RamView, 8/1: Tuesday practice notes, Long contract details

from local reports

* Schedule: The Rams practice in pads for the first time tomorrow, and do it again on Thursday, but both days' practices are closed to the public. The next open practice is at 3:30 Friday, followed by a 12:30 scrimmage at the Edward Jones Dome on Saturday.

* Injury report: Danario Alexander (hamstring) and Daryl Richardson (leg) suited up today but were limited to running on the sideline. Rokevious Watkins (fat) is still getting into shape. Scott Wells (knee) remains out.

New to the list, center Tim Barnes (calf) did not practice Tuesday. He had limped off the field Monday. Josh Gordy and Kendric Burney both sat out Tuesday due to tight hamstrings. Eugene Sims left practice due to an unspecified arm or shoulder injury.

* Depth chart: Craig Dahl back to first string at safety. Austin Davis seems to be gaining ground pretty quickly on Tom Brandstater for QB3.

* Nick Wagoner reported Rams receivers were "plagued" by dropped passes Tuesday, with Lance Kendricks returning to his regular-season 2011 form. Lovely. Sounds like he rallied at the end, though. Also sounds like the o-line continues to struggle in pass protection.

Also, I know it's only day 3 and they haven't even pulled pads on yet, but I would really like not to hear Cortland Finnegan getting burned by a Rams receiver every day. We all realize he has to cover Megatron opening week, right?

* Details came out today on Chris Long's contract extension: it's for four years, $50 MILLION, with $27 million guaranteed. Mario Williams just got similar dollars when he signed with Buffalo this offseason, but those were for six years, not four. Factor in Long's 2012 salary, and he's technically on a five-year deal for $60 million, with $37 million guaranteed.

The extension is bigger than any deal I can think of in Rams history for a defensive player, and by my count, is the third-biggest deal in team history, behind Marc Bulger's $62.5 million deal in 2007 and Orlando Pace's $53 million deal in 2005. Steven Jackson's current deal is $49.3 million.

I felt Long was one of the very best defensive players in the league last year, and that he should have been in the Pro Bowl. Well, he's getting paid at that level now.

* Alumni report: Cord Parks released by the Saints.

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Photo: STLToday

RamView, 7/31: Monday practice notes

from local reports

The Rams hold practice Tuesday at 3:30. That's the last practice open to fans until Friday. The team will start practicing in pads Wednesday, which will be a special teams practice, and Thursday, a full-squad practice.

* Injury report: Rokevious Watkins (fat) is now participating in individual drills but not team drills. Still out of action: Scott Wells (knee), Daryl Richardson (leg), and Danario Alexander (hamstring).

* Depth chart report: Darian Stewart worked with the first unit Monday, Craig Dahl with the twos. Rookie free agent Matt Conrath has gotten work with the first unit both days of camp.

* Sounds like the passing game opened up a lot more today. Steve Smith beat Trumaine Johnson for a long TD, but Cortland Finnegan and Darian Stewart had interceptions and Janoris Jenkins broke up a couple of passes. Sam Bradford was the QB on both INTs. Secondary has to be winning the race for best unit in camp thus far.

* Alumni report:
- The Packers picked up TE Demarco Cosby, who spent time on the Rams' practice squad last year.
- The Panthers signed LB David Nixon.
- Dominique Curry signed with the Lions.
- Daniel Fells was put on the PUP list in New England due to a leg injury.
- And, one day after signing a one-year contract with the Chargers, Kyle Boller missed the first day of practice and has now decided to retire. So, he always wanted to retire as a Charger? In related news, 2012 is now expected to be a down year for interceptions.

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Photo: STLToday

7/29 injury report

The Rams held four players out of practice Sunday:
- Center Scott Wells is still rehabbing from offseason arthroscopic knee surgery. A timeline for his return hasn't been reported yet.
- Wide receiver Danario Alexander is expected to be out about a week with a hamstring problem that he's apparently still fighting from minicamp.
- 7th-round pick, RB Daryl Richardson, is out 3-4 days due to a leg injury.
- Lastly, 5th-round pick, OL Rokevious "Road Grader II" Watkins (fat).

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Rams extend Chris Long's contract

The biggest news out of Rams camp today is that they've taken care of one of their franchise defensive players, signing Chris Long to a four-year extension. Long was scheduled to become a free agent after this season. His new contract runs through 2016.

Financial terms of Long's deal have not been disclosed, though Jay Glazer of Fox Sports has humorously described the deal as "huge".

The Rams are said to be actively working on a new deal for James Laurinaitis, who is currently in the last year of his rookie contract.

Good news all around, for the Rams, Chris, James and Rams fans.

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Photo: NFL.com

Training camp report, 7/29

RamView's first training camp report of 2012 is up now: Link

Today's highlights:
* Everybody healthy but Scott Wells, Road Grader II Watkins, and, of course, Danario Alexander
* Standout performances: Janoris Jenkins, Danny Amendola, Isaiah Pead, Josh Gordy, and, yes, Greg Zuerlein
* Surprise starters: Brandon Gibson, Craig Dahl
* Shakiest unit: offensive line
* Great crowd

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Photo: RamView

Rams sign Mughelli

The Rams have signed former Ravens and Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli to a one-year deal. The 6'1", 260-lb 32-year old is entering his tenth NFL season. He played in his first Pro Bowl in 2010 but tore a MCL midway through last season and was let go by the Falcons in May in a salary cap move. So, to the Falcons pipeline yet again for Les Snead.

Scouts Inc. describes Mughelli as an average starter, a real bruiser with excellent blocking technique. He takes good angles, crushes defenders in the hole, and gets good positioning in pass pro and picks up blitzes well. Hits hard and sustains his blocks. Though considered primarily a lead blocker, he's also been an effective receiver for a fullback, averaging almost 8 yards a catch in his career. Six of his seven career TDs are receiving TDs.

When Atlanta signed Mughelli in 2007, he was highly-regarded enough to draw the biggest contract ever for a fullback. Coming off a season-ending injury last year at his age, though, the obvious business decision for the Falcons was to let him go instead of gamble the $3 million he had coming this season.


My assumption is that Mughelli will be on the field when the Rams officially break training camp tomorrow afternoon. He brings the current roster count to 89. Whatever percentage of full health he is, I give him that much chance to completely transform the training camp race at fullback, and he should be the favorite to win the position. Not only is he head-and-shoulders above any Rams fullback's career since James Hodgins, I doubt anybody else in camp comes up to his thigh pads. If he's close to his previous standard at fullback and healthy enough to be a plus on special teams, Mughelli will be an excellent signing by the Rams.

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Photo: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

RamView, 7/27: some rookies off on wrong foot

from local reports

* Third-round pick Trumaine Johnson was signed in time for the rookies-only phase of training camp, but did not make the first practice Wednesday because he OVERSLEPT and missed his flight to St. Louis. Couldn't wake up on time for the most important day of his professional life. Excellent.

Meanwhile, fifth-round pick Rokevious Watkins has reported to training camp overweight and out of shape and has been limited to stretching on the sidelines the past three days. Well, we kind of saw that coming. After all, his was the first Pro Football Weekly draft guide summary ever to contain the phrase "man-boobs". I KNEW I should have been leery of all those reports that described Watkins as a "road grader"! Fortunately, there will be plenty of other competition in camp at left guard. Just not Road Grader II for the time being.

The most the Rams could do with the 31 rookies they've had in camp so far this week is run 7-on-7 drills, so these guys can't have missed critical amounts of practice time. They've gotten off to inauspicious starts, though.

* Contract details. Janoris Jenkins' signing bonus is indeed being paid in installments. Suddenly, however, we're being told that this arrangement isn't unusual and has nothing to do with off-field conduct. In fact, Michael Brockers and Brian Quick are also receiving their signing bonuses in installments. So at this point, as far as the public's been informed, there's nothing special tied to conduct in Jenkins' contract. That doesn't seem wise, though he was in St. Louis well ahead of time to report for camp and reported in shape.

Trumaine "Sleepy" Johnson's contract is for an assumed 4 years and totals $3 million, with a $700,000 bonus. Use some of that to buy a better alarm clock.

* Alumni report:
- Former blocking TE Derek Schouman signed by the Saints.
- WR Mike Sims-Walker had a tryout with the Titans, of which Chris Mortensen humorously tweeted, "didn't go so good".
- Rams from last year's roster without NFL jobs at last word:
  Cadillac Williams, Jerious Norwood, Adam Goldberg, James Hall, Fred Robbins, Billy Bajema, Stephen Spach, Brady Poppinga, James Butler, Mark LeVoir, Dominique Curry, C.J. Ah You, Jason Brown. Could be time to start looking for coaching or broadcasting gigs.

* RamView is still planning to cover Sunday's first full-squad practice. It will probably be up on the website late Sunday night.

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Photo: STLToday