Players from the St. Louis Rams will resume informal practice sessions in Arizona on Thursday. The sessions will run through Sunday. Who will be there and what exactly will they be doing?
Organized by James Laurinaitis and Ron Bartell, the practices will be primarily for skill players, i.e. everyone but the husky gents in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Though Bartell and Laurinaitis are organizing the practices, Sam Bradford will be there hosting his teach-in on Josh McDaniels' playbook. No word whether or not former Rams Torry Holt and Corey Chavous will be there.
Besides work on the field, they'll be looking at film and doing classroom work.
Still, Laurinaitis noted that the practices only had so much value without the coaches on hand. The future Pro Bowl middle linebacker compared the informal practices to learning Spanish through a dictionary without a teacher to impart fluency and a deeper understanding. You can listen to Laurinaitis on Steve Wyche's podcast.
They may not have to wait much longer. Reports today confirmed that NFL owner and player representatives resumed their very confidential settlement talks in New York. Judge Arthur Boylan was on hand, but the high-priced lawyers were not there to muck it up for each side.