Training camp headlines 7/25 (updated)

Camp officially opens at 9:15 this morning; first practice is late this afternoon.

* Orlando Pace will practice.
The all-pro LT and one of the team's linchpins will not be placed on the PUP list, which was being considered. His reps will be limited.

Though no one ever liked his summer holdouts, Pace is one guy who's proven he can hit the regular season running without a lot of training camp work. Heck, he may be better off without it. The Rams appear to be playing it very smart here by keeping Pace mostly under wraps.


* Jackson negotiations
With (almost) all of the 2008 draft class signed, focus shifts to Steven Jackson's contract. Jackson is in his walk year. Jackson was granted permission, says Scott Linehan, to skip the team charter up to Mequon and travel on his own, an arrangement that seems to have caught everyone else with the team by surprise and has led to speculation that Jackson is actually going to stage a holdout.

Brian Burwell has immediately started stirring that pot in what seems to be his ongoing attempt to become Ahmad Rashad to Jackson's Michael Jordan. Jackson's agent has already advised Devin Hester to hold out on the Bears. And besides, Jackson deserves to hold out, says Burwell. He deserves to use his leverage.

Well, no, he doesn't. He's under a contract and should have the integrity to honor it. Kurt Warner did. Isaac Bruce did. Marc Bulger tossed the idea of a holdout around last year but didn't miss any practices. Does Jackson deserve a new contract? Definitely, though I'd sure like to see him play more than, oh, one season in a row without missing chunks of it injured. I'd like to see him pick up a blitz every now and then so he has a QB to play with. And it's not like he's making minimum wage now. But yes, it's reasonable to say Steven's career thus far merits a megadollar contract. And the Rams made a good-faith effort to get negotiations going this year, but Jackson's agent curiously bowed out and bogged the process down.

The front office is doing the right thing here, so far. It's on Jackson to follow suit by reporting to camp like he's supposed to, though again, it's fairly wild speculation right now that's saying he won't.

Update: Jackson was not at this morning's team meeting and can officially be considered a holdout. There is no valid reason for Jackson not to be in camp at this point; his presence is not required at negotiations. Glass half-full, this may mean he and the team are really close to a new deal, though again, his ass should be in camp right now. Glass half-empty, he and his agent are pulling an all-too-familiar prima donna negotiating ploy. And his ass should still be in camp.

Either way, and I'm hoping for the best, get your ass in camp, Jackson. Show some integrity and honor your contract.

* Where the f-ck is Donnie Avery?
Linehan believes Avery will be in camp in time for the first team meeting. RamView thinks it's completely stupid that Avery's agent and he have dawdled around for this long. Let's hope Linehan is mostly right and Avery is at least on the field for practice this afternoon.

Update: Avery also missed this morning's meeting. He may not officially be considered a holdout because he doesn't have a contract, but he's a holdout as far as I'm concerned. It is flatout stupid at this point that Avery is not under contract. Devin Thomas, one pick behind Avery, and also a wide receiver, signed a 4-year, $4.83M contract with the Redskins TWO WEEKS AGO. My rudimentary research of this year's and last year's contracts in Avery's area of the draft show he's in line for a 4-year deal in the $5M - $5.2M range. There is no fathomable reason this couldn't have been figured out and agreed to by reasonable people by now. This is stupid, wretched timing for a rookie who needs all the reps he can to polish his route-running skills and fight the perception that he shouldn't have been the first WR taken in the '08 draft. And for a team that doesn't need its top offensive pick falling behind from the get-go.