Practice squad signings

The Rams' ten-man practice squad has finally been announced:

LB Denicos Allen
WR Emory Blake
S Christian Bryant
DT Matt Conrath
S Matt Daniels
QB Garrett Gilbert
OT Sean Hooey
LB Kevin Reddick
WR Justin Veltung
OL Brandon Washington

The Saints signed Reddick as a UDFA out of North Carolina after last year's draft. He was a core special teams player and appeared in all 16 games, with 12 tackles. He was probably expendable in New Orleans because he didn't demonstrate any upside at the linebacker position this preseason. He's 6'1" 246, has excellent size and athleticism and has some thump as a hitter.

Allen, smaller than Reddick at 5'11" 224, was one of Carolina's UDFA signings after this year's draft and was released in their final cutdown. He had three tackles this preseason. He was a productive special teams player at Michigan State.


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Waiver wire-pa-looza 2014

Time once again for the annual roundup of where all the ex-Rams have ended up after the final round of cuts. It is based on player names I recognized on team roster pages and on the transactions page at ESPN.com, so, heck yeah, there could be mistakes. "Interesting players" are not ex-Rams, they're players who were surprise cuts or are otherwise interesting to me. Deep breath, here we go:

ex-Rams cut: T Max Starks

interesting players cut: K Jay Feely, WR Brian Golden

ex-Rams on roster: none

ex-Rams on coaching staff: none

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: TE Jacob Pedersen

ex-Rams on roster: RB Steven Jackson. Now in his 11^th season, Steven is the longest-tenured current NFL player originally drafted by the Rams.

ex-Rams on coaching staff: none

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: CB Dominique Franks

ex-Rams on roster: S Darian Stewart

ex-Rams on coaching staff: secondary/assistant head coach Steve Spagnuolo 

ex-Rams cut: QB Thaddeus Lewis (cutdown to 75)

interesting player cut: G Doug Legursky, P Brian Moorman

ex-Rams on roster: G Chris Williams

ex-Rams on coaching staff: none

ex-Rams cut: OL Kevin Hughes, TE Mike McNeill

interesting player cut: CB Josh Thomas

ex-Rams on roster: none

ex-Rams on coaching staff: offensive line coach John Matsko, wide receivers coach Rickey Proehl, senior offensive assistant John Ramsdell

ex-Rams cut: OL Rob Turner, T Joe Long (cutdown to 75)

interesting player cut: T Eben Britton, S Adrian Wilson

ex-Rams on roster: TE Matthew Mulligan. Really?

Rams relatives on roster: G Kyle Long

ex-Rams on coaching staff: none

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting players cut: T Will Svitek, RB/Law firm BenJarvus Green-Ellis

ex-Rams on roster: none

ex-Rams on coaching staff: quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese

ex-Rams cut: LB Zac Diles, RB Chris Ogbonnaya, OL Abasi Salimu, LB Caleb McSurdy (cutdown to 75)

interesting player cut: QB Rex Grossman

ex-Rams on roster: G John Greco, WR Andrew Hawkins.

ex-Rams relatives on roster: FB Ray Agnew Jr. Congratulations!

Also: Sam Bradford will be glad to hear his knee was not shredded in vain and Armonty Bryant also made Cleveland's final roster.

ex-Rams on coaching staff: running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery, assistant defensive backs coach Bobby Babich

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting players cut: RB Ryan Williams, FB J.C. Copeland

ex-Rams on roster: DE George Selvie

ex-Rams on coaching staff: “passing game coordinator” Scott Linehan

ex-Rams cut: CB Jerome Murphy

interesting player cut: DT Kevin Vickerson

ex-Rams on roster: none

from the I-told-you-so file: WR Isaiah Burse made Denver's final roster

ex-Rams on coaching staff: special teams assistant Derius Swinton

ex-Rams cut: DT Jimmy Saddler-McQueen

interesting player cut: RB Mikel Leshoure

ex-Rams on practice squad: S Nate Ness

ex-Rams on coaching staff: none

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: CB Jumal Rolle

ex-Rams on roster: none.

ex-Rams on coaching staff: none

ex-Rams cut: TE Zach Potter

interesting player cut: LB Max Bullough

ex-Rams on roster: QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.

ex-Rams on coaching staff: special teams coordinator Bob Ligashesky (Rams scored a TD against his unit last season), defensive line coach Bill Kollar

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: LB Kelvin Sheppard

ex-Rams on roster: CB Josh Gordy

ex-Rams on coaching staff: special teams coordinator Tom McMahon (Rams also scored a TD against his unit last season)

ex-Rams cut: DE Gerald Rivers, LB Josh Hull (cutdown to 75)

interesting player cut: QB Stephen Morris

ex-Rams on injured reserve: Fendi Onobun

ex-Rams on coaching staff: defensive coordinator Bob Babich

ex-Rams cut: T Ryan McKee, DT Jermelle Cudjo (both in cutdown to 75)

interesting player cut: K Ryan Succop

ex-Rams on roster: WR Donnie Avery

ex-Rams on coaching staff: assistant secondary coach Al Harris

ex-Rams cut: QB Brady Quinn (cutdown to 75)

interesting players cut: OL David Arkin, WR Matt Hazel, RB Daniel Thomas

ex-Rams on roster: CB Cortland Finnegan, WR Brandon Gibson, G Shelley Smith

ex-Rams on coaching staff: none

ex-Rams cut: CB Robert Steeples (cutdown to 75)

interesting players cut: S Kurt Coleman, S Chris Crocker. They also cut Mike Zimmer. No, not the head coach. He's a linebacker. Not even related to the head coach.

ex-Rams on roster: none

ex-Rams on coaching staff: defensive backs coach Jerry Gray

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: LS Danny Aiken

ex-Rams relatives cut: LB Eathyn Manumaleuna, Brandon's cousin

ex-Rams on roster: WR Danny Amendola, TE Michael Hoomanawanui

ex-Rams relatives on roster: WR/core special teams player Matthew Slater

ex-Rams on coaching staff: the lamentable Josh McDaniels at OC, defensive assistant Brendan Daly

ex-Rams cut: T Thomas Welch

interesting players cut: CB Champ Bailey, WR Robert Meacham, K Shayne Graham

ex-Rams on injured reserve: T Ty Nsekhe

ex-Rams on coaching staff: assistant head coach/LBs coach Joe Vitt, defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, assistant secondary coach Andre Curtis, wide receivers coach Henry Ellard, defensive assistant/linebackers Brian Young

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: DE Israel Idonije

ex-Rams on roster: K Josh Brown, TE Daniel Fells

ex-Rams on coaching staff: defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, secondary coach Peter Giunta

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: WR Stephen Hill. Regarded by many as the best WR available when the Rams took Brian Quick to start the 2^nd round in 2012. (The correct answer: Alshon Jeffery)

ex-Rams on roster: DT Leger (DOOZER) Douzable, WR Greg Salas
ex-Rams on practice squad: RB Daryl Richardson

ex-Rams on coaching staff: LBs coach Bobby April III

Rams relatives on coaching staff: defensive backs coach Tim McDonald

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: WR Jacoby Ford

ex-Rams on roster: none

ex-Rams on coaching staff: special teams coach Bobby April, offensive coordinator Greg Olsen, senior offensive assistant Al Saunders

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting players cut: LB Josh Kaddu, K Alex Henery

ex-Rams on roster: CB Bradley Fletcher, punter Donnie Jones

ex-Rams on coaching staff: offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, assistant defensive backs coach Todd Lyght

ex-Rams cut: OL Graham Pocic, OL Emmanuel McCray

interesting player cut: LB Chris Carter

ex-Rams on roster: QB Bruce Gradkowski, K Shaun Suisham

ex-Rams on coaching staff: none 

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: WR Vincent Brown

ex-Rams on roster: QB Kellen Clemens

ex-Rams on coaching staff: secondary coach Ron Milus

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: core special teamer Kassim Osgood

ex-Rams on roster: S Craig Dahl, WR Brandon Lloyd

ex-Rams on coaching staff: none

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: T Eric Winston

ex-Rams on roster: none

ex-Rams on coaching staff: assistant special teams coach Nick (Sunshine) Sorensen

ex-Rams cut: CB Danny Gorrer (prior to final cut)

interesting player cut: K Connor Barth

ex-Rams on roster: CB Quinton Pointer

ex-Rams on coaching staff: head coach Lovie Smith, cornerbacks coach Gill Byrd, senior defensive assistant YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME LARRY MARMIE STILL HAS A JOB IN THE NFL?!

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting player cut: WR Marc Mariani, a kick returner who roomed in college with one of Jeff Fisher's kids

ex-Rams on roster: none

ex-Rams on coaching staff: running backs coach Sylvester Croom

ex-Rams cut: none

interesting players cut: RBs Lache Seastrunk and Evan Royster

ex-Rams on roster: none.

ex-Rams on coaching staff: defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, outside LBs coach Brian Baker

Other ex-Rams:

* I cannot find an official announcement, but London Fletcher retired this past spring. He was the final member of the Super Bowl XXXIV champions still playing.

* Ryan Pickett's contract ran out in Green Bay last season. He appeared in all 16 games and had 21 tackles. No other team has expressed interest. With B.J. Raji out for the season, maybe Ryan can make a comeback and dislodge Steven Jackson as the league's senior ex-Ram.

* Will Witherspoon is not officially retired to my knowledge but is now the sideline reporter on Rams radio broadcasts. Former 7th-round pick Derek Stanley has been part of the pregame and postgame shows on radio.

* Harvey Dahl, cut by the Rams in March, may still be recovering from hip surgery. As recently as the start of training camp, Jeff Fisher said the door is left open for Dahl to return to the Rams.

* Danario Alexander tore an ACL in training camp last year. After having had five surgeries on his left knee, it was his right knee that blew out this time. Alexander's right knee is catching up to his left knee quickly. Due to infection, it's been operated on multiple times since the original injury last August. He has run a youth football camp in Texas the last two years.

* Quintin Mikell is all but officially retired. He suffered a foot injury, believed to be a Lisfranc fracture, in Carolina's playoff loss to San Francisco and had surgery on it a couple of months ago.

* Gary Gibson appeared in 13 games for the Bucs last year with three tackles. No expressed interest around the league.

* Paris Lenon, 35, the last XFL player still playing in the NFL, had 22 tackles in 14 games for Denver in 2013. The Broncos have gone much younger at MLB.

* Bryan Kehl had 5 tackles in 5 games for Washington last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury. No sign he's returning.

* Richie Incognito was reinstated by the league last week. He has already had a visit with the Buccaneers and there are rumors swirling about interest from the Colts.

* Adam Carriker, who has missed the last 30 games due to quad injuries, has been physically cleared to play but hasn't found any takers.

* Andrew Helmick only played in the final regular-season game and his only stat was a tackle, but it was enough to make him an Arena League champion. The Arizona Rattlers beat Cleveland to win their third straight Arena Bowl last weekend. Joe Gibbs, not the coach but a tackle who was also in St. Louis for a training camp, appeared in 6 games for the Rattlers, with 3 catches, interestingly.

A couple of coaches I was curious about:

* Former defensive coordinator Ron Meeks took last season off to be a volunteer coach for his son's high school football team.

* Another former defensive coordinator, Tim Walton, does not appear to be working in football at the moment. He addressed the team at his old high school in Columbus, Ga. a couple of weeks ago.

Phew.

-$-

Cutdown to 53 (final)

The Rams' final cuts to reach the 53-man roster limit are complete:

WR Emory Blake - as projected. Very likely to go to practice squad.
G Travis Bond - as projected
DE Kourtnei Brown - as projected
CB Christian Bryant - as projected
DT Matt Conrath - as projected
DB Avery Cunningham - as projected
WR Austin Franklin - as projected. Seems like a good pick for the PS.
QB Garrett Gilbert - I assume this means the Rams have a veteran QB lined up? Honestly, if it's just Brady Quinn or something, why not just keep Gilbert? Two more things I think: going with 2 QBs on the main roster will be a bad idea, and Gilbert should make it to the Rams' practice squad.
DT Deantre Harlan - as projected. Rams may need a little luck to get him back to the PS.
LB Aaron Hill - as projected
T Sean Hooey - as projected
CB Greg Reid - unlike my projection, looks like the Rams will keep Austin Pettis. For now. Reid should be on a PS somewhere, hopefully here. He's rallied quite nicely from two lost seasons and some off-field problems.
DE Michael Sam - as ORIGINALLY projected before I fell for all the NFL Network press conference hoopla. Rams are already saying they intend to bring Sam back on the PS.
LB Etienne Sabino - as projected
TE Brad Smelley - as projected
LB Phillip Steward - I had a feeling. The Rams usually carried only 5 LBs last year.
OL Mitchell Van Dyk - as projected. 7th round pick should make practice squad if they want him.
WR Justin Veltung - as projected
OL Brandon Washington - as projected
LB Lawrence Wilson - as projected. I hope he makes it to the PS here. Played quite well.
CB Darren Woodard - I picked the wrong corner. Looks like Marcus Roberson is in as a UDFA. Hey, I gave him a 50% chance when they signed him.

RamView went 16 for 21 on this cut (10 for 14 in the first cutdown). My misses:
* Alex Bayer - He and Justice Cunningham are aboard the final roster for now. I had Bayer on the practice squad.
* Marcus Roberson - From my observing, I had Roberson a very close third to Reid and Woodard. Of course, the coaches get to see a lot more of the DBs than I do.
* Barrett Jones - in my defense, hard to make predictions about Jones with the near-complete lack of information about his physical condition. Maybe he's close.
* Trey Watts - hooray for Watts, though, he completely deserves to be on the roster. Heck, he should be RB3 ahead of Tre Mason.
* Austin Pettis - well, keeping 4 WRs like I did in my projection was probably a bad idea.

It seems obvious there are still moves pending. To the press there, I'd appreciate a question about Jones and a question about why the Rams have FIVE TEs somewhere amidst the two billion questions about Michael Sam. Thanks.

-$-

Cutdown to 53 (projected)

An early stab at the last round of cuts. We may not hear anything from the Rams until after 3 p.m. Friday, according to Les Snead on TV, so the suspense may hang till Saturday.

TE Alex Bayer (PS) - Justice Cunningham over Bayer for his run-blocking.
WR Emory Blake (PS) - Didn't make enough plays that were there for him to make.
G Travis Bond - Way too many pass protection breakdowns.
DE Kourtnei Brown - Too lightweight against the run.
S Christian Bryant (PS) - Late start in camp set him back.
DT Matt Conrath - Missed time with injuries and Rams are just too deep.
CB Avery Cunningham - always low on the depth chart and made dumb special teams mistakes.
WR Austin Franklin (PS) - Not a lost cause if he can get himself coached up.
DT Deontre Harlan (PS) - Flashed quite a bit. Would have made this team easily two years ago.
LB Aaron Hill - Had a couple of flashes but was never high on the depth chart.
T Sean Hooey - time to cut bait. Two years in without enough sign he's developing as a pass protector.
OL Barrett Jones (IR) - Too many roster needs to float a spot for the constantly injured lineman.
WR Austin Pettis - I'm probably wrong and Pettis is probably WR5 till Bailey's suspension ends, but he sure did nothing this summer.
CB Marcus Roberson (PS) - I kept too many DBs, 11, initially. Somebody's got to go. Greg Reid has upside as an emergency returner, though he could go if the Rams keep Pettis. Darren Woodard made some plays.
LB Etienne Sabino - Made a decent argument for himself in Miami.
TE Brad Smelley - fullback with blocking issues = does not compute.
OL Mitchell Van Dyk (PS)- looks overmatched by professional defensive players.
WR Justin Veltung - no impact as a receiver and did little on returns.
OL Brandon Washington (PS) - Really disappointing at tackle tonight after I'd thought he had a better shot at making the squad.
RB Trey Watts (PS) - This one's killing me, because I think Watts has outplayed Tre Mason. Does he do anything on special teams?
LB Lawrence Wilson (PS) - Sleeper to make the roster. Made a lot of nice plays in games and scrimmages.

My likeliest errors will be: going with 3 QBs, going with only 4 WRs, going with 6 LBs, going with 6 corners.

* Late change to put Roberson on the cut list and take off Michael Sam, upon hearing that the Rams and NFL Network are conspiring to have an extra-special announcement about Sam right at the cut deadline tomorrow.


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Cutdown to 75 - final

The Rams completed the cutdown to 75 Tuesday by cutting DE Sammy Brown and safety Matt Daniels. They are both promising athletes who flashed ability at their positions, but neither could stay healthy remotely long enough to make a lasting impact.

The Rams cut the following ten players Monday:
CB Jarrid Bryant
P/K Bobby Cowan
T R.J. Dill
WR Jordan Harris
LS Jorgen Hus
FB Kadeem Jones
LB Johnny Millard
WR T.J. Moe
OL D.J. Morrell
LB Pat Schiller (released injured)

The final moves to get to the 75-man limit were to put Sam Bradford and Demetrius Rhaney on injured reserve, joining Isaiah Pead.

The Rams will have to cut another 22 after Thursday night's game, though I'll mention for the first time here that they get to carry ten players on the practice squad this year.

-$-

Injury epidemic for Rams in first half in Cleveland

* Sam Bradford was knocked out of tonight's game in the opening series. Armonty Bryant grabbed him just after he threw - not a dirty play, Bryant let up - and got Bradford's weight funny on the same left knee Sam tore the ACL in last season. The TV crew's guess, a reasonable one, is that the knee got hyperextended. Bradford went to the ground without it looking like he'd been hit very hard.

Rams are tight-lipped right now, just saying "injured left knee" and Bradford will not return. Austin Davis was brought into the game suspiciously early for Shaun Hill, though.

Sam Bradford is out for the season; torn ACL, same one that ended his 2013 season.

* Rodger Saffold left the game with a sprained ankle. Phil Taylor went down on a running play and rolled up on Rodger's leg. Saffold walked off under his own power, leaving me hopeful it was a low sprain. A high sprain would cost Rodger significant time. Just lousy luck for Saffold, not a lot of people on earth are going to get away unscathed when a 350-pounder crashes into the side of their leg.

Much better news here than expected; Saffold could play Thursday night. Looked like that ankle got bent pretty good on TV.

* Trumaine Johnson had to be carted off in the 2nd. Daren Bates blew a tackle on a running play, and in that act, drove his helmet smack into TruJo's knee.

Yeah, who saw Greg Reid as an opening day starter? Or E.J. Gaines?

UPDATE: Johnson has a sprained MCL, will be out at least six weeks.
2nd UPDATE: 4-6 weeks. 

* Michael Brockers and Kendall Langford have left the game with minor injuries, though I haven't heard confirmation on Langford's.

Brockers and Langford are possible for Thursday night.

Holy crap. Preseason games aren't just useless, they're dangerous, and in the Rams' case, may have already wrecked the season before it begins, though they could always rally behind Shaun Hill and play good football.

More injury updates as I see them. I'm still working the end of the first half on the DVR. Rams were leading 20-0 at the 2:00 warning, as if that freaking matters.

-$-

RamView, 8/16/2014: Packers 21, Rams 7

RamView, August 16, 2014

From Row HH

(Report and opinions from the game.)

Preseason Game #2: Packers 21, Rams 7

The good, and probably only, news from an otherwise barely-watchable Rams preseason loss: Sam Bradford is back. Maybe by September the Rams running game and pass rush could be ready to join him?

Position by position:

* QB: Sam Bradford might have had a little rust at the start of his first “real” NFL game in ten months, but he knocked it off pretty quickly in a solid 9-12-101 outing, leading the Rams to a TD in two drives played. The Rams could have scored on their first drive. They got across midfield and Bradford converted a 4th-and-3 with a fastball over the middle to a well-covered Jared Cook. The drive bogged down in penalties from there, though, and Bradford missed out on a big play opportunity. A busted coverage left Kenny Britt wide open deep, but Bradford threw a little too far outside. Accuracy was not a problem on Bradford's second drive. He threw a spear that Brian Quick (!) pulled down for a 41-yard catch-and-run and finished the drive with an 11-yard laser to Lance Kendricks, who wasn't remotely open, but caught it for the Rams' lone TD. Bradford looked as confident in himself and his receivers as I can remember, and it looks like the arm strength he gained this offseason will be a factor. If he's made throws like the Quick and Kendricks throws as a pro, there haven't been many. He also got a big welcome back hit from Julius Peppers and survived, so check off all the boxes for Bradford this week. Shaun Hill (1-4-14) saw limited action, and like his fellow backups, limited pass protection. Chances are increasing that Hill will be the only backup QB on the main roster when September comes. Garrett Gilbert (3-6-32) got off to a nice start, with a very good play-fake and 14-yard rollout pass to Stedman Bailey, but within a few plays, took a sack holding the ball too long, then slipped into last week's pattern, with more inaccurate throws on simple stuff like crossing routes. Gilbert's going to have to do something in a game to earn a spot in the final 53. Haven't seen it yet. Austin Davis (3-6-40) didn't really have a chance to impress anyone this week, what with all the Packer scrub linemen getting completely free runs at him. Gilbert's struggles make me think the QB3 battle has been closer than I'd expected. The battle, though, is not being fought at a high level.

* RB: Too little to report, as Rams RBs got very little room to run until garbage time, averaging barely three yards a carry. Zac Stacy (6-6) had nowhere to run, and if not for penalties, his day would have been even worse. He carried four times for losses but flags (on the Rams) took two off the board. I've wondered before why Stacy doesn't bounce outside more. All his activity was up the middle here, where there was no room. Improvisation doesn't really seem to be in his nature. Bennie Cunningham (5-24) was at least able to follow Greg Robinson (at LG) for several decent carries in the 2^nd. Tre Mason (12-30) nearly popped one for a TD in the 4^th, and continues to make a lot out of a little space at the line, that is, when he gets any at all. Mason will be little more than a game-day inactive in 2014, though, if his blitz protection continues to be as poor as it was this week. He whiffed at Sam Barrington to give up the second sack of Shaun Hill and lost a weak effort and got Garrett Gilbert sacked on a Hasean Clinton-Dix blitz in the 3^rd. Gilbert held the ball too long, and Mason blocked like he thought the ball should be out already. Cut it out, both of you.

* WR: The big play this week came from Brian Quick (!) (1-41), snagging a high pass from Bradford in traffic and splitting the defense for a big gain. Confident play continued from there, as Quick set up the Rams' TD almost by himself. A couple of plays later, he took his man deep and beat him badly enough to force a grab and a long PI penalty. Let's keep feeding Quick, though, next time he gets the hot hand. That sequence was he first time Real Game Quick actually looked like Practice Field Quick. Kenny Britt (1-5) was open for a deep TD in the 1^st but Bradford's throw was off. He left the game after his only catch with a shoulder injury, but it isn't believed to be serious. Route of the day was by Stedman Bailey (2-28), who left Davon House in the dust with a comeback cutback for the only pass Hill completed. Bailey beat him deep the next play but Hill underthrew just a little, allowing the pass breakup. Recall last year's preseason game with the Packers when I said the Rams receivers made House look like Darrelle Revis. Progress! And here's some more. When you see Tavon Austin with just 2 catches for 20 yards, you start worrying the Rams are still struggling to get him the ball. But don't fret, a, because it's preseason, and b, Austin got wide open on his first reception before the ball was snapped, going into motion and then doubling back so suddenly he'd already gotten a couple yards separation on the DB trying to mirror him. The Rams have not been notable for their ability to use pre-snap motion since Mike Martz was OC, so that was heartening to see. The main minus was that the battle for WR6 looks so muddled you wonder if the Rams will even keep that many receivers. Austin Pettis (0-0) was a non-factor and Emory Blake (0-0) dropped a high pass in the 4^th that a professional WR really needs to be able to bring down. Heck, it looks like the main reason to even keep 5 WRs right now is that Chris Givens (also 0-0) looks like the best option returning kickoffs.

* Tight ends: Even though they weren't the primary targets in this week's game plan, Ram TEs still weighed in with clutch plays. Jared Cook (1-5) converted a 4th-and-3 on the Rams' opening drive on a drag route with a catch that was much tougher than it looked. Lance Kendricks (2-15) made the toughest catch of the game, grabbing a whistling Bradford fastball for a TD with Micah Hyde all over him. Blocking is where I'd like to see things picked up a little. One of Stacy's losses came because Cook did a poor job picking up the MLB at the second level, letting him fly in untouched. Alex Bayer (1-11) was beaten woefully by Mike Neal to give up the 1^st sack of Hill in the 2^nd. Justice Cunningham contributed a little as a release valve and had a 4th-down catch, but I didn't see enough consistency run-blocking to move him up in the TE4 battle.

* Offensive line: The starters gave Bradford average-to-good protection, but the backups were terrible, and everyone lost in the trenches in the running game, which is a pretty bad thing when your main offensive goal is to run the ball. Run blocking problems came from all over. Davin Joseph got Stacy stuffed early by getting no drive on a pull block. Stacy got a bigger loss when Greg Robinson (starting at LT) couldn't get to his down block. Stacy got stuffed one more time after Mike Person (starting at LG) whiffed his block and then held his man, but not well enough. Person got beaten run-blocking at LT later in the half to get Cunningham a loss. Mason got stuffed on back-to-back plays in the 3^rd, once when Tim Barnes, as ever, got knocked backwards into the running lane, and once when Travis Bond appeared to miss a blitz assignment. Rookie Robinson's game was up and down, up especially at LG, down moreso at LT. At LT in the 1^st, he got embarrassed by a Clay Matthews spin move, but luckily, Bradford got the throw off. He got whipped later and badly by Julius Peppers to give up a big hit on Bradford. Sure, both those Packer sackers could well be on their way to the Hall of Fame. (Line forms behind Kevin Greene, though, gentlemen.) But if he's out at LT in 2014, Robinson's going to have to face a lot of guys who are that good. Robinson really looks good at LG, where he played with some nastiness and was about the only lineman who could create much of a lane for the RBs. Jake Long's return next week comes at the right time. In the 4^th quarter, we were subjected to the worst offensive line the Rams have fielded in St. Louis. Person got beat on a 3^rd down to force a wild Austin Davis throwaway, but he was in the game at that point as the fifth-string center and was still easily the best player on that line. The awful, dreadful Sean Hooey gave up three sacks in barely a minute, getting repeatedly beaten off the ball by Toledo rookie Jayrone Elliott. His partner in crime: the equally awful and dreadful Mitchell Van Dyk. Guys are past him before he can even get his hands out, raising the question, how good an idea is it to have a 6'7” guy at guard? Not very good, in Van Dyk's case. Van Dyk and Hooey both got whipped at the end of the game to get Davis sacked for a 4^th time. All four of those sacks get charged to Hooey, though Van Dyk deserves credit for a couple of them. Hooey took the cake on an earlier running play, getting Trey Watts stuffed by completely whiffing on the DE RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. I'd call both of those guys revolving doors, but modern revolving doors actually slow you down once you get inside. Hooey and Van Dyk are more like those stupid highway radar signs that claim to tell you what speed you're going: useless, annoying, always wrong and doing nothing to slow anyone down.

* Defensive line: “Sack City”, the best defensive line in the league, was MIA while Green Bay waltzed to an easy no-huddle opening TD drive. Interestingly, the lineman drawing the double-teaming was Aaron Donald, yet none of his linemates took advantage of being singled up. Next door to Donald, Robert Quinn was content to pass-rush his way out of running plays and give up big holes that no one in the back filled. The Rams contained Eddie Lacy inside the 10 but gave up 20 yards his first two carries. No one as much as threatened Aaron Rodgers, who had enough time on one play to pull up THREE different times before throwing. The Ram d-line wasn't even moving. On radio, D'Marco Farr commented how tired they all looked, in the FIRST doggone quarter. I'd be making that unit run gassers Monday until every single one of them puke. The saving grace: this is nothing new for the Rams; the d-line hasn't looked especially good the last couple of preseasons, while in those two regular seasons, they've had more sacks than the rest of the league. The good performances this week came from the bench. Eugene Sims made up for last week with a much more complete game and put good pass-rush heat on Scott Tolzien, knocking the Packer backup into next week with a splendid, legal hit down at the goal line to welcome him to the game. And the plot thickened behind Sims on the depth chart. Michael Sam's first sack of preseason in the 4^th is unsurprisingly getting all the media attention. It was a textbook play; he got an excellent break off the snap, excellent lean around the edge, pursued Matt Flynn well and finished well. But, alert the media, UDFA Ethan Westbrooks played on the second unit this week ahead of Sam and was eye-openingly better than what we've seen from Sam in either preseason game. His first possession in, he set a great edge on a goal line run and helped hold the Packers to a FG. In one sequence later in the 2^nd, Westbrooks scored a solid hit on Tolzien and stuffed back-to-back runs. He ended the 1^st half by beating Aaron Adams badly with a nice stutter-step move for a sack. I didn't get to see Westbrooks in training camp – he was injured the week I got to go. But he is bigger than Sam, stronger, a better pass rusher and has the versatility to play inside or outside. The Rams have blessed themselves with a ton of defensive line talent and they all can't play here. The decision in the next couple of weeks is less “can he play” than it will be “who do we want to see on another team the least”.

* Linebackers: Tackling was better, and Jo-Lonn Dunbar looked like he was more in the flow of play, but the Ram D needs James Laurinaitis back. Ray Ray Armstrong's not ready for prime time. He was a day late and a dollar short on Eddie Lacy's opening 13-yard run, on which Alec Ogletree also got wiped out. Aaron Rodgers then took off through a big hole after Ray Ray took his eye off him to chase a receiver. Lacy picked up a big gain off a middle dumpoff after Ray Ray slipped. I thought Ray Ray was more of a safety in college so I'll grant he's still learning the job out there. He's got the tools to do it. The Rams didn't get a blitzer to the QB until Phillip Steward got there very late in the game for the Rams' third sack. It sounds like Laurinaitis is possible for next week's game, which should settle the LB corps for the regular season.

* Secondary: Very up-and-down game for the young Ram secondary. Lamarcus Joyner struggled with Randall Cobb, giving up a big 22-yarder where he was beaten from the snap, and got beaten in the corner of the end zone for the first Packer TD, though the line allowed Rodgers much too much time to throw that one. Joyner saved the Rams a TD in the 2^nd, though, when he chased down Andrew Quarless after a busted coverage I'd blame on Rodney McLeod. Joyner bounced back further with a nice 3rd-down pass breakup in the 2^nd and by popping the ball away from DuJuan Harris for a turnover. That fumble bounced right to Cody Davis, who had a much better game than last week. He made a very nice open-field play to stuff an edge screen after fighting through a block and also broke up a pass at the goal line. Maurice Alexander made a couple of nice run stops on the edge, and made a Packer receiver poop his pants instead of catching a TD in the 4^th. I'm not sure if he or Reid blew the coverage in the 3^rd that gave up a 34-yard TD to Jeff Janis on a simple crossing route. It looked like man coverage, and Reid dropped back off of Janis at the line to pick up another receiver. Shouldn't the much quicker corner be chasing the 4.42 runner across the field instead of the big safety? Reid did have a nice pass breakup and made a nice play to submarine Michael Hill and stuff an edge run in the 3^rd. He should still be very much in the mix at corner. With a poor missed tackle on Cobb and getting beaten by Jordy Nelson for a TD that got called back, Brandon McGee isn't running away with anything.

* Special teams: Very quiet game on special teams. To John Fassell's rare discredit, there's still nothing particularly clear or effective in the kick returner battle, where Givens still looks like the leader by default. Johnny Hekker (43.8 avg) punted well, and Bobby Cowan would have averaged about 48 yards a punt himself had one not gotten kicked backwards by a teammate. Three misses in a row now for Greg Zuerlein, though, who was wide right from 55 in his only attempt, unless you count these goofy 33-yard extra points. I don't think we really want to hit the regular season without Legatron on at least a little bit of a roll.

* Strategery: Leave it to Brian Schottenheimer to make preseason offense more boring than it already is. Too many runs on long-distance downs for my taste. Marshall Faulk called for screen passes for the Rams' overwhelmed 2nd- and 3rd-strings well before Schotty started calling any. Neither team blitzed as much as they did in last year's game, but the Packers remained in full-tilt no-huddle a lot of the time and full-time with the starters in. Gregg Williams sure got infatuated with what I'll call the “over” defensive line formation, sticking with it much too long while the Packers ran through the giant gap between Donald and Quinn. The weirdest coaching decision of the night, though, was the Packers going for TWO up 16-7. What the hell was that? If you're proactively trying to prevent a tie, then shouldn't you go for it on 4^th down up 18-7 instead of kicking the FG to make it a very tie-able 21-7? Ah well, viva preseason.

* Upon further review: All the news is about the high number of penalties being called this preseason, and the Rams had another 10 this week, but I don't see the referees making calls they shouldn't. Angling for a promotion, regular line judge John Hussey should have helped his prospects with a surprisingly good game. The crew called pass interference well, especially Andrew Quarless' ridiculous shove-off in the end zone in the 3^rd. The radio crew thought Sims had gotten flagged for his perfectly clean goalline hit on Tolzien in the 2^nd, but that was for something away from the ball. At least it better have been, or this grade is coming down. B+ I'll say NFL officiating has been surprisingly competent so far this year, even as I dread the possibility of the Rams getting Jerome Boger or the truly abysmal Bill Vinovich on opening day.

* Cheers: Attendance was probably around 40,000, helped by a healthy contingent of Cheeseheads, especially in the lower deck. There have been upgrades at the Dome this year besides the speakers. On the bottom level, at least, there's a wider selection of food available. If you're inclined to spend on stadium-priced food, look around down there first. The local BBQ is good. The “Taste of St. Louis” stands – one's around section 120 – have something called “Strange Donuts”, which I'm inevitably going to end up trying. They try to advertise food during the game with a clip of the interview babe and Takeru Kobayashi, but first, I see nothing new on the plebeian, ER, upper level, and then Kobayashi doesn't eat anything anyway, when he's kind of famous for eating stuff. Maybe later this season they can have Joey Chestnut come in and nibble on some carrot sticks.

* Waiver bait: The Isaiah Pead Era in St. Louis appears to have come to an end, not with a bang but with a most unfortunate pop, a blown ACL on the Rams' first kickoff return. I'm not sure he'd have made the team anyway. Four-fifths of the offensive line the Rams fielded at the end of the game probably shouldn't make the cut to 75. Green Bay's waiver bait is definitely WR Gerrard Sheppard, who dropped a certain TD because he heard Maurice Alexander's footsteps. Shouldn't have any trouble hearing the Turk coming, then.

* Who’s next?: Cleveland's really getting their moment in the sports sun this summer, so the Rams will try to steal some rays when they visit for the supposedly-most-important preseason game Saturday night. It sounds like Brian Hoyer will start at QB. I'd rather see Johnny Football, not because I'm a sucker for hype (I am) but because his similarities to Russell Wilson make him a better test for the regular season. The Browns field what could be a very good offensive line, so “Sack City” would have to step it up even if they were coming off a good game. Hoyer and Manziel don't have the greatest set of targets to hit, besides Josh Gordon, who isn't suspended yet. Any game-planning would be best directed at covering the tight end. It's an offense still getting untracked, settling for four FGs in Detroit (they play Washington Monday night). The defense lost its top two tacklers from last season, didn't have a player with as many as six sacks, and only got one in Detroit. The Browns have a lot invested in their secondary, which should be a good challenge for the Rams' young receivers. With the potential that most of their starters will play, the Rams should fare better in the trenches than this week, and Bradford should be able to move the offense with some rhythm, or something's really wrong.

-- Mike

Game stats from nfl.com

Pictures from espn.com if any are posted

Injury news: Pead, Jones may be done for season

USA Today

Injury news from last night's 21-7 loss to the Packers: (RamView is still on the way)

- Isaiah Pead's knee gave way on him on the Rams' first kickoff return and it is believed he tore an ACL. An MRI on the knee was scheduled for today. This more than likely closes the books on the Rams' botched third pick of the second round in 2012. A promising college player at Cincinnati, Pead never clicked for the Rams at RB or as a returner. The mental part of the game did not seem to come easily to him, he did not protect the ball well as a runner, he got into Jeff Fisher's (seemingly very, very small) doghouse and got into trouble off the field. It wasn't for lack of effort, but some people don't have the makeup needed to make it in the NFL, and Isaiah Pead is one of those guys. He'll spend this year on I.R. and attempt a comeback in training camp next year, but I don't know why he'll make it in 2015 after a year of rehab when he really didn't deserve to make this team in 2014. Best of luck to you, Isaiah, always keep fighting, but I'd use the time off the field here to get ready for the next stage of my adult life in your shoes.

ESPN

- And as long as we're talking about blown draft picks, Jeff Fisher first let the word out today that 2013 fourth-round pick Barrett Jones had back surgery LAST WEEK (thanks for the timely news on that, everyone) and is likely to miss "significant time" this season. Jones was one of the best linemen in the country, at three different positions, at Alabama, but why did he fall to the 4th round in 2013? Injuries. He was frequently hurt at Alabama, missed most of his first season here due to a Lisfranc injury he got with the Tide, and before he could even take the field in anger this season, he's down again. Injuries were the risk any team would have taken in drafting Jones, and it's backfired on the Rams. Hey, I thought he was a great pick, too. Thought he was worth the injury risk. I would also have bet wrong. (I also liked Pead, too, so maybe I should just give up the "shadow GM" gig.) Jones may be able to contribute here in 2015, but the odds seem much better that he'll injure or re-injure something else and he'll end up stepping away from the game. He's a very gifted young man who doesn't need football to be successful.

Obviously no word yet on how the Rams plan to fill the two roster vacancies that have just unwelcomely popped up here. In Les Snead's shoes, I'd be looking for any two offensive linemen with a pulse this afternoon.

Pead's injury probably locks down a roster spot for Chris Givens as the main kickoff returner, and could open up an opportunity for Trey Watts at RB, though Chase Reynolds remains the favorite for RB3/RB4 and should have beaten Pead out anyway as a special teams specialist. Jones' injury probably locks down a roster spot for Mike Person and leaves the Rams stuck with Tim Barnes at center when Scott Wells inevitably goes down again. Looks like that will be a position to watch for in free agency and the 2015 draft.

Update from Jeff Fisher's press conference: Pead is officially out for the season but Fisher is only ruling Jones out for the rest of preseason, a big step back from what the NFL Network crawl says. Demetrius Rhaney will also miss "some time" due to an injury (knee, iirc) suffered this week in practice.

-$-

Rams report, 8/13: injury updates and a roster move

StLouisRams.com

Is it good or bad that this has been the least eventful training camp in St. Louis Rams history? Even at my awful pace of keeping RamView up to date, I haven't fallen all that far behind. Nothing's happening! Here's a little bit of catchup for this week since the Rams' first preseason game (recap just posted here earlier):

* Current injury report:
Out:
Michael Brockers (ankle) - is said to be moving well while working on the side and may return to full action soon
Matt Daniels (undisclosed) - apparently injured in Saints game
William Hayes - practiced Monday but was off Tuesday. Hayes has been on the mend from offseason surgeries to his hip, ankle and collarbone.
Janoris Jenkins (hamstring) - day-to-day
Barrett Jones (undisclosed) - day-to-day
Kadeem Jones (hamstring) - suited up for first time in camp Wednesday
James Laurinaitis (ankle) - day-to-day
Rodger Saffold (stinger) - day-to-day
Brandon Washington (undisclosed)
Darren Woodard (undisclosed) - apparently injured in Saints game

Wednesday's practice was just a special teams walkthrough, so there wasn't much to update on the injury/participation front.

Jeff Fisher has already announced Sam Bradford will play in Saturday's preseason game against the Packers. I would guess a couple of series. Much past the first quarter would be a big surprise to me.

On the offensive line, Scott Wells sounds like a good bet to play Saturday. I do not expect to see Jake Long, though he is practicing. Defensively, it sounds like Kendall Langford and Trumaine Johnson are practicing and will be able to play.


* Mason Brodine suffered a broken ankle in the game against the Saints and he was placed on season-ending injured reserve. To fill (part of) big Mason's roster spot, the Rams signed the much-smaller (6'2" 235) Brad Smelley, a former Alabama tight end who on the Rams practice squad for three days last season and no one told us. He finished last season with the Texans and was cut there last month. Smelley was drafted by the Browns in the 7th round in 2012 and spent most of that season on their practice squad.

Very quick scouting report: reliable receiver with soft hands, good blocker, good effort player. Not quick in any direction. Won't gain any separation as a route-runner. Will get pushed around by NFL-caliber defensive players. Not a refined blocker, plays out of control, needs to improve technique. Not powerful in the lower body.

Smelley's mainly suited to be a H-back/fullback type player in the NFL, which puts him squarely at FB2 on the Rams' depth chart behind Corey Harkey. His most practical mission will be to do something to impress another team while he's here.

-$-

RamView, 8/8/14: Saints 26, Rams 24

RamView, August 8, 2014

From Row HH

(Report and opinions from the game.)

Preseason Game #1: Saints 26, Rams 24

Preseason at its bipolar best: the Rams should have won if not for poor penalties late in the game by players who won't be here in September, deserved to lose for their poor tackling, couldn't have won in real life because they had to sit almost half their starters.. but it was the best preseason opener they've played under Jeff Fisher. Progress? Bad omen? August.

Position by position:

* QB: While the Rams kept Sam Bradford in mothballs, starter Shaun Hill (5-7-84, 2 TD) ran the offense pretty well, leading two TD drives in just under a half of play. Bradford's not the only Ram QB who looks for Jared Cook when he's in trouble. Hill and Cook connected for 24 to get the Rams out of an early hole, and Hill, like a veteran QB should, quickly recognized an opportunity and ended the opening drive with a swing pass to Cory Harkey (!) for a 16-yard TD. Hill led the Rams to a quick 2^nd TD in the 2^nd, a sweet back-shoulder TD pass to Stedman Bailey (!). The night didn't go nearly as well for the Rams' other backup QBs. Garrett Gilbert (6-11-53) played like the stage was much too big for him. He brutally missed several open throws on simple routes. He forced at least a couple of throws that should have been picked off. A well-disguised blitz buried him in the 3^rd. He'll have to learn how to diagnose those before the snap, and then do better after the snap than running back 14 yards and eating the ball. Protection was a big part of the problem for Gilbert. He put together a decent 2:00 drive for a FG at the end of the first half, but with the threes in after halftime, the offense sputtered to a halt. Austin Davis (10-16-134, 1 TD) popped on several plays. An underthrown 32-yard pass for Chris Givens drew a DPI that set up a 15-yard TD fastball to Austin Franklin to bring the Rams within two. He hit Emory Blake with a nice back-shoulder pass for 29 to set up a (missed) FG attempt. And thanks to a LB fooled into thinking dumpoff when the Rams had completed one pass to the RBs all night (so much for my brilliant “the Rams are going to throw to the RBs more” theory), he fired to Alex Bayer (!) down the seam for 42 to get the Rams in game-winning FG range. Davis hasn't looked any better as a Ram. When time came to actually win the game, though, Davis got in the way. After a Saints timeout, I can only imagine Davis got surprised by the game clock quickly restarting and took a bad delay-of-game penalty. He still got the Rams in FG range with 11 seconds left, and all he has to do is properly execute a spike to kill the clock and win the game. Sigh. He botches the snap, and without proper possession of the ball, turns the clock-killing play into a game-killing grounding penalty. Not the veteran-quality kind of play I think he needs to have any chance of getting ahead of Gilbert on the depth chart.

* RB: Several of the Rams' best runs were 3rd-and-a-mile draw plays, but there was still enough to like. Zac Stacy (4-22) bumped past and ran through tackles like he was in regular-season form. Benny Cunningham (5-24) set up Bailey's TD in the 2^nd by getting out of trouble on 3rd-and-1 with an impressive spin move and darting downfield for 19. Running room got less and less as the game went on, which did not work to Tre Mason's (15-51) benefit, but he shows so much lateral quickness that you know he's going to be tough to stop when he does get some blocking. You saw that quickness at work when he cut a run back up the middle for 20 in the 4^th, but another nice run the next play was wiped out by a hold. Any ability to block future Hall-of-Famer Tyrunn Walker at all would have helped when Mason couldn't convert on 3rd-and-1 or 4th-and-1 in the 3^rd. Mason's big rookie issue has been blitz pickup. He has improved to the point he's not clueless what to do. On the goalline sack of Gilbert, Mason did a good job picking up the middle blitzer. The Saints just brought more people than the Rams could block. The question shifts now to whether Mason is actually strong enough to hold up against a blitz. He really got knocked backwards picking one up in the 2^nd half. Stayed enough in the way to let the QB throw, though. If the Rams can couple the RB talent they have now with better, healthier blockers, they'll be able to do what Jeff Fisher wants to do on offense.

* WR: I don't know if Kenny Britt has already influenced the WRs this much, or, heaven forbid, Ray Sherman actually coached them up on something, but I don't recall them winning contested balls as well as they did in this game. Several times, they got late separation with what I've been calling a “ward-off” move to make a big catch against tight coverage. It's a push, but not big enough to be called a push-off. Britt's been doing it all camp; here, you had Stedman Bailey (1-24) doing it to get open for a nice TD catch on a back-shoulder throw and Emory Blake (3-41) doing it late in the game for a big 29-yard gain on another back-shoulder throw. Britt himself and Brian Quick barely even made cameos. Yeah, not like Quick needs the reps or anything. Hill threw his way once, deep down the sideline, and he was blanketed. Training Camp Quick better show up to at least one of these preseason games. Best route of the night was the post route UDFA Austin Franklin (1-15) ran for his TD. He also got a shot at returning kicks and showed some initial quickness, so don't rule him out for WR6 yet. That race also involves Austin Pettis (1-21), who made a neat over-the-shoulder basket catch for a 1^st down, and Chris Givens, who was 0-0, but returned kicks and drew a long DPI to set up Franklin's TD. Givens also didn't play a quick screen very well in the 3^rd. It was defended well, but he should have gone to it and tried to cut back inside with it instead of waiting for it and letting the play get broken up. If the next level continues to elude Givens this preseason, chances are it'll do so for good.

* Tight ends: I'll try breaking TEs out separately this year, but I'm not sure how long it will last. (Hey, I never had to even think of such a thing during the Mike Martz years.) The receiving star of the game was UDFA Alex Bayer (5-71). He was a favorite checkdown option for Garrett and Davis and struck late in the game with a big 42-yard catch-and-run that should have set up a game-winning FG. The LB who should have covered Bayer switched off to Mason coming out of the backfield instead, leaving Bayer wide open behind the defense. Combined with Justice Cunningham's (1-5) bad night, I have to call Bayer TE4 right now. Justice tweaked his ankle, limped around the rest of the game and dropped a pass where it looked clear he was thinking about his ankle more than the ball. He also looked woeful getting whipped by Ronald Powell, who would have gotten more resistance from a practice dummy, for the Saints' 4^th sack. Cory Harkey (1-16) opened the scoring with the simple old leak-out-of-the-backfield play that's always burned the Rams. Nice to be on the other side of that for a change. Curtis Lofton kept his eyes on Stacy in the middle and didn't get out on Harkey until it was way too late. Jared Cook (1-24) not only had the big play (nice catch, too) to keep the chains moving on the Rams' first scoring drive, he also delivered the most solid blitz pickup of the night early. I'm hopeful that Cook's (new-found) interest in blocking so far this summer is a sign that he's getting the focus he needs to become the sleeping giant we all thought we had last season.

* Offensive line: Mainly general impressions here because I botched recording the game and wanted to get this out before Tuesday. With Long, Wells, Saffold and Barrett Jones all still out, it was still the makeshift camp line of Mike Person at LT, Greg Robinson LG, Tim Barnes C, Davin Joseph RG and Joseph Barksdale RT. Robinson played well, based on the looks I got of him. He blew his assignment to let Brodrick Bunkley walk in and sack Hill in the 1^st, but I didn't see him get beaten physically. In pass pro, he met challenges well at guard and didn't let anyone by. Had a pancake block on one play but the Rams weren't running behind him then. D'Marco Farr kept saying on radio that Robinson is still finding his way at guard, but he still looks like he'll be more than fine there to me. Robinson and Person flipped positions later, and Robinson didn't look bad at LT, either. If the Rams carry a 4^th tackle, Person should be miles ahead of anyone else on the roster for the job. Farr called Sean Hooey out repeatedly for poor protection, and there were times where he just didn't look physically capable of staying with an NFL pass rusher. R.J. Dill (INCOMING! OBVIOUS JOKE ALERT! INCOMING!) put himself in a real pickle for a roster spot with three dumb 4th-quarter penalties that shot down the Rams' comeback efforts as much as anything else. He held on the first play of one drive and, showing all the brilliance of Richie Incognito, took a gain away a couple of plays later with a piling-on penalty. A clumsy false start at the beginning of the final 2:00 drive didn't help his cause any, either. At guard, Travis Bond's cause was not helped when somebody called Tyrunn Walker whipped past him for a near-goalline sack of Gilbert. Can't be thrilled with the scrubs for turning Walker into a Pro Bowler for a night, with 6 tackles, a sack and three run stuffs. There wasn't much running room all night, especially for Mason behind the scrubs. The travails of the scrubs make it all the more important the Rams start getting back the guys I mentioned at the start of this section.

* Defensive line: The d-line played mostly with one hand tied behind its back. Aaron Donald and Alex Carrington started instead of the regular DTs, and Robert Quinn was used very sparingly as a 3rd-down pass-rush specialist. Donald “stayed blocked” against the Saints a lot more than he ever did in camp, but also had a fair share of flashy plays, including a running play where he flashed into the backfield and flushed Travaris Cadet over to Eugene Sims for a huge loss. That was unfortunately an outlier play where run defense was concerned. The back seven was the bigger culprit, but it all starts up front, and the Ram DEs were not very sturdy against the run. Of the non-starters, the best was probably Michael Sam, and that's not his forte. Sims overran so many plays – I guess he just wanted to pass-rush – he'd have done just as well to stay home, figuratively or literally. First play of the game, he overpursues, gets turned by the tackle, and Mark Ingram (8-84) runs by for a big gain. The Saints ran at, er, by, Sims a lot. Sammy Brown also had a tackle for loss but I can't even consider him competition for a DE spot when he gets engulfed every time I watch him on run defense. For his part, Sam pressured Ryan Griffin into a couple of throwaways and shot a gap to stuff Khiry Robinson for no gain. I think it's fair to say Sam has a very good motor, and he continues to fight through traffic well. But Chris Long said it himself (though I didn't see him as part of the problem) in an in-game interview: the Rams have to do a better job of setting the edge. Long made the defensive play of the game on the opening series, anticipating a quick screen and leaping up and pulling Griffin's pass down for an INT. The Rams did not record a sack, – New Orleans' offensive pace doesn't help there – but appeared to play with good tempo. Stopping the run may not get the d-line in the league headlines, but they're going to have to step up at it if they want the team to get into league headlines.

* Linebackers: Not that it should be a big surprise with James Laurinaitis (ankle) still out, but linebacking was a bit of a mess. Jo-Lonn Dunbar slid over to Mike and Ray Ray Armstrong took the weak side. Armstrong stayed there with the twos with Daren Bates at Mike and Phillip Steward strong side. One takeaway for me is that Armstrong is no threat yet to Dunbar for the starting Will role. Armstrong's a fine athlete who can get anywhere on the field he needs to be in time, and I'm thrilled he actually managed to participate in a regulation NFL game without committing a penalty. But now, he needs to finish off the plays he gets there to make. Armstrong had more whiffs this game than Clayton Kershaw; that and not being able to get off some blocks helped Ingram to his big night. Armstrong also blew a sack in just-ugly fashion, but he wasn't the only LB swinging and missing. Dunbar whiffed on one of Ingram's carries (all of which were big plays) and got blocked and filled poorly on another. Steward whiffed on Ingram's first 22-yard run. (Yes, sadly, there was more than one.) Too much arm-tackling. Too many desperation dives at RBs' ankles. There were also some big coverage breakdowns, with Saints superstar TE... Jeremy Hill? burning them twice for 71 yards and setting up 10 points. Bates missed his assignment on one of those by blitzing instead of dropping back into coverage. Laurinaitis' injury has really scrambled things up; missed assignments are going to happen. But your linebackers absolutely cannot be bad tacklers, certainly not like the Rams were in this game. On the high side, local boy Aaron Hill made good with a nice pass defense to help 3-and-out the Saints trying to run out the clock, and Johnny Millard, who's been injured all camp, caught a deflected pass for an INT late in the game to give the Rams a chance to win. Getting Armstrong straightened out will be a key if Laurinaitis is going to miss any regular season action. He tackled a lot better than this last preseason, so we'll hope that Frank Bush can get him calmed down.

* Secondary: Talk about one hand tied behind your back; the Rams did not play either of their starting corners or Brandon McGee, making starters out of, yes, 6th-round pick E.J. Gaines and 2nd-year UDFA Darren Woodard. But, also using their starters lightly, and Drew Brees not at all, the Saints didn't attack the green backfield as effectively as you might have feared. Gaines had a make-the-team game, making six tackles, showing willingness to hit and nearly forcing a Saint fumble at the goal line. He was all over the place. Lamarcus Joyner made a superb play to hold the 2^nd Saint drive to a FG, closing like lightning from at least 10 yards away on an initially wide-open screen to Rugrats, er, Nick Toon, and stopping him short on a 3rd-and-5. Unfortunately, both Gaines and Joyner got completely embarrassed on Brandin Cooks' 3rd-quarter 25-yard TD. Cooks cut back inside instantly after the catch, leaving Gaines flapping in the breeze and Joyner flailing to catch up to him. I'd feel better about that play if Cooks weren't also a rookie and the Rams' secondary didn't practice against Tavon Austin every day. I'd also feel better not having to watch Cody Davis attempt to defend against the run a whole lot more. Davis played like little more than a Faster Craig Dahl, with terrible whiffs on both of Ingram's 22-yard runs. Add a face mask penalty to that, too. Maurice Alexander was a lot better and looked really good stringing out several outside run attempts in the 2^nd half. All the shoulder tackling by Jarrid Bryant and Marcus Roberson made it amazing the Rams didn't miss more tackles than they did. I'm not sure Bryant even knows you're supposed to use your arms when you tackle. Roberson, though, made a big run stop to help force a 3-and-out to start the 4^th. But considering how deep they had to dip into the depth chart, the Rams didn't fare too badly, and Joyner, Alexander and Gaines give a good feeling that the Rams will have a young and deep secondary for a good while.

* Special teams: OK, who picked Chase Reynolds for star of the game on special teams? Reynolds stopped the opening kickoff inside the 20 and took off with a fake punt (!) for 38 yards in the 3^rd. The Rams also well to contain Cooks on punt returns, with Bailey and Joyner combining to stuff him for a loss in the 1^st. Several different players auditioned as returners; Chris Givens looked the best on kickoffs (ha! may be the only way he makes the team), while Greg Reid showed interesting elusiveness on kicks and punts. The kicking game itself was a letdown. Johnny Hekker had a boom (52) or bust (36, downed at midfield, helped give the Saints a FG) game. We need Pro Bowl Hekker by September, not Rookie Year Hekker. The game was still in Greg Zuerlein's power to win, and no, I don't mean the 59-yarder he just missed at the gun, I mean the 46-yarder he Vanderjagted into the woods earlier in the 4^th. Snap and hold were good, that was just an inexcusable kick. What do these guys do all day at training camp, screw around? Oh.

* Strategery: I mocked myself earlier for my thought the Rams would throw to their RBs more this season, which was based on what I saw in training camp. Brian Schottenheimer did use backs very effectively as decoys, though, on Harkey's TD and Davis' big completion to Bayer. So that's cool, even if it was about the trickiest thing he tried all night. Nice use of crossing routes on the Franklin TD, too. Helped freeze the DB. Gregg Williams brought plenty of blitzes, especially of the linebacker variety. Big surprise: Gregg Williams blitzes getting burned by completions to TEs. (Vernon Davis says hello) Another big surprise: a Jeff Fisher Rams team committing a TON of penalties. Try 14 for 118 yards. Even taking Davis and Dill out leaves 9 for 83. Even though the fake punt warmed the cockles of my heart – it's just not preseason unless Fisher calls one of those – the Rams took exactly one week to get on an awful penalty trend and need to get it under control post-haste. It will undermine the whole season if Fisher doesn't get that fixed.

* Upon further review: Carl Cheffers and crew seemed to be in much better than regular-season form, highly unusual for referees. Along with most of the fans, Marshall Faulk wanted a grounding call on Ryan Griffin in the 1^st; I thought Cheffers got it right that Griffin was out of the tackle box, though it was much closer than I thought. They got a challenged spot (by Fisher) right and were spot on with personal foul calls and pass interference calls, though by Farr's commentary, the Rams got away with more in pass defense than they should have given the league's emphasis on defensive holding this year. There were the usual misses: a clear block in the back at the start of one of Greg Reid's punt returns, and Ray Ray got held pretty good on one of Ingram's long runs. The intentional grounding on Davis' blown spike play was interesting; I don't think I've ever seen that call. But by all accounts, Cheffers got it right. Surprising grade: B+

* Cheers: Crowd was about 30,000 and only got even a little loud late in the game to encourage some defensive stops. Other than the sound system works now for the first time in 20 years, I didn't note much new about the Dome. I will object that we didn't get the referee's video feed on replay challenges. Even with a rookie (Joyner) nicknamed “Frisbee Dog,” the halftime show, as always, was pee wee football.

* Waiver bait: Dill left a bad taste, Hooey was phooey, and nobody named Davis showed they have staying power. But let's talk Isaiah Pead for a second. With Reynolds getting some 4th-quarter carries and starring on special teams, is there any reason to think Pead's going to beat Reynolds out to “make the club from the tub?” Right now, the only thing that keeps Pead employed in football in 2014 is if that hand injury lands him on the I.R. The Saints' biggest waiver bait was WR Brandon Coleman, who led the nation in dropped passes last year at Rutgers and had two awful drops in this game, one of which clanged over to Millard for his INT. With such skillets for hands, Coleman really should consider culinary school.

* Who’s next?: A very weird Saturday afternoon game is next for the Rams, who'll host the Packers for the second straight preseason, and this one may not go well. The Packers schemed for last year's game like it was the regular season while the Rams served large scoops of vanilla, and the Packers won fairly easily, 19-7. My notes from that game say the Rams also did not tackle well early last preseason, and WOW, shouldn't Jeff Fisher teams be better at tackling than they are right now? With another big Alabama RB, Eddie Lacy, in the backfield next week, we're sure going to hope the Rams tackle better. On offense, I would hope to see at least a couple of series out of Bradford, and hope that they can get the big WRs going a little bit. It's still going to be hard to get a line on this team, though, until they can suit up most of the players they plan to start on either line. At this rate, and to overstate the obvious, we're on track for the most meaningless preseason in Rams history. Still 67 bucks a game, though.

-- Mike

Game stats from nfl.com

Photos from espn.com