With just an hour of practice before the rain drove the team inside and the fans to the parking lot, I didn't get too much of the St. Louis Rams on the field today. The Rams practiced in the PJs today, as Dick Vermiel used to call the shorts and practice jersey combo. A few thoughts on today's practice and today's headlines below.
We talked plenty about the skill set that made Austin Pettis the Rams third-round pick this year; good hands, ability to work in traffic and make the tough catches. He caught a beauty today, jumping into the air and fighting through double coverage to make the grab. Temper your expectations for a rookie that still has to make the jump from the Mountain West to the NFL, but Pettis has a real future in the NFL.
Reports of Brandon Gibson's solid camp effort so far are 100 percent accurate. He glides into his routes and can get himself into position with a flash. I saw him run a deep crossing route and work his way open on one play today, and was very impressed, even though the ball went elsewhere (Bradford wasn't throwing it).
Jerious Norwood will be fun to watch. Mark it down.
By far the most enjoyable part of practice was connecting face-to-face with Brick Top and Will from Rams Herd. I've been doing this for a long time and have "met" a lot of people. Nothing beats the real thing though, and I want to make sure we get some events together for our online community of Rams fans in this season.
My thoughts on the news of the day...
- Tough break to lose David Vobora. It was mostly a cap move, but Vobora was a guy from the previous regime. On the flip side, the Rams seem to be high on Josh Hull, who will start in place of James Laurinaitis tomorrow night.
- Mardy Gilyard missed practice with migraines. I just don't see this guy making the team.
- I'm anxious to watch Taylor Potts get some reps tomorrow night.
- Very few cornerback are going to get a whole lot of reps tomorrow night with Mikail Baker, Ron Bartell, Marquis Johnson and Al Harris unavailable. Good opportunity for guys like UDFA Dionte Dinkins. Hard not to imagine the Rams adding another corner before it's all said and done.