July 29, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford (8) throws to tight end Lance Kendrick (88) during training camp at ContinuityX Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

It’s Saturday, which means we are only 24 hours away from the opening of the preseason for the Rams. For all the complaining about the preseason, I really enjoy watching some of the younger guys battle for jobs. I wouldn’t expect to see much of the big names obviously, but hopefully we should get plenty from the rookies and get a glimpse of the new faces. It will also be our first look at the new coaching staff, so that will be interesting. Here is what head coach Jeff Fisher had to say after Friday’s workout.

“I would say yeah from the physical standpoint. Yeah we’ve got some things, I think a very important walk through in the morning and then we’ll have meetings tomorrow night. The players have a pretty good idea when they’re going to play and how much they’re going to play and we’ve discussed that with them and even rehearsed the pregame warm-ups. So from a physical standpoint we’re really in good shape. We got some guys back today now it’s just find tune and go play.”

“Yeah we’re keeping things basic, simple, block and tackle. We’ll give them a chance to make plays but we want to see effort, speed and intensity. Especially the young guys, they don’t know what to expect and so the veterans can carry the torch for them. They’ll sit there and watch early and we’ll leave it up to them to finish the game.”

“Well, the challenge is going to be get guys playing time and get guys playing time early in the game. Because typically as you move through the preseason starters play early and then they work backups later and we’ve got talented guys that are going to be playing the second half. So don’t be surprised if you see some different guys playing earlier in the game over the course of the preseason.”

June 12, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein (4) kicks during minicamp at ContinuityX Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

The Rams scrimmage at the Edward Jones Dome on Saturday was by all accounts a pretty big success, as just under 13,000 people showed up to check out the new-look squad under head coach Jeff Fisher. As it always goes with this kind of thing, there were a few guys who stood out, but it probably wasn’t the guys you would expect. The biggest star of the day was probably rookie kicker Greg Zuerlein, who put on a long-distance field goal show. Zuerlein nailed kicks from 39, 44, 49, 54 and 59 yards before just missing a 64-yarder that had the distance but drifted to the left. I know it’s still only practice, but the kid has a bomb and he looks to be fairly accurate as well. Plenty of people were floored when the Rams picked Zuerlein in the draft, but those who saw him today probably feel quite a bit better about that selection now.

Another player who had a good day was WR Brandon Gibson, who seems to put on a show every year in the preseason and then return to the actual Brandon Gibson when the regular season kicks off. I’m not saying we should discount what he is doing so far of what he did today, as he made two really impressive catches during the workout, but I will remind everyone that he has a history of being a different player when the games count. For what it’s worth, Sam Bradford really likes him and they seem to be on the same page, so that could bode well for his chances to make the team. I won’t be heartbroken if he doesn’t make the final cut, however.

The offense got plenty of work in today, and it sounds like coach Fisher was pretty happy with how everything went. “It was really good. All week I think they were kind of looking forward to this to kind of finish up the first phase of camp. What we wanted to accomplish today was a lot of situation things. We did a 4-minute offense, trying to get the ball back on defense and play keep away on offense, and of course we did the 2-minute with a lot of good individual work and 1-on-1 situation stuff. Overall, it was good. We came through healthy. It looks like we’ll get some guys back on Monday. Most of the DBs will be back on Monday. They’re obviously done now, they’re off tomorrow, we come back Monday and we’ll have three good, solid days of camp and then we’ll start preparing for our first preseason opponent.”

Bradford also had positive things to say about the workout. “Really, it was just a normal practice for us. We went through the same thing we do in a normal day, but I thought we had a great two-minute drill today. It’s something that we talked about actually last night in our meetings, so it was nice to see that carry over onto the field and (for) us to go out and execute the way we did today. Other than that we got some good work in some different areas. Today was the first time we went goal line. Got some good live snaps down there. I’ll have to look at the tape, but I thought we had a pretty good practice today.”

SJ39 shared the positive feelings as well after practice. “So far so good. We’ve been installing this (offense) now for some months. We started in the spring and I think a lot of it has carried over and the guys are clicking, especially within the 1s. The blocking schemes are being able to … everyone’s been on the same page and looking really good on the run game. We have to continue to just work on it and just work on the chemistry and make sure that we can try all stay on the field together. That’s how you can build off of that success.”

July 29, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher directs his team during training camp at ContinuityX Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

You know football is officially back when the squad puts on the pads in practice for the first time, and that was the case at Rams Park on Thursday. You can work all you want in shorts, but things start to get real once the pads get strapped on and the guys start really hammering each other. There were some scuffles and things of that nature, but overall it was a good day for the Rams. Here’s what head coach Jeff Fisher thought of the practice.

“It was good. It was our first official practice with the whole team with pads. What happens is it slows down a little bit even though they only weigh a few pounds, It slows down. But I thought we got a lot done and we worked a lot of situational stuff, the two minute, the redzone and I thought it was pretty good.”

“It’s especially beneficial for the guys up front that got the pass rush for the first time in 7 or 8 months so that was good. We need as much of that kind of stuff as they can get so we’ll continue with that the next couple of days. It’s a process and we’ve got a lot of time ahead of us.”

(On T Roger Saffold coming back from an injury)
“The injury’s completely behind him. He’s strong. He’s really worked hard this offseason, with his feet, his balance and his technique and the injury’s behind and he’s doing just fine. He’s got a couple pretty good rushers out there to work against every day.”