2016 Los Angeles Rams Training Camp: Aug. 2 Practice Recap

Today’s practice was the 2016 Los Angeles Rams’ first full team practice in pads, and I was at UC Irvine to see it.

The practice began with a very slow pace, but did start to intensify a bit more towards the end. Here’s my recap of today’s practice.

Injuries

Rookie WR Pharoh Cooper is the only notable holdout at practice. He is nursing a quad injury:

Sounds mild, eh? Lets hope so.

Jared Goff

Goff had an up and down practice. He still heavily relied on the check down throw (more on this below) during the 11-on-11 drills. It is a habit he needs to shake off quick. He almost threw a pick trying to force a pass to tight end Corey Harkey. Jared also had a fumble:

Goff did have success during redzone drills. The rookie quarterback threw multiple touchdowns – one to rookie wideout Mike Thomas and another to undrafted rookie Duke Williams.

Offense

• One of the biggest reasons Goff throws check downs might be because of his pocket. There were a few places where his offensive line could not provide a pocket for Goff to throw cleanly. That might just show the quality and depth of the defensive line compared to the O-line.
• OL Rodger Saffold is manning down the right tackle spot while big Rob Havenstein continues to recover from injury.
• G Cody Wichmann slid into Saffold’s left guard spot with the first team.
• With Cooper out, it was second year receiver Bradley Marquez taking the reps with Tavon in the slot.
• Duke Williams is a big ol’ m’fer. He went above the head of his defender (did not get to see who was covering him) to catch the pass for the touchdown. He also made a great diving catch on a low pass from second-year QB Sean Mannion during 7-on-7 drills.
• At first glance, fifth-year receiver Brian Quick stood out in a negative manner. He allowed multiple catches to be batted out of his hands during positional drills. Quick redeemed himself during redzone drills, coming up with a big touchdown.
• Rookie TE Tyler Higbee is definitely a tough, physical target. He made a few catches over the middle of the field during 11-on-11’s.
• One big missed opportunity: Case Keenum not seeing a wide open Tavon on a crossing route that he could have taken in for a TD.

Defense

• It seems that S Maurice Alexander is winning the battle for the spot opened up by Rodney McLeod’s departre. He lined up in the back alongside T.J. McDonald during 11-on-11 reps.
• Third-year CB Lamarcus Joyner lined up opposite Trumaine Johnson on the outside. Joyner was active all day – defending a few passes and intercepting a Case Keenum pass intended to Bradley Marquez.
• Tru went up one-on-one with Brian Quick, coming up victorious.