Tag: rams practice

43 photos from Rams’ first open practice of OTAs

Check out photos from the Rams’ first open practice of OTAs, including some shots of Jared Verse, Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp

The Los Angeles Rams kicked off OTAs this week with some on-field work, welcoming rookies to the party for the first time. Jared Verse, Braden Fiske and Blake Corum have been out there with the likes of Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Kobie Turner as the team ramps things up ahead of the 2024 season.

Tuesday’s session was the first one open to the media, so photographers were able to grab some shots of not only the veterans on the team, but also the newcomers. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was in attendance as an observer and friend of Sean McVay’s, while Jordan Whittington, Verse and Tre Tomlinson were also on the field working.

Here are 43 photos from Tuesday’s practice in Thousand Oaks.

Rams to practice at SoFi Stadium due to local wind advisory

The Rams are calling an audible for Thursday’s practice due to high winds.

After a shortened week of practice prior to Sunday’s game against the 49ers, the Rams will once again modify their preparation plans for this weekend’s matchup with the Cardinals. Rather than practicing at their headquarters in Thousand Oaks at Cal Lutheran, the Rams will hold Thursday’s session at SoFi Stadium due to a local wind advisory.

The forecast is calling for winds of 20-30 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph. Needless to say, it’s hard to throw and kick a football in those conditions, which has led Sean McVay to call an audible.

“Because of the wind advisory and tomorrow being a really important workday – I think last week with the short week, I probably did our guys a disservice not giving us an opportunity to practice with the fundamentals and the techniques,” McVay said. “I thought it was the right decision, but you always have to be honest with yourself, reflect, and look back. I think it’s important enough that we’ll do virtual meetings in the morning, and then we’ll go down and practice at SoFi tomorrow in a more controlled setting because we need to get that work in. You can see the amount of good work that gets in, even though it is minimal once you get this late in the season, is something that you can’t take for granted. That’s what we’ll do tomorrow as a result of the wind advisory.”

The Rams canceled practice last Friday due to a COVID-19 scare after two members of the organization needed further testing. It was a decision made out of an abundance of caution, but one McVay seemingly thinks cost his team.

The Rams have had to make adjustments to their practice schedule countless times under McVay and now having SoFi Stadium to use is an added benefit. It sparked a question from a reporter about whether McVay would like to have an indoor or outdoor facility whenever the Rams get a permanent home.

McVay knows that’s a long way out, so he’s not exactly focused on where the Rams will be practicing years from now.

“I think you’d like to have the availability for both,” he said. “I just know out here, once it gets later in the season, it’s nearly impossible. We’ve had different challenges each of the last few years since I’ve been here, whether it be the fires or whether it be the winds. Those are things that are really important. You don’t get enough time to practice. Fortunately for us, we do have SoFi.

“But we’ll see, talking about a new facility. That’s probably about 15 years away right now,” he joked. “What are we talking about? Let’s just get our eighth win, lets try to go get ready for this. We will go to SoFi and practice. You want to talk about a new facility, I’ll be aged about 50 years by then.”

SoFi Stadium has a mix of indoor and outdoor qualities, being somewhat of a hybrid stadium with open-air features but also a roof on top. It’s one of the best stadiums in the country, so getting the chance to practice there probably isn’t something players or coaches will complain about.

 

 

Rams to resume practicing Thursday after COVID-19 scare

The Rams placed three players on the reserve/COVID-19 list but they’ll continue to practice this week.

The Rams had their first COVID-19 scare this week when a player tested positive and the team was forced to place three players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. All three players are currently on the practice squad, and considering the team hasn’t been together in person since Sunday’s win over Seattle, everyone was essentially practicing social distancing anyway.

The team must feel good about the situation because it announced that practice will be held on Thursday afternoon, as will media sessions for Sean McVay, Brandon Staley, Jared Goff and Darious Williams.

The Rams don’t play until Monday night so they have time to get in a full week of practice, so long as more players don’t test positive for COVID-19. The NFL mandated that for the rest of the season, all teams operate in intensive protocol starting Saturday.

That means players and stuff must wear masks at all times in the team’s facility, and personnel is required to wear them even on the practice field. Meetings must be held virtually, outdoors or indoors with an approved plan, but that won’t change for the Rams; they have their team meetings in an outdoor tent.

With cases spiking, the league wants to do all it can to limit the spread throughout teams.

Rams practicing after holding team meeting Wednesday in wake of Kenosha shootings

The Rams are practicing as scheduled Thursday.

The Los Angeles Rams are practicing as scheduled on Thursday morning while other teams have decided to cancel their on-field work in wake of the tragic events that have taken place in Kenosha, Wis., in the last few days. It began with Kenosha police shooting Jacob Blake seven times in the back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Then a 17-year-old from Illinois shot three people at a protest in Kenosha, killing two in an apparent act of vigilantism.

The Rams held a team meeting on Wednesday to discuss any actions players might want to take, as it relates to a possible protest or boycott in wake of the Kenosha shootings. Several teams across the NFL canceled practice Thursday, including the Packers, Cardinals and Titans.

“We had a team meeting this morning and it really just broke down to that if anybody had any type suggestions or anything that they want to bring to light or want to do, just to come to coach and discuss it in that way, just make it a team thing, at the end of the day,” Malcolm Brown said. Coach (Sean) McVay opened the floor this morning with a team meeting and let us know that if there’s any type of solution or anything that we want to put forward and do, then just to come to him and do that, and I think that’s a great start for us.”

Troy Hill also spoke out about the meeting held by the Rams Wednesday, saying he’s not sure what he wants teams or the Rams, in particular, to do, but that he wants to unite everyone and try to find a solution for these senseless killings.

“I don’t really have the answers right now. I don’t want to just come on here and just speak on some things,” he said. “But, like we’re having these conversations, these uncomfortable conversations, the next step is maybe try to come together and figure this out together. Together unite and we’ll be strong, but until then, we got to keep on taking these steps day-by-day and when we come with that solution, we got to all buy in to it. That’s kind of my mindset about it and that’s what I think we need.”

No NBA games were played last night as players opted not to take the floor, beginning with the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic. A few MLB games were postponed, as well, while the NHL played its postseason games as scheduled.

McVay is scheduled to speak to the media after today’s practice, and surely he’ll shed some light on the Rams’ stance against social injustice.

Jared Goff has been throwing with teammates, including Rams rookies

Jared Goff and the Rams are finding ways to work out together on the side.

The Rams may not be able to practice due to league restrictions, but players have been working out on the side in preparation for the 2020 season. Andrew Whitworth turned his garage into a gym, Aaron Donald has been training back home in Pittsburgh and others have been lifting in their backyards.

Social distancing guidelines have restricted large groups from getting together, but Jared Goff and some of his teammates have found opportunities to throw. Goff and Robert Woods said on conference calls with reporters Wednesday that they’ve been throwing this offseason with no OTAs taking place.

Goff said he’s trained with teammates, including rookies Cam Akers and Brycen Hopkins.

Their training sessions have gone beyond just playing catch, too. Goff has gotten in some seven-on-seven work this offseason, while still following guidelines put in place due to the coronavirus.

On a later conference call, second-year running back Darrell Henderson Jr. seemed to indicate that he has also been part of those workouts with Goff.

Rams players aren’t the only ones getting in work on the field during this modified offseason. Players from other teams have been doing the same, too, even training with those not on the same roster.

For instance, Lamar Jackson was seen working out with Antonio Brown, who’s the cousin of Ravens wideout Marquise Brown.

The Rams won’t be back on the field as a team this month as minicamps have been canceled, but hopefully training camp will take place as it’s scheduled to in July. That will be the Rams’ first opportunity to train together as a team in 2020.

NFL minicamps won’t be held in June, virtual program extended

There will be no minicamps held this month.

There was a report from Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports that indicated minicamps could be held in June after coaches returned to their respective facilities. That’s no longer in the cards, though.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the league will not hold minicamps this month and has extended its virtual offseason program through June 26. This isn’t the first time the virtual offseason has been extended, either.

Previously, it was scheduled to run through May 15, which was then extended through the end of May, and then into mid-June, and now through June 26.

The NFL has taken steps toward getting team employees back in the building, allowing coaches to return to their facilities last week. Not every team took advantage of that change, but some did – including the Bengals and Steelers, among others.

The Rams are expected to have their coaches return on an optional basis beginning June 15, though it’s unclear if Sean McVay will be among those going into the office.

As of now, there’s no set timeline on when practices will begin or when training camp will take place. The Rams haven’t announced a start date for training camp, but typically, it takes place in late July. What we do know is that it will be held in Thousand Oaks at Cal Lutheran instead of off-site at UC Irvine.

Rams using GPS to track player workouts during offseason program

The Rams can’t practice, so they’re using GPS to monitor players’ workouts this offseason.

In a normal offseason, the Los Angeles Rams would be gearing up to start OTAs next week, which would finally include on-field work and practices. This is not a typical offseason, of course, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the many changes it’s caused in everyday life.

Instead, the Rams and every other team are working through virtual offseason programs, which include Zoom meetings for classroom work and players staying in shape on their own. The Rams are still giving players workouts to do at home, and using GPS technology, they’re also tracking those workouts.

Jordan Rodrigue of The Athletic wrote a piece detailing how the Rams are going through the virtual offseason program, in which new strength and conditioning coach Justin Lovett said the team is using GPS to monitor players’ workouts.

“One of our weapons (in-person coaching) was taken away, so how can we get that back and then some, using technology and being innovative, thinking outside the box?” Lovett said. “We have interactive features with our online applications where they can push their weights to us. They can push their technique videos. There are GPS components. … We can figure out if the player, for his workouts, hit his top speed or a certain percentage of his top speed (and) how many times he did it. We can find out where the field was where he did it. We can also find out, if he forgot to turn his GPS off, if he did laps in the parking lot around a Steak ‘n Shake to cool down!”

One of the primary focuses of the Rams’ training and coaching staffs is preventing soft-tissue injuries, as well as injuries to the Achilles – which they noticed were a common trend in 2011 after the lockout.

Players can work out all they want, but getting in “football shape” will be difficult without on-field work and practices. That’s an adjustment players will have to make this summer until minicamp or training camp begins, whenever that is.

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