2017 Los Angeles Rams Training Camp Preview

Here’s the official team homepage for 2017 Los Angeles Rams Training Camp. The schedule for camp this year (here’s the team’s printable .pdf version) includes 15 practices, all of which are open to the public:

The August 9 practice will be a joint practice against the Los Angeles Chargers. Additionally as part of the Chargers’ training camp, the Rams will participate in a joint practice on August 5 at the StubHub Center (the rest of Chargers training camp takes place at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa).

This year’s camp features numerous fan experience upgrades and special themed days with giveaways; also recently announced, August 9 will be Booster Club Day.

Weather and field conditions are evaluated daily, so all dates and times provided are subject to change, including autograph sessions. Stay tuned to TST (and check our Twitter account) for updates on any schedule changes.

Directions and Parking

Crawford Field, UC Irvine is located at 903 W Peltason Dr., Irvine, CA 92617. Suggested directions can be found here.

The Rams suggest fans park in in the Mesa Parking Structure (next to the Bren Events Center) at the following prices:

General Permit: $10/day
Day of Event: $14/day
General Permit for Oversized Vehicles: $20/day
Day of Event - Oversized: $28/day
Full Training Camp Pass: $130
Full Training Camp Pass for Oversized Vehicles: $260

This map indicates all available parking areas. Fans are encouraged to purchase parking passes online in advance.

Information on disabled parking and mobility assistance can be found here. UCI also provides various motorist assistance programs.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is located at 3911 South Figueroa St., Los Angeles, California, 90037.

What to bring...and what not to

Per the team from last year:

Please feel free to bring the following items to training camp: Hats, jackets, rain gear, sunglasses, sunscreen, binoculars, umbrellas, and strollers...Feel free to bring your camera to take photos of players and coaches. Flash photography is not allowed. Video cameras will not be allowed.

No coolers or outside food and beverage, including alcohol, are permitted.

Here are the current guidelines and rules:

Safety Guidelines and Camp Rules:

- No alcohol (Visitors may not bring alcoholic beverages on campus)
- No barbecues or tailgating in parking areas
- No camping or overnight parking
- No pets (Service animals are permitted)
- No smoking (UCI is a smoke free community)
- No solicitors
- No vehicles over 30 feet in length
- No video recording
- No weapons permitted

Major Storylines

Injuries

Injuries always trump any other practice output. They threaten entire seasons for some players and, in turn, teams. Two years ago, CB E.J. Gaines was lost for the entire season after suffering a foot injury. Three years ago, CB Trumaine Johnson sprained his MCL missing seven games.

Whatever your juju is to prevent future injuries, go ahead and knock it out starting now.

As for pre-existing conditions (the health care comedy king is in the house), WR Tavon Austin had wrist surgery in May while LB Josh Forrest is recovering from a torn ACL back in November. Teams aren’t required to publish an injury report in camp or throughout the preseason, so we won’t have anything official until we near the regular season.

McVay’s O

The Sean McVay era is a go. While much will be made of the cultural shift and #WeNotMe, the tangible results will be most evident on the offensive side of the ball.

Can McVay, new Offensive Coordinator Matt LaFleur and Quarterbacks Coach Greg Olson turn QB Jared Goff into a functional, reliable quarterback? Can the offensive line be molded into a unit that can protect Goff and open lanes for RB Todd Gurley? Will he be able to rebound from a disappointing 2016 season? Does the new-look WR depth chart offer more viability than their predecessors? And how does McVay’s tight end-heavy offense begin to take shape?

The story will be told over the course of the regular season. In the next few weeks though, we’ll get to read the prologue.

Wading With Wade

Last year, the dominant theme on defense was personnel losses. DE Chris Long, MLB James Laurinaitis, CB Janoris Jenkins and S Rodney McLeod all left the team.

Now, the focus will be on new Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips’ effort to build out a top defense. The Rams ended 2016 23rd in points allowed. Two years ago, the defense was 23rd in yards allowed. If McVay is going to rely on the defense to carry the team until he can build out his offense, 23rd in any category is not going to suffice.

How Phillips gets there will be the story on this side of the ball.

#FightForLA

In 2015 as training camps around the NFL broke, Los Angeles was home to 0 franchises. It is now home to two.

The NFL is going to manufacture a rivalry between the Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers, and it’s going to play well as any intracity conflict does. That starts in earnest in camp with the Chargers hosting the Rams on the 5th and the Chargers coming to Rams camp four days later. Both will face each other in their third preseason game at the Coliseum on August 26.

Remember that last year with the Rams arriving in LA to much fanfare, the early crowds at training camp were massive. Attendance throughout the camp and the preseason was remarkable. By the end of the season, crowds were leaving early motivated largely by the final 4-12 record as the historically woeful offense was already drawing mockery from national outlets. Our first sense of whether the honeymoon is over and attendance has normalized to meet performance comes in camp. If it has, the Rams will have to earn fans back on the field.