed by four games with Bradford, then Feeley again for a game, then Bradford for a game, and then Kellen Clemens for the last two. In the midst of all that quarterback chaos were a few practices in which Tom Brandstater did all or much of the throwing with the starters.
That revolving door explains why some of the passes might have been underthrown, overthrown or just didn't get there to Lloyd, who is a long-strider with deceptive speed.
"It's tough for (the quarterbacks) because they just don't know my speed," Lloyd said. "It's a timing thing. One day, I'll come whipping around on one of those routes and they'll drop it right on me. And that's happened a couple times with Kellen already. So that's how I prepare running the routes. I don't expect 'em to fail. I guess it's a positive outlook."
In fact, Lloyd says the Rams' quarterback situation has been nothing compared to what he faced at some of his other stops in the NFL.
"This has actually been really easy compared to San Francisco, where I had guys starting in games like Cody Pickett, Ken Dorsey, Tim Rattay, Alex Smith — all in one year," Lloyd said. "So this hasn't been that bad."
The 49ers season Lloyd was referring to was 2005, Smith's rookie year.
"What makes those situations bad is when you have young quarterbacks in there, and that's what my experience was like in San Francisco," Lloyd said.
Lloyd has had backups with experience throwing to him with the Rams in Feeley and Clemens.
"Kellen has game experience and he's mature," Lloyd said. "He knows how to study. He knows the Xs and Os. I went up to him last week and I was like, 'I don't know how you're doing this.' Even the first game, I'm like, 'How are you even picking this up?' He said, 'I know the concepts.'
"I trust him, you know? So that's what's made it a lot easier. This has been a good experience for me. I'm just happy that I'm able to run routes and catch passes as a wide receiver. Honestly. This has been a good season for me, compared to what it could've been."
That was a reference to his most recent club — Denver. The Broncos don't throw many passes with Tim Tebow at quarterback.
"Regardless of the record, I want to play football as a wide receiver," Lloyd said. "That's been my dream since I was 6 years old. Catch passes, run routes, score touchdowns. Do the whole thing, and show my skill and my expertise at the position.
"So it's been really great. Even working with a banged-up Sam Bradford, he's been better than a lot of quarterbacks I've worked with in my past."
Given time in the pocket, Lloyd says there's not a pass Bradford can't complete. He got a first-hand view of that in the Rams' Nov. 6 game in Arizona, Lloyd's first Rams game with Bradford at quarterback.
"I remember a 25-yard go, and then I stop at 25 yards," Lloyd said. "Sam's on the opposite hash, and zings it like on a rope. That was a sight. I saw that on film and I'm like, 'Wow. That's elite. That's not normal.' "
Will Lloyd be back to catch more passes like that with Bradford? Let's see if McDaniels is back.
Jim Thomas
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-lloyd-will-follow-mcdaniels/article_d673e251-dbb8-59f6-9a6f-5d2665d39a20.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football ... 39a20.html</a>
[wrapimg=left]http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/48/848fecce-13cb-11e1-a6f9-001a4bcf6878/4efd416f9a4fc.preview-300.jpg[/wrapimg]Brandon Lloyd has experienced only two victories in 10 games with the Rams. And after leading the NFL in reception yards (1,448) in 2010 as a Denver Bronco, he might not reach 1,000 this season.
Nonetheless, Lloyd has been happy as a Ram and says he wants to return to St. Louis next season and beyond.
"I would like to stay here," he told the Post-Dispatch. "I've been well-received by the players, by the coaches, by the community. It's been overwhelming; an overwhelmingly warm reception. Coming back to Missouri and St. Louis. I would love to grow with Sam Bradford; that would be awesome. I've never had a true elite-level quarterback in my career."
But there's a catch for Lloyd, the Kansas City area native who's scheduled for unrestricted free agency after this season. If offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels leaves St. Louis, Lloyd would attempt to follow.
"I can't even lie about that," Lloyd said. "I'm tied to McDaniels. He uses me differently than other offensive coordinators used me in my entire career. He uses me as an every-play receiver. The short game, mid-range game, gimmick passes, deep balls.
"I do everything in this offense as opposed to other coordinators who would just run me off as the deep guy; run me off into double coverage and then say I'm not open. So I really like how Josh uses me within the offense. I'm extremely comfortable in the offense. So that is definitely going to be a. ...
At this point Lloyd paused and didn't finish the thought.
A consideration? A factor?
"Probably No. 1 (as a factor)," Lloyd replied. "Because I want to be successful, and I want to earn whatever money I'm making. I want to be used in ways where I feel comfortable and I can be successful. And Josh knows how to do that."
When informed of those comments by Lloyd, McDaniels replied: "I appreciate that, and he knows I feel that way about him, too. I would love to have an opportunity to continue working with him. I think you grow fond of certain players; you grow fond of all of them. But some of 'em you may get closer with than others, and that's definitely true with him.
"Any time you have a chance to work with good people, that play hard, and give you a chance to win, that's the best for everybody."
Obviously, at this point it's difficult to say whether McDaniels will be back with the Rams in 2012. For one, head coach Steve Spagnuolo could get fired — and a new head coach might want a different coordinator.
And even in a season in which the Rams have struggled mightily to score, his name has been mentioned as a head-coaching possibility in Kansas City.
Lloyd leads the Rams in receptions (45), reception yards (583), and touchdown catches (four) despite the extra attention he gets from opposing defenses. Counting his time with the Broncos this season, Lloyd has 64 catches for 866 yards.
"He's been a tremendous addition for us with what he's done this year," Spagnuolo said. "He's been through three quarterbacks — so to get the timing, it's been hard for him. He's a competitor and a prideful guy, and we love that about him, so I'm sure it hasn't been easy. And yet you don't see it in him when you look out there watching practice."
Lloyd was traded to the Rams on Oct. 17, or the day after Bradford suffered his initial high ankle sprain.
After parachuting into a new club in the middle of a season, Lloyd had A.J. Feeley throwing to him for two games, followed by four games with Bradford, then Feeley again for a game, then Bradford for a game, and then Kellen Clemens for the last two. In the midst of all that quarterback chaos were a few practices in which Tom Brandstater did all or much of the throwing with the starters.
That revolving door explains why some of the passes might have been underthrown, overthrown or just didn't get there to Lloyd, who is a long-strider with deceptive speed.
"It's tough for (the quarterbacks) because they just don't know my speed," Lloyd said. "It's a timing thing. One day, I'll come whipping around on one of those routes and they'll drop it right on me. And that's happened a couple times with Kellen already. So that's how I prepare running the routes. I don't expect 'em to fail. I guess it's a positive outlook."
In fact, Lloyd says the Rams' quarterback situation has been nothing compared to what he faced at some of his other stops in the NFL.
"This has actually been really easy compared to San Francisco, where I had guys starting in games like Cody Pickett, Ken Dorsey, Tim Rattay, Alex Smith — all in one year," Lloyd said. "So this hasn't been that bad."
The 49ers season Lloyd was referring to was 2005, Smith's rookie year.
"What makes those situations bad is when you have young quarterbacks in there, and that's what my experience was like in San Francisco," Lloyd said.
Lloyd has had backups with experience throwing to him with the Rams in Feeley and Clemens.
"Kellen has game experience and he's mature," Lloyd said. "He knows how to study. He knows the Xs and Os. I went up to him last week and I was like, 'I don't know how you're doing this.' Even the first game, I'm like, 'How are you even picking this up?' He said, 'I know the concepts.'
"I trust him, you know? So that's what's made it a lot easier. This has been a good experience for me. I'm just happy that I'm able to run routes and catch passes as a wide receiver. Honestly. This has been a good season for me, compared to what it could've been."
That was a reference to his most recent club — Denver. The Broncos don't throw many passes with Tim Tebow at quarterback.
"Regardless of the record, I want to play football as a wide receiver," Lloyd said. "That's been my dream since I was 6 years old. Catch passes, run routes, score touchdowns. Do the whole thing, and show my skill and my expertise at the position.
"So it's been really great. Even working with a banged-up Sam Bradford, he's been better than a lot of quarterbacks I've worked with in my past."
Given time in the pocket, Lloyd says there's not a pass Bradford can't complete. He got a first-hand view of that in the Rams' Nov. 6 game in Arizona, Lloyd's first Rams game with Bradford at quarterback.
"I remember a 25-yard go, and then I stop at 25 yards," Lloyd said. "Sam's on the opposite hash, and zings it like on a rope. That was a sight. I saw that on film and I'm like, 'Wow. That's elite. That's not normal.' "
Will Lloyd be back to catch more passes like that with Bradford? Let's see if McDaniels is back.
