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Rams Practice Report 10/28: Making the Offensive Adjustments
By Myles Simmons
View: http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-practicereport/Practice-Report-1028-Making-the-Offensive-Adjustments/da96b794-0f05-4a7b-b933-b44ed2be46b3
When it comes to improving the Rams’ offense, head coach Jeff Fisher has been clear. The team needs to start faster, sustain drives, and make third-down conversions.
One of the ways the unit found success against the Browns was by utilizing the no-huddle offense in the third quarter. On Wednesday, offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti said the strategy was a product of making some halftime adjustments.
“That’s something that just came up that, ‘Hey, what do you think about maybe going no-huddle and giving us a spark?’ Obviously, at that time, it was the right thing to do,” Cignetti said.
When the Rams went no-huddle in the third quarter, they may have caught the Browns a bit by surprise, as running back Todd Gurley was able to rip off a 48-yard run to get St. Louis deep in Cleveland territory. While the Rams did not score points on that drive, they would on their next third-quarter possession going no-huddle, as Kenny Britt made a 41-yard reception to put the Rams at the Cleveland 1. Gurley then finished off the drive with his first NFL touchdown.
Cignetti said one of the biggest reasons for utilizing the tactic was just to get a rhythm established.
“It gave us the spark that we needed,” Cignetti said. “We needed something to get us going and I thought we did very well in it.”
When the offense is running the no-huddle, clearly the quarterback has a significant amount of control on the field. Part of why the Rams can run it successfully now is the comfort factor between Nick Foles, his coaches, and his receivers.
“They have confidence in me to have some leeway in situations,” Foles said. “That'll keep going on as we build these relationships. They are building day to day and week to week. This is my first year in the offense -- first year with Cignetti -- so Frank and I are developing that relationship and learning each other each week.”
Plus, as Cignetti put it, the quarterback has the skill set to tun the no-huddle effectively.
“You look at his background, he’s very comfortable in the no-huddle offense,” Cignetti said. “Like all quarterbacks do -- it’s just not Nick Foles, but he sees the field better when he’s in the gun.”
As Foles said after Sunday’s game, he’s run the no-huddle not only with the Eagles, but also in college at Arizona and even in high school. That comes through in his ability to take command on the field and direct traffic. Foles said while he does have some flexibility at the line, he’s not just calling plays from thin air.
“I get with Cignetti during the week and we talk about it,” Foles said. “We talk about the offense in general, what my reads are. We have a gameplan going in. It's not just me freelancing whenever I run the offense.”
Utilizing that gameplan in order to get off to a faster start is one of the offense’s goals this week. Foles said the Rams must stay out of negative plays on early downs to do so.
“We are getting to too many 3rd-and-longs,” Foles said. “You get in 3rd-and-long, especially early in the game, it's really hard to convert. A lot of defenses do a lot of exotics on third down. It's one of those things where I think we're having to make adjustments on the sidelines, and then we get things going and try to find that rhythm. The big key is staying inside the chains -- on first and second down getting positive yards. That will help.”
“We’d love to start faster,” Cignetti said. “It’s something we’ve talked about -- minimize mistakes. In football, there’s things that stall drives. If we can start just eliminating some of those things, we’ll start faster.”
While defenses have sometimes come out in different sets than they’ve shown on film, Foles said the offense has been able to make tweaks on the sideline in order to get things going. St. Louis has also had success with that at halftime, as the club has outscored its opponents 38-16 in the third quarter.
“In the NFL you have to make adjustments and you have to make it on the fly,” Foles said. “Our coaches do a great job of that.”
And so while the Rams may or may not run the no-huddle against the 49ers this week, they do have it in their back pocket as a possible in-game adjustment.
“We're going to run our offense and do what works,” Foles said. “It's a week-to-week thing. Last week, we just sort of switched it up and needed to get something going. So this week we're going to run our offense and see where it goes.”
SAFFOLD IN GOOD SPIRITS
Offensive lineman Rodger Saffold was at practice on Wednesday, observing and helping coach up his teammates. The guard was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 15 after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.
While the offensive lineman was certainly disappointed in how his 2015 season ended, he said he’s looking forward to having an entire offseason to get back to full strength. Still, going on IR was made even more difficult knowing how the team is on the cusp of success.
“That's what made it tough because I understand the talent on this team and what they can accomplish,” Saffold said. “I want to be able to help them get there as best I can. The only thing is that now it's going to be from the sideline.”
AUSTIN’S BLOCKING
Wide receiver Tavon Austin is known for his shiftiness on the field as an offensive and special teams weapon. But after Sunday’s performance, Austin has gotten some well earned recognition for his downfield blocking.
“It just goes back to, what you want is team-first guys,” Foles said. “He’s a guy who everybody talks about his explosive play-making ability, but he’s a team-first guy and he shows it right there blocking down field. Without those blocks, Todd doesn’t get in the end zone. Who knows, Todd can do a lot of things, so he might bulldozer guys. But, having Tavon down field, a guy like him, a playmaker blocking, is a great example for everyone else.”
“When you see a perimeter player down the field, laying the wood like Tavon did, I mean, that’s exciting,” Cignetti said. “That’s football. You have to love it. It creates energy.”
Austin’s defensive teammates noticed the effort as well.
“You have guys that really care about each other, and they’ll sell out for each other,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “You’ve got the smallest guy on the field trying to throw one of the biggest blocks to try to spur another guy for a huge gain. That’s awesome. I love it, especially when you see that kind of passion. It basically elevates the whole team, really.”
By Myles Simmons
View: http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-practicereport/Practice-Report-1028-Making-the-Offensive-Adjustments/da96b794-0f05-4a7b-b933-b44ed2be46b3
When it comes to improving the Rams’ offense, head coach Jeff Fisher has been clear. The team needs to start faster, sustain drives, and make third-down conversions.
One of the ways the unit found success against the Browns was by utilizing the no-huddle offense in the third quarter. On Wednesday, offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti said the strategy was a product of making some halftime adjustments.
“That’s something that just came up that, ‘Hey, what do you think about maybe going no-huddle and giving us a spark?’ Obviously, at that time, it was the right thing to do,” Cignetti said.
When the Rams went no-huddle in the third quarter, they may have caught the Browns a bit by surprise, as running back Todd Gurley was able to rip off a 48-yard run to get St. Louis deep in Cleveland territory. While the Rams did not score points on that drive, they would on their next third-quarter possession going no-huddle, as Kenny Britt made a 41-yard reception to put the Rams at the Cleveland 1. Gurley then finished off the drive with his first NFL touchdown.
Cignetti said one of the biggest reasons for utilizing the tactic was just to get a rhythm established.
“It gave us the spark that we needed,” Cignetti said. “We needed something to get us going and I thought we did very well in it.”
When the offense is running the no-huddle, clearly the quarterback has a significant amount of control on the field. Part of why the Rams can run it successfully now is the comfort factor between Nick Foles, his coaches, and his receivers.
“They have confidence in me to have some leeway in situations,” Foles said. “That'll keep going on as we build these relationships. They are building day to day and week to week. This is my first year in the offense -- first year with Cignetti -- so Frank and I are developing that relationship and learning each other each week.”
Plus, as Cignetti put it, the quarterback has the skill set to tun the no-huddle effectively.
“You look at his background, he’s very comfortable in the no-huddle offense,” Cignetti said. “Like all quarterbacks do -- it’s just not Nick Foles, but he sees the field better when he’s in the gun.”
As Foles said after Sunday’s game, he’s run the no-huddle not only with the Eagles, but also in college at Arizona and even in high school. That comes through in his ability to take command on the field and direct traffic. Foles said while he does have some flexibility at the line, he’s not just calling plays from thin air.
“I get with Cignetti during the week and we talk about it,” Foles said. “We talk about the offense in general, what my reads are. We have a gameplan going in. It's not just me freelancing whenever I run the offense.”
Utilizing that gameplan in order to get off to a faster start is one of the offense’s goals this week. Foles said the Rams must stay out of negative plays on early downs to do so.
“We are getting to too many 3rd-and-longs,” Foles said. “You get in 3rd-and-long, especially early in the game, it's really hard to convert. A lot of defenses do a lot of exotics on third down. It's one of those things where I think we're having to make adjustments on the sidelines, and then we get things going and try to find that rhythm. The big key is staying inside the chains -- on first and second down getting positive yards. That will help.”
“We’d love to start faster,” Cignetti said. “It’s something we’ve talked about -- minimize mistakes. In football, there’s things that stall drives. If we can start just eliminating some of those things, we’ll start faster.”
While defenses have sometimes come out in different sets than they’ve shown on film, Foles said the offense has been able to make tweaks on the sideline in order to get things going. St. Louis has also had success with that at halftime, as the club has outscored its opponents 38-16 in the third quarter.
“In the NFL you have to make adjustments and you have to make it on the fly,” Foles said. “Our coaches do a great job of that.”
And so while the Rams may or may not run the no-huddle against the 49ers this week, they do have it in their back pocket as a possible in-game adjustment.
“We're going to run our offense and do what works,” Foles said. “It's a week-to-week thing. Last week, we just sort of switched it up and needed to get something going. So this week we're going to run our offense and see where it goes.”
SAFFOLD IN GOOD SPIRITS
Offensive lineman Rodger Saffold was at practice on Wednesday, observing and helping coach up his teammates. The guard was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 15 after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.
While the offensive lineman was certainly disappointed in how his 2015 season ended, he said he’s looking forward to having an entire offseason to get back to full strength. Still, going on IR was made even more difficult knowing how the team is on the cusp of success.
“That's what made it tough because I understand the talent on this team and what they can accomplish,” Saffold said. “I want to be able to help them get there as best I can. The only thing is that now it's going to be from the sideline.”
AUSTIN’S BLOCKING
Wide receiver Tavon Austin is known for his shiftiness on the field as an offensive and special teams weapon. But after Sunday’s performance, Austin has gotten some well earned recognition for his downfield blocking.
“It just goes back to, what you want is team-first guys,” Foles said. “He’s a guy who everybody talks about his explosive play-making ability, but he’s a team-first guy and he shows it right there blocking down field. Without those blocks, Todd doesn’t get in the end zone. Who knows, Todd can do a lot of things, so he might bulldozer guys. But, having Tavon down field, a guy like him, a playmaker blocking, is a great example for everyone else.”
“When you see a perimeter player down the field, laying the wood like Tavon did, I mean, that’s exciting,” Cignetti said. “That’s football. You have to love it. It creates energy.”
Austin’s defensive teammates noticed the effort as well.
“You have guys that really care about each other, and they’ll sell out for each other,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “You’ve got the smallest guy on the field trying to throw one of the biggest blocks to try to spur another guy for a huge gain. That’s awesome. I love it, especially when you see that kind of passion. It basically elevates the whole team, really.”
