Rams rant: Friday free-for-all

By Michael Condon | Aug 20, 2015

The St. Louis Rams returned home on Wednesday night after what can only be considered a dismal showing in California. After arriving in Oakland a week ago and promptly getting waxed by the Oakland Raiders in their preseason opener, the team showed signs of life while practicing with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Ca. However, even the joint sessions ended abruptly after a team wide brawl broke out during the second joint session.

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Head coach Jeff Fisher talked about giving the team some extra time off and cited player fatigue and not the incidents against Dallas as the reason.

"“Friday is a player day off and then we’ll come in and have a walk-through and then travel down to Nashville,” Fisher said. (Nick Wagoner, ESPN)"

The team will travel to Nashville for Week 2 of the preseason against the Tennessee Titans this Sunday. Let’s hope the showing is a bit better than the Rams squad that showed up against the Raiders or fans are in for another disappointing weekend.

From a fans point of view, the loss against Oakland, the fight against Dallas and the canceled practice session before returning to St. Louis leaves a horrible taste in your mouth. The Rams are a team on the verge of an important crossroads of the franchise.

There have been a lot of positive changes on this team in the last few years. Recent additions of Nick Foles, Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald and others have this fan base excited about the future. When you turn on the T.V. in the evening and see an undrafted cornerback punching one of the most prolific wide receivers in the game in the face during practice, it leaves you feeling sick.

Aug 14, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders cornerback Keith McGill (39) breaks up a pass intended for St. Louis Rams receiver Damian Williams (10) in a preseason NFL football game at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Sure, some cheered to see Dez Bryant catch a little of his own medicine, but the overall atmosphere was far more concerning. To watch a team that still has so much work to do think that it’s acceptable to engage in those types of activities during practice is very concerning. This team hasn’t earned anything, yet the players and coaches think it’s acceptable to allow practice to turn into 12 rounds of fight night.

St. Louis still has a lot of work to do before the season begins. Week 2 of the preseason brings them to Tennessee to face the new look Titans. The Rams are better than the Titans. Period. There is no reason St. Louis can’t go out and dominate this game on every level. Anything less should be considered a severe disappointment.

The team will receive, what appears to be, some much needed time off Friday before traveling to Nashville on Saturday. Then the Rams return home for their final two preseason games against the Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs. Both games should be a good test of just how far this team has come. The Rams won’t travel again until Week 2 of the regular season, September 20, against the Washington Redskins.

This could very well be a make or break year for a franchise on the brink of extinction. The city of St. Louis is doing their best to keep the Rams in town, but it appears the “California dream” continues to loom for the team. Fans in favor of moving the team back to L.A. showed up in force during the teams abbreviated sessions in Oxnard.

What this team needs now is a healthy distraction, and that needs to come in the form of winning. Sure, it’s only the second week of the preseason, but before we know it the first-team will be playing big minutes against a Super Bowl contender in the Colts. The Rams need to get things together for themselves, for the coaching staff and for the fans.