It's nice to read things like this from offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur (from the PD):
I'm so impressed with the eagerness the players (showed). They're really kind of buying in to what we're trying to teach. Their effort and their enthusiasm and their competitive spirit was great this camp.
When the Rams re-signed CB Ron Bartell we got a taste of how the changes in the front office and coaching staff would affect the players. Bartell's statement concerning Zygmunt-led front office versus the Devaney era made the importance of the Rams regime change perfectly clear. It wasn't just Bartell. Other important moves, like signing C Jason Brown and SS James Butler, wouldn't have been possible without that sea change in the way the Rams were led.
Statements like the one above haven't been unusual in the past; coaches who aren't expressing optimism in minicamp aren't doing their job. However, simple platitudes carry a little more heft when the major structural changes made on the organizational level have already had a significant impact on the Rams offseason. The players know the suits in the front office are 100% committed to winning, and while that can't turn a team into an instant Super Bowl contender, it can enliven things and give us a little something more to look forward to this fall.