LA Rams News: Team postponing July 28 start of training camp

LA Rams News: Team is reportedly postponing July 28 start of training camp

The LA Rams have been making preparations for training camp to begin July 28, 2020. Apparently, they are not yet ready, as Jordan Rodrigue of TheAthletic.com reports that the team has postponed training camp, and has not yet set a new date for the team’s training camp to open. While the Rams are the first NFL team to declare a delay to the start of training camp, other teams may follow suit.  Per Daily News beat reporter Kevin Modesti, the team is pushing back the start date due to the ongoing conversations between the NFL and NFLPA over the appropriate pandemic protocols to implement before players arrive for training camp.

Of course, the NFL had already set the start date for training camp at nearly the last possible moment for a realistic timeline to prepare for the start of the new season. Any delays will impact the ability of even the Rams’ coaching staff to have the team ready for the season opener. Rookies and quarterbacks will report for COVID-19 testing on July 27. Veterans will report of COVID-19 testing on the 28th.

After testing,players will return home until a formal start date is determined.

Kick start roster wherever possible

Of course, the Rams offensive line may be far ahead of other teams, if simply for the fact that the team has returned 13 players from last year. Of those 13, nine players had actual NFL game starting experience. For that matter, most of the team’s offense returns.  Only WR Van Jefferson, RB Cam Akers, TE Bryce Hopkins, and OT Tremayne Anchrum were added to the team’s roster via the 2020 NFL Draft, and as such will be expected to learn the team’s players, coaches, and plays more quickly than others.

The Rams defense returns relatively intact as well.  Of course, the team’s four starting linebackers from a season ago are gone, which means the team will be going with a fairly inexperienced group of guys for the heart of the defense. That is why getting the team into training camp as quickly as possible is very important.

Of course, the Rams are in much better shape than many teams with new head coaches and schemes.  So too are teams that have invested heavily in rookies this year pushed hard to learn everything before the start of the season. No preseason and limited training camp time will mean very unexpected results. Let’s hope the Rams can leverage their roster continuity to get an early-season winning streak going as other teams are still working out the bugs.