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Rams Team Report
Yahoo! Sports - 11 hours, 55 minutes ago
Inside Slant
Notes, Quotes
Strategy and Personnel
Bradford makes good progress in third NFL season
Frequently during the 2012 season, it would be mentioned that the rams were one of the youngest teams in the NFL. The truth is, there is very little difference in the average age of many teams.
However, in the Rams' case, the young players were significant contributors. There were 16 rookies on the final 53-man roster and 11 were active for the regular-season finale.
Most important, of the 22 starters, six were in their third season or less, and their kicker, punter and long snapper have no more than two years of experience.
In addition, the Rams now have an extra first-round pick from Washington in each of the next two drafts.
Said coach Jeff Fisher, "There was a lot to learn from a scheme standpoint, from a philosophical standpoint. How you practice, how you prepare, how you travel, those kinds of things. I think when things are all said and done, we've got a decent foundation from that standpoint."
Most important, after a second season derailed by a high ankle sprain, third-year quarterback Sam Bradford played every game and improved across the board even though he was in his third different offense.
Said Bradford, "Last year was extremely frustrating for me, probably one of the hardest years I've had at any level of sports having to sit out as many games as I did. So to be able to make it through this year completely healthy and play all 16, that's something I hope I can continue to do and not miss any games."
As for how important it will be to be in the same system in 2013, he said, "You have no idea. I'm extremely excited about the future of this team and this organization. Hopefully for the first time since I've been here, we'll come back with the same staff, the same offense and just be able to build on what we were able to do this year.
"It's not easy changing offenses and changing systems. I really like what we're doing. I really like Schotty (offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer) and what he was able to do this year. Hopefully he's back, hopefully this whole staff is back and we can just fine-tune everything and start working on the little things."
Fisher, who agreed to coach the Rams a year ago largely because of the presence of Bradford, was pleased with his play.
"I thought Sam played well," Fisher said. "I thought Sam got better as the year went on. He had a much better feel for opponents, much better feel for what we were doing. We asked him to do a lot more stuff on the line of scrimmage."
Of the importance of the being in the same system, Fisher concluded, "It'd be the first time in his career where he'll come back in the offseason program and be looking at the same playbook. That helps. That's helpful. We're not going to change things here. We're only going to do things to help him get better. We turned a lot over to him (against Seattle in the season finale) in the no-huddle and on the line of scrimmage. You can see us moving down that path with him and in order to do so, you have to maintain continuity."
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/stl/report
Yahoo! Sports - 11 hours, 55 minutes ago
Inside Slant
Notes, Quotes
Strategy and Personnel
Bradford makes good progress in third NFL season
Frequently during the 2012 season, it would be mentioned that the rams were one of the youngest teams in the NFL. The truth is, there is very little difference in the average age of many teams.
However, in the Rams' case, the young players were significant contributors. There were 16 rookies on the final 53-man roster and 11 were active for the regular-season finale.
Most important, of the 22 starters, six were in their third season or less, and their kicker, punter and long snapper have no more than two years of experience.
In addition, the Rams now have an extra first-round pick from Washington in each of the next two drafts.
Said coach Jeff Fisher, "There was a lot to learn from a scheme standpoint, from a philosophical standpoint. How you practice, how you prepare, how you travel, those kinds of things. I think when things are all said and done, we've got a decent foundation from that standpoint."
Most important, after a second season derailed by a high ankle sprain, third-year quarterback Sam Bradford played every game and improved across the board even though he was in his third different offense.
Said Bradford, "Last year was extremely frustrating for me, probably one of the hardest years I've had at any level of sports having to sit out as many games as I did. So to be able to make it through this year completely healthy and play all 16, that's something I hope I can continue to do and not miss any games."
As for how important it will be to be in the same system in 2013, he said, "You have no idea. I'm extremely excited about the future of this team and this organization. Hopefully for the first time since I've been here, we'll come back with the same staff, the same offense and just be able to build on what we were able to do this year.
"It's not easy changing offenses and changing systems. I really like what we're doing. I really like Schotty (offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer) and what he was able to do this year. Hopefully he's back, hopefully this whole staff is back and we can just fine-tune everything and start working on the little things."
Fisher, who agreed to coach the Rams a year ago largely because of the presence of Bradford, was pleased with his play.
"I thought Sam played well," Fisher said. "I thought Sam got better as the year went on. He had a much better feel for opponents, much better feel for what we were doing. We asked him to do a lot more stuff on the line of scrimmage."
Of the importance of the being in the same system, Fisher concluded, "It'd be the first time in his career where he'll come back in the offseason program and be looking at the same playbook. That helps. That's helpful. We're not going to change things here. We're only going to do things to help him get better. We turned a lot over to him (against Seattle in the season finale) in the no-huddle and on the line of scrimmage. You can see us moving down that path with him and in order to do so, you have to maintain continuity."
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/stl/report
