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Practice Report 11/9: Working to Increase the Points
Myles Simmons
It’s no secret — the Rams have struggled offensively this season, particularly over the last two games. And so while it’s a team game and Los Angeles is looking for more takeaways from its defense, and perhaps a significant special teams play, the club needs its offense to score more points.
“It’s our job to score points, and it’s frustrating for all of us,” offensive coordinator Rob Boras said. “We believe in what we’re doing. We believe in one another. I’ve said before, what this team has gone through since leaving St. Louis and as much time as we’ve spent together — these guys genuinely like, and I’d use the word love, each other. And I know as men, that’s not a word used very often.
“So they’ve got to look each other in the eye, and we’re all frustrated, but they understand that the guys in the room can get it done,” Boras added. “And that’s the challenge that we have, and these guys are willing to accept that challenge.”
Los Angeles is currently No. 32, scoring just 16.3 points per game. Boras said one of the keys to the club’s improvement will be to resist the urge to press and keep focusing what should bring the team success.
“What we always talk about is that you have one play to play,” Boras said. “If something good or bad happened on the previous play, you get about 12 to 13 seconds between the end of the play and the huddle to let it go and move on to the next play. And that’s part of the mental toughness we’re always challenging the guys to play with.”
“You just can’t press and panic — just play,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “We’re making the plays on the practice field. Granted, it’s different than on Sundays. But just go out and just play. Relax and play. But don’t hurt ourselves.”
Boras also said the club has been trying to be as creative as possible in order to try to get explosive plays — the kinds of plays that usually lead to points.
“We’ve lined up with Todd [Gurley] in the backfield last week a couple times, just trying to do some things that way to take advantage of our talent, to maybe give the defense some un-scouted looks, and try to put our guys in the best position as possible,” Boras said.
It’s clear from the team’s attitude in and around practice the despite the recent results, players are in good spirits and believe a turnaround is imminent.
“It’s the guys I come to work with each and every day that makes me feel this way because these guys know that we can go out there and win every week,” wide receiver Kenny Britt
said. “That’s a confidence builder in each other. And you don’t see anybody moping around because we know we’re always an inch away from taking a W home. And it’s always us. So we realize it’s us — and that’s the only thing we ned to change, is how we execute.”
If the Rams’ offense is to get going this week, quarterback Case Keenum will more likely than not be a significant part of the reason why. In Los Angeles’ four-game skid, the signal-caller has completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,179 yards with five touchdowns and eight interceptions.
But that doesn’t mean Fisher has lost faith in his starting quarterback. Indeed, he’s been making sure Keenum is in a good place mentally throughout the week.
“He’s fine. We’ve had several conversations this week about it, and he’s fine,” Fisher said. “That defense, Carolina’s defense, is a good defense. And we made some plays, we just didn’t finish them. Case is fine mentally.”
“We don’t have to be anything other than who we are,” Keenum said of his talks with Fisher. “We all have got enough talent, we all have got enough drive, enough will, enough intelligence to get the job done. It’s just a matter of executing and getting it done. We’ve got to flip the switch, and execute, and move the ball.”
One element of his game Keenum said he’s been working on is his pocket presence. The quarterback said there were a few moments he might have been able to avoid a few hits had it been better in last Sunday’s game against the Panthers.
“I think my pocket presence was where it needed to be. I think I could’ve prevented a few sacks, a few batted balls just trusting my protections. Stepping up when I need to,” Keenum said. “Sometimes, I make it tough on my tackles. So, definitely worked on that this week.”
This Sunday will bring another significant challenge in the Jets, who boast a solid defense that uses multiple fronts. Their top defensive linemen — Sheldon Richardson, Muhammad Wilkerson, and USC product Leonard Williams — are tough matchups from both a run and pass standpoint. And then New York has cornerback Darrelle Revis with his 28 career interceptions on the outside.
“They’ve got a great front,” Keenum said. “Their D-line — again — is one of the best in the league. So we’ve got our work cut out for us up front. Revis has been doing this a long time. He sees a lot of stuff, so [have to] know where he’s at. And their defense is good. They disguise pressures they do well.”
INJURY REPORT
The Rams have five players listed on their first injury report of the week.
Running back Todd Gurley (thigh), defensive tackle Michael Brockers (groin), cornerbackTrumaine Johnson (ankle), defensive back Lamarcus Joyner (back), and wide receiverNelson Spruce (calf) did not participate in today’s session.
[www.therams.com]
Myles Simmons
It’s no secret — the Rams have struggled offensively this season, particularly over the last two games. And so while it’s a team game and Los Angeles is looking for more takeaways from its defense, and perhaps a significant special teams play, the club needs its offense to score more points.
“It’s our job to score points, and it’s frustrating for all of us,” offensive coordinator Rob Boras said. “We believe in what we’re doing. We believe in one another. I’ve said before, what this team has gone through since leaving St. Louis and as much time as we’ve spent together — these guys genuinely like, and I’d use the word love, each other. And I know as men, that’s not a word used very often.
“So they’ve got to look each other in the eye, and we’re all frustrated, but they understand that the guys in the room can get it done,” Boras added. “And that’s the challenge that we have, and these guys are willing to accept that challenge.”
Los Angeles is currently No. 32, scoring just 16.3 points per game. Boras said one of the keys to the club’s improvement will be to resist the urge to press and keep focusing what should bring the team success.
“What we always talk about is that you have one play to play,” Boras said. “If something good or bad happened on the previous play, you get about 12 to 13 seconds between the end of the play and the huddle to let it go and move on to the next play. And that’s part of the mental toughness we’re always challenging the guys to play with.”
“You just can’t press and panic — just play,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “We’re making the plays on the practice field. Granted, it’s different than on Sundays. But just go out and just play. Relax and play. But don’t hurt ourselves.”
Boras also said the club has been trying to be as creative as possible in order to try to get explosive plays — the kinds of plays that usually lead to points.
“We’ve lined up with Todd [Gurley] in the backfield last week a couple times, just trying to do some things that way to take advantage of our talent, to maybe give the defense some un-scouted looks, and try to put our guys in the best position as possible,” Boras said.
It’s clear from the team’s attitude in and around practice the despite the recent results, players are in good spirits and believe a turnaround is imminent.
“It’s the guys I come to work with each and every day that makes me feel this way because these guys know that we can go out there and win every week,” wide receiver Kenny Britt
said. “That’s a confidence builder in each other. And you don’t see anybody moping around because we know we’re always an inch away from taking a W home. And it’s always us. So we realize it’s us — and that’s the only thing we ned to change, is how we execute.”If the Rams’ offense is to get going this week, quarterback Case Keenum
will more likely than not be a significant part of the reason why. In Los Angeles’ four-game skid, the signal-caller has completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,179 yards with five touchdowns and eight interceptions.But that doesn’t mean Fisher has lost faith in his starting quarterback. Indeed, he’s been making sure Keenum is in a good place mentally throughout the week.
“He’s fine. We’ve had several conversations this week about it, and he’s fine,” Fisher said. “That defense, Carolina’s defense, is a good defense. And we made some plays, we just didn’t finish them. Case is fine mentally.”
“We don’t have to be anything other than who we are,” Keenum said of his talks with Fisher. “We all have got enough talent, we all have got enough drive, enough will, enough intelligence to get the job done. It’s just a matter of executing and getting it done. We’ve got to flip the switch, and execute, and move the ball.”
One element of his game Keenum said he’s been working on is his pocket presence. The quarterback said there were a few moments he might have been able to avoid a few hits had it been better in last Sunday’s game against the Panthers.
“I think my pocket presence was where it needed to be. I think I could’ve prevented a few sacks, a few batted balls just trusting my protections. Stepping up when I need to,” Keenum said. “Sometimes, I make it tough on my tackles. So, definitely worked on that this week.”
This Sunday will bring another significant challenge in the Jets, who boast a solid defense that uses multiple fronts. Their top defensive linemen — Sheldon Richardson, Muhammad Wilkerson, and USC product Leonard Williams — are tough matchups from both a run and pass standpoint. And then New York has cornerback Darrelle Revis with his 28 career interceptions on the outside.
“They’ve got a great front,” Keenum said. “Their D-line — again — is one of the best in the league. So we’ve got our work cut out for us up front. Revis has been doing this a long time. He sees a lot of stuff, so [have to] know where he’s at. And their defense is good. They disguise pressures they do well.”
INJURY REPORT
The Rams have five players listed on their first injury report of the week.
Running back Todd Gurley
(thigh), defensive tackle Michael Brockers (groin), cornerbackTrumaine Johnson (ankle), defensive back Lamarcus Joyner (back), and wide receiverNelson Spruce (calf) did not participate in today’s session.[www.therams.com]
