{"id":54448,"date":"2016-08-22T13:39:57","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T20:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=54448"},"modified":"2016-08-22T13:39:57","modified_gmt":"2016-08-22T20:39:57","slug":"rams-training-camp-notes-08212016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=54448","title":{"rendered":"Rams Training Camp Notes: 08\/21\/2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rams\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher \u2013 Press Conference \u2013 August 21, 2016<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n

(Opening remarks)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent, as we always do the day after the game, looking at things with the staff \u2013 both sides and special teams. There\u2019s a lot of good things that happened in this game, and obviously there\u2019s a lot of things that need to be corrected. The positive things, one thing that\u2019s encouraging from an offensive stand-point, is that, from a team stand-point, is that we\u2019ve had seven drives that have gone into the red zone, and we\u2019ve come away with seven touchdowns. That\u2019s a significant improvement over where we were last year. Being realistic, it\u2019s still preseason, but we\u2019re accomplishing what we want to accomplish as we go into the games. I\u2019m pleased with the run game. I was especially pleased with the second-half offense, the offensive line, the backup offensive linemen; they\u2019re making a difference in there. I can see improvement there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun to watch (QB) Case (Keenum) operate. It was fun to see (RB) Todd (Gurley) work, in his one and only series. We\u2019ve been waiting to get (TE) (Temarrick) Hemingway back in the game. He made some significant plays for us, not only in the passing game, but in the run game. Overall, offensively, we\u2019re progressing. We\u2019re not where we need to be. I was pleased with Case. Once (QB) Jared (Goff) settled down a little bit, you can see things change. He got on a roll, and in a rhythm and we had the run game helping him. He made some big throws. Disappointed that we didn\u2019t get (QB) Sean (Mannion) in the game, but we hope to get him some reps this coming week at Denver.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOn the defensive side, the defense has not given up any points in the second half the last two games. Is the glass half full, or is it half empty? I\u2019d rather see no points given up in the first half than I would the second half, because your starters are playing the first half. But then again, we\u2019re not game planning, per say. But, too many big plays, too many explosive plays, not enough plays on third down, not enough turnovers by our standards. And of course, the game itself was framed by time of possession. The defense was on the field almost 37 minutes. So, therein lies the problem with getting your offense some reps. We\u2019re a little disappointed we didn\u2019t get more offensive reps, but we made the most of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSpecial teams, rough start last week on the first play, as we talked about. The Kansas City Chiefs are, not only very well coached, but they have a talented group of special teams players. There are three or four of their players that have been there for a number of years that we got to match up with. And when you talk about individual matchups on special teams, it was really good work for us. We learned some things; some of our younger players learned some things, because they were competing against some of their starting core group of special teams players. (P) Johnny (Hekker) didn\u2019t have the best day yesterday. We\u2019ll work this week. We didn\u2019t necessarily get the ball placed where we wanted to get it placed, but we got a lot of quality work out of our special teams group, especially in the second half. Keep in mind, when you take a player that\u2019s in a 10 or 12 play drive on defense, a linebacker for example, and then he\u2019s got to line up and block on a punt return, or cover a kickoff, or those kinds of things, or a player participates on kickoff return, it puts stress on them. We evaluate based on that. We\u2019ve got some younger players that can play in this league on special teams. Overall, probably the most encouraging thing about the night last night was the fans. The players were talking about it well after the game, how hard it was to hear there at the end. I got word back from (Chiefs QB) Alex Smith, that this is a preseason game, and this place is louder than some of the toughest places that he\u2019s played. The fan participation, and support, and energy was great. We obviously know that\u2019s only going to improve as we hit the regular season.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On the level of concern regarding the secondary)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get better. \u2018Mo\u2019 (S Maurice Alexander) didn\u2019t play in the game yesterday. I hope that we\u2019ll get him back in this week. (S) Cody (Davis) stepped in, and Cody did a nice job at the safety position. (S) T.J. (McDonald) is coming on. He\u2019s missed some offseason, but T.J. is coming on. \u2018Tru\u2019 (CB Trumaine Johnson) doesn\u2019t like giving up balls, nor do we like to see balls given up on third-and-2 in press coverage for big plays. But he still made some plays there. The corner position still is up in the air on the other side. Be it Lamarcus (Joyner), be it Coty (Sensabaugh), or\u00a0 E.J. (Gaines). Now E.J.\u2019s first time back, I was really pleased with what we saw out of E.J. He sprained an ankle out here in practice a couple days ago. Didn\u2019t know if he was going to able to go, fought through it, went out and made some really big-time tackles. Just kind of reminiscent of the E.J. we had a couple years ago. That\u2019s encouraging. We\u2019ll continue to increase his reps, not only in practice, but also in the final two preseason games.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On when a player is out for as long as CB E.J. Gaines was, and what hurdles they have to overcome to get comfortable again)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the concern that you focus so heavily on rehabbing the injury, that how is the rest of the body going to respond once you get back to full speed. It wasn\u2019t unexpected; you didn\u2019t want it to happen. But he had a hamstring issue that set him back. The ankle sprain last week was just a freak thing that happened in practice. For all intents and purposes, he\u2019s back now. The reps that he got, they\u2019re live reps, they\u2019re contact reps, they\u2019re put your foot in the ground, plant, drive, and go make a tackle. Those are good things to see out of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On the performance of the defense line against the Chiefs)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey made some big plays, what do you think the first thing we\u2019re going to talk about is, and that\u2019s going to be the defensive offsides. Those things completely overshadow the big plays that you make up front. Now we got some hits, we got some sacks, we got some hurries, some pressures, and made some tackles for losses. But, the defensive offsides just can\u2019t be a part of what you\u2019re doing. We\u2019re glad it happened. We know why it happened. (Chiefs QB) Nick Foles is really good at it, at the hard count. Nick knows, he\u2019s been here, he\u2019s seen these guys. He\u2019s pulled them offsides all through last year, through the OTAs, and training camp. He knows they\u2019ve got a hair trigger, and he took advantage of it. It\u2019s a good learning experience for our guys. We\u2019ve got to emphasize it in practice. It\u2019s a fine line too, because you can stand there and not get off the ball, and not get to the quarterback, or you can anticipate the snap and get a jump on an offensive lineman and get to the quarterback. You\u2019re going have some, but yesterday, in my estimation, it got out of hand and it got frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

(On the big plays made by the defensive front)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, they made some big plays, but what do you think the first thing we\u2019re going to talk about is \u2013 and that\u2019s going to be the defensive offsides. Those things completely overshadow the big plays that you make up front. Now we got some hits, we got some sacks, got some hurries, some pressures, made some tackles for losses, but the defensive offsides just can\u2019t be a part of what you\u2019re doing. We\u2019re glad it happened, we know why it happened. (Chiefs QB) Nick Foles is really good at it \u2013 at the hard count \u2013 Nick knows, he\u2019s been here, he\u2019s seen these guys, he\u2019s pulled them offsides all through last year, through the OTAs and training camp. He knows they\u2019ve got a hair trigger and he took advantage of it. It\u2019s a good learning experience for our guys. We\u2019ve got to emphasize it in practice. It\u2019s a fine line, too, because you can stand there and not get off the ball and not get to the quarterback or you can anticipate the snap and get a jump on an offensive lineman and get to the quarterback. You\u2019re going to have some, but yesterday, in my estimation, it got out of hand and got frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On if there is an update on WR Bradley Marquez and DL Ethan Westbrooks)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEthan\u2019s fine, he\u2019ll be fine. He should practice this week. I suspected a little worse last night, but got really good news with respect to Marquez. Bradley may miss a week of practice, may miss a game, but considering where we were last might when we left the Coliseum, there was some concern, but today was a good day. It\u2019s nice to get good news from the medical staff, the doctors and the trainers. Hopefully he\u2019ll have a chance to come back this week, if not; it\u2019s not going to be an extended period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On if he will keep the same rotation with the quarterbacks in the third preseason game)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll talk about it later in the week; we haven\u2019t talked as a staff yet. Traditionally, your 1s play a little bit longer, sometimes in years past; we have gone through the halftime experience and come back out. For some of the guys, that\u2019s a first time thing. If you get used to just coming out and playing a quarter and sitting around, once the season starts, that doesn\u2019t happen \u2013 you have to go through the halftime experience. Some of the guys will go through the halftime experience \u2013 I don\u2019t know, at this point, how many of them will \u2013 but you\u2019re going to see more reps from the starters. Our expectations are that (DE) Rob Quinn is going to play for us this week, which will be good. I know he\u2019s excited about it. There will be some selected guys that we\u2019ll keep their reps down, for whatever reason. You\u2019re going to see them play a little bit longer. From a scheme standpoint, Denver \u2013 obviously they\u2019re the world champs, they\u2019re very well-coached, they can rush the passer, they can run the football, they play good defense \u2013 we may spend a little extra time giving the guys a chance just to be successful. Most important going into this thing is we want to continue to protect our quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On if QB Jared Goff has shown enough to prove that he can be the opening day starter)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve been saying since day one is we\u2019re going to be patient with him. (QB) Case (Keenum) is our starter. He\u2019s progressing, he\u2019s getting better. As he said, he\u2019s learning from his mistakes, he doesn\u2019t dwell on them. The fumble in the backfield yesterday was \u2013 he switched sides, he had an opportunity to convert the first down, he didn\u2019t, he stayed to the left and then got tripped up. He\u2019ll learns from it. Case is our starter right now and, again, patience is the word \u2013 you can put it in quotes \u2013 but we\u2019re going to be patient with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On how DE Quinton Coples is coming along)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve done is, Quinton has primarily been a left-side defensive player. Either a stand-up two-point rusher or a defensive end, we\u2019ve moved him inside to defensive tackle. Now, that\u2019s quite an adjustment considering where and how long he\u2019s played. It\u2019s new for him. He had some tough times last week against Dallas, a significant improvement last week on some of the contact drills and I thought he played much better for us last night.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On if he\u2019s putting WR Pharoh Cooper on punt returner just to test things out or if he\u2019s looking at him as the guy to return punts)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201c(WR) Tavon\u2019s (Austin) going to return punts for us. Tavon has done it before and he doesn\u2019t necessarily need to do it. We also need to have a backup, at times, we may have two back there to create some problems. We need to be comfortable with the backup returner, so that\u2019s why we\u2019ve given him some reps there. Very impressed with his decision-making, his suddenness and he commits \u2013 when he commits he goes. He\u2019s done it in college; he\u2019s done the kickoff thing. I think we have one of the better kickoff returners over the last few years in the league, and that\u2019s (RB) Benny (Cunningham). It\u2019s nice to have a backup to go to. That\u2019s why he\u2019s getting those reps.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On how many more improvements he\u2019s seen from the first team offensive line)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re playing better. From Week 1, I thought (T) Greg (Robinson) played well again last night. They\u2019re playing better together. If you pay attention in the second half, we\u2019ve got guys all over the place. We\u2019ve got Eric Kush playing center, then he\u2019s playing left guard, (T) Andrew Donnal is playing right tackle, right guard. We\u2019re moving people around just so we can be comfortable and they can have the reps. That basically is the case with, not necessarily the starters, but the backups. We need to give them reps, because as we go to the regular season, you have a limited number of players and you might have two or three backup offensive linemen. So if somebody goes down, someone needs to be prepared to play. The starting line, right now, I think, has done a pretty good job. You\u2019ve got some big, solid, talented defensive players on that (Chiefs) defense. I thought (C) Tim (Barnes) did a nice job on (Chiefs DT Dontari Poe) holding his own, that\u2019s a big man, a big run-stopper and he got on\u00a0 edges a couple times and (RB) Todd (Gurley) got some creases.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On how LB Alec Ogletree did at MLB and how the wide receiver group is progressing)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst off, I thought Alec played well, he made plays. He understood, he probably got off on his own and studied that offense because we didn\u2019t do a lot with him in preparation for them. He had a good feel of what was going on. I thought he was a little frustrated at not being able to get off the field because his job, as the middle linebacker and the leader of this defense, is to get on and off the field and get the ball back for the offense. I think he was a little frustrated there, but he\u2019s progressing, he\u2019s doing well. And the receivers, you saw production out of (WR) Kenny (Britt), Kenny made some big plays for us. \u2018Coop\u2019 (Pharoh Cooper) had the big catch for the touchdown. Tavon didn\u2019t get much, just because the way the game went, we didn\u2019t have snaps and we took him out of the game. (WR) Brian (Quick) needs to catch the football, your receivers have to catch it, not drop it. He\u2019s had too many drops, so he\u2019s going to have to focus on that. And then the younger guys, we just didn\u2019t get a whole lot of reps with them just because of the number of snaps. We\u2019re seeing progression and improvement outside on the practice field.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On if he puts any stock into guys making plays to win the game even though it\u2019s a preseason game)
\n<\/strong>\u201cYeah, a lot has to do with \u2013 and I\u2019ll flip over to special teams \u2013 because we have young guys on the sideline that realize how important it is and they\u2019re asking to go in. they want to go in and make a play even though they\u2019re tired. They want to win the matchup. And then, of course, there are things that take place in the end of games, from a game management standpoint, that you just can\u2019t predict \u2013 and they\u2019re fun, that\u2019s what makes the preseason fun, because it\u2019s a learning experience for all of us, me included. When you\u2019ve got guys like (RB) Malcolm (Brown) that are just out there making plays and keeping drives alive, it\u2019s fun to watch. Malcolm\u2019s night last night out of the backfield was great. There\u2019s a sense of urgency, it\u2019s different, the roles will become reversed during the regular season because, right now, the starters and the veterans are rooting for the young guys. The young guys are going to be on the sideline now rooting for the starters (in the regular season).\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On if he\u2019s satisfied with the reps that Todd Gurley is getting and if he\u2019ll increase them for the upcoming games)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll talk about that later in the week, but I was more than satisfied with his drive. That first drive was great, those were his first live reps since Week 15 last year, but he\u2019s getting them on the practice field. There\u2019s a play, it was a Kenny Britt play, Todd had a check-down to the right of our offense, Kenny Britt makes the catch on the short sideline route and runs down the field, Todd is one of the first guys that shows up when Kenny is tackled out of bounds. He\u2019s in great shape, he\u2019s running, he\u2019s enthusiastic. I can understand him wanting to play more, but we\u2019re going to be smart about the rest of the preseason with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On what Malcolm Brown is doing well and what the guys up front are doing well to lead to his success)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe group of offensive linemen that he\u2019s running behind are talented and they\u2019re pushing piles, they understand the schemes and he\u2019s getting a crease. When he doesn\u2019t get a crease, he creates space. One of the ways you evaluate young running backs \u2013 and all running backs, for that matter \u2013 is the yards after contact, we call them the violent yards. What happens after the first hit? You can see what\u2019s happening with him, extending plays. You turn around and look and it\u2019s second-and-one or it\u2019s a first down, he\u2019s running, breaking tackles, he\u2019s got great balance, he\u2019s a heavy runner. It\u2019s not something that we didn\u2019t expect, we saw a little bit out of him last year in the preseason. He\u2019s worked hard and he\u2019s deserving of the success that he\u2019s had.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On if there\u2019s anything he can do specifically to address the penalty situation from last night and if DB Lamarcus Joyner\u2019s ejection was a result of a point of emphasis for the officials or was it a situation where he would have been ejected regardless)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe penalties, yeah, we\u2019re going to address them with the team tomorrow, each and every one of them. The defensive offsides, they\u2019re obvious \u2013 you go when that little brown thing moves, you don\u2019t go before that. We\u2019ve got these penalties scattered throughout the game, some of them shouldn\u2019t have been called, there were a few more that weren\u2019t called that should have been called. It\u2019s technique-type things that we have to improve upon. Speaking of Lamarcus, the ball went incomplete, he got pushed in the back, he turned around and then he got kind of punched in the face and then he retaliated and then there was a retaliation and they threw them both out. All I saw was the push in the back and then the Kansas City player hit him in the facemask and that\u2019s when the tape goes off, so there\u2019s nothing there. I\u2019m okay with it because it is a point of emphasis, considering some of the unfortunate things that have happened in regular season games and in the Super Bowl two years ago. There\u2019s no place for that stuff, sportsmanship is an issue and the league is addressing it. Hopefully everybody on our squad will learn from that, you just have to walk away.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On what he saw on Kansas City WR Jeremy Maclin\u2019s touchdown reception)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good throw and good catch. Are you asking what happened specifically in the coverage?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On if there was a mix-up in zone coverage)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get to know me, I\u2019m never going to go there. They made the play, we didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(On if he expects WR Nelson Spruce to practice this week)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be out there, he\u2019s got a chance to do some running, but I don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to practice this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Los Angeles Rams Media Release 08\/21\/2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher \u2013 Press Conference \u2013 August 21, 2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories-news-notes-around-professional-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54449,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54448\/revisions\/54449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}