The St. Louis Rams had their first full day of training camp...sort of. Rookies and assorted veterans were on hand for two practices today, here's a round up of what happened.
- Rodger Saffold worked at the LT spot. Don't get your knickers in a bunch, just yesterday Pat Shurmur said that he'll be a RT. 48 hours ago he was a RG.
- Saffold was filling in for Jason Smith, who is still limited.
- It was a typical August day in MO, i.e. it was damn hot and humid. Still, Spagnuolo seemed pleased with the way things went and some of the guys recovering from injuries made it through just fine this a.m.
- Steven Jackson and OJ Atogwe were the only Rams players coming back from injuries that did not practice today.
- CB Bradley Fletcher looked like he was back at full speed. That's great news. The Rams really, really need Fletcher to pick up where he left off last season. Solid play from the secondary will help the pass rush.
- TE Daniel Fells looked good to go too.
A report from Alex Marvez of Fox Sports has some good insight into the Rams team mentality this year. Head coach Steve Spagnuolo is expecting his players to focus on three things: "demand, compete and finish." To stoke the competitive fires, the team is making it inescapable. Keeping score in seven-on-seven, weightlifting contests and even a pingpong table. Here's Spags:
"We were trying to create as much of a competitive atmosphere as we could. We’ll carry that right into training camp. That’s what your good teams and very special players do. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird … Tiger Woods, he probably competes at everything, not just golf. That was kind of my message to (the players) – have that mindset in everything you do. It will make us all better."
Even threw in a Tiger Woods joke...props to the head coach!
Click on the photo above for more pics from training camp.