One week into training camp and the St. Louis Rams are right on track. After clearing the cobwebs off the shoulder pads on Monday and a disappointing practice on Wednesday, Coach Jeff Fisher was pleased with his team following further workouts.
“You can tell now that there’s familiarity with the shoulder pads. It was kind of awkward the first day and now they’re feeling good,” said Fisher. “A little disappointed with yesterday’s (practice) but coming back today, we’re back on track.”
A concern for the Rams throughout the offseason has been their youth on both sides of the ball. On offense four-year starting quarterback Sam Bradford is considered to be the veteran of the young bunch. From a defensive perspective Cortland Finnegan and Kendall Langford are the “old men” at 29 and 27 respectively. These “veterans” are surrounded by an abundance of young players that are hungry to reach their potential.
“They’re all battling, and that’s good,” Coach Fisher said, “That kind of offensive and defensive competition is taking place at a lot of different positions, so it only makes young players better.”
As Fisher alluded to, there were battles taking place all over the field Thursday and after the dust settled there was one player who separated himself from the pack. Wide receiver Chris Givens came onto the scene late last season and surprised some people at camp this week with his ability to make plays. One man who didn’t seem too surprised was head coach Jeff Fisher.
“He’s really had a good offseason. He was here and he was very, very motivated and focused. You can see he’s much more familiar with our offense now, and he had that stretch where he had a catch over 50 yards five consecutive weeks last year.”
Givens was at his best last season after Danny Amendola was out of the lineup due to injury. Amendola went down during the Thanksgiving weekend game against Arizona last year; a game where Givens caught 5 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. Now, with Amendola in New England, Fisher is expecting more week-to-week consistency from Givens.
“I think you see much more consistency out of him early in the season, but I’m pleased with his production so far.”
The Rams are a team full of young players like Chris Givens, who have the potential to become very productive players in this league. All that is left for them to do is work hard, and stay on track.
