There are still about two months until the Los Angeles Rams report for training camp at the end of July, but that won’t be the first time the team is together on the field. For the last two weeks, the Rams have been training and going through drills in Thousand Oaks as part of the team’s offseason program – which includes organized team activities, or OTAs.
Contact isn’t allowed during practice and players just put their helmets on for the first time last week, but there’s still plenty of value in these OTA sessions, especially for newcomers like Matthew Stafford, DeSean Jackson and the host of rookies who were just added this year.
Sean McVay isn’t going to settle position battles or decide who will be the No. 4 wide receiver during these practices, as those situations will be determined at training camp. Rather, he and his coaching staff – primarily Kevin O’Connell, Raheem Morris and Joe DeCamillis – are just trying to lay the groundwork for players to learn the system before really adding the physical element later this summer.
“I would say with what we’re trying to get done, we just want to get all of our systems foundationally taught the right way,” he said. “The physical work when you can’t really put the pads on, I think it’s about building that foundation. I’d like to be able to continue to get some situational conversations, the red area, some of our priority third-down coverages, calls, pressures. Things we’re going to activate offensively. But mostly, what we’ve done in the offseason where you’re saying, all right, with Joe D and the kicking game, with Raheem and the defensive staff on the defensive side of the ball and then with Kevin and the offensive coaches, just getting the foundation set the right way, making sure that we’re giving clarity to our players because once we get back for training camp, as you look at these schedules and try to get practices situated and set up with other teams, it goes quickly. So we want to take the next couple weeks to build the foundation the right way, try to give them a lot of information and then we can hit the ground running physically and mentally when training camp starts.”
Rookies and quarterbacks will report on July 25, followed by the rest of the team on July 27. McVay said they will have practices against the Raiders and Cowboys during camp, which is when competition will really heat up.
McVay hasn’t revealed his plan for the Rams’ starters in the preseason, so it’s unclear whether they will play any of the three exhibition games before Week 1. That puts an added emphasis on joint practices where players will be able to play at full speed or close to it.
The Rams will wrap things up on June 17, which is the final day of mandatory minicamp, before heading to UC Irvine for camp at the end of July.
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