Offseason workout non-report

There was precious little coverage of it, but the Rams players did conduct another minicamp-style workout last weekend in the Phoenix area. The biggest news from that workout: Mardy Gilyard was there. (Credit to Turf Show Times for outscooping the crap out of the Post-Dispatch on that one. Also, note to self: join the 21st century and start following players' Twitter feeds.) Fred Robbins was reported to be hosting workouts for the d-linemen in Florida, with first-round pick Robert Quinn in attendance. Player-conducted team workouts around the league are non-contact, and skills-position focused, so linemen don't get anywhere near as much to do.

If form held from last month, the Rams will be up around the top of the league in player participation this offseason, having had 35 players at their May workout. Sacramento Bee football writer Matt Barrows saves me some hours of web searches with this post. Maybe ten other teams had organized workouts of 30 or more players back in May. Highest participation I saw was the Cowboys, with 45 players. Other high-attendance team workouts in May: Washington (30), Atlanta (30), New Orleans (30-40), Detroit (30-35), Oakland (34), Buffalo (30), Jacksonville (30), Baltimore (27). Honorable mention to Miami, which has reportedly run some two-a-days. Other teams, such as the Eagles, have gotten together in small groups at best, or haven't had an organized workout at all, which is the case in Green Bay.

The Seahawks had a couple of days of workouts at the beginning of June, led by free agent Matt Hasselbeck, with at least 40 players participating, though not all were Seahawk players. Beat writer Kent Somers claims the Cardinals have had "great attendance" at their offseason practices, which included Packers WR Greg Jennings, but the best number I see for them is 20, which wasn't all Arizona players. The 49ers had "a couple of dozen" players, led by free agent Alex Smith, at workouts last week, so of course, you get articles like this one proclaiming that these workouts are absolutely not important.

And they may not be. But as a fan, I'd rather be rooting for a team that's been willing to make up for lockout-cancelled OTAs by getting most of its players together and holding workouts. At a minimum, it's team-building for the season to come. Whether it's a leg up, or just a toe, I'm happy as a Ram fan to see the players doing what they can to gain an edge.

And in the very best case, an agreement ending the lockout is right around the corner, training camp'll open on time, and this'll all be moot.

-$-