For the second time in camp, the Los Angeles Rams held a padded practice on Tuesday, continuing to ramp up the intensity before Week 1. They’ll de-load on Wednesday with a lighter day of work, but the performance of both the offense and defense stood out on Day 2 with pads.
Jimmy Garoppolo continues to lead the first-team offense and he seems to be getting more comfortable by the day. Stetson Bennett has done a nice job with the backups, as well, building a rapport with players such as Xavier Smith and Konata Mumpfield.
Here’s what we learned from Day 6 of Rams training camp.
Jimmy Garoppolo is getting in a groove
Matthew Stafford has missed every day of camp thus far, which has afforded Garoppolo plenty of opportunities with the first-team offense. There have been some ups and downs but based on videos out of camp and Sean McVay’s comments after practice, it seems Garoppolo is in a groove.
He launched a deep ball to Tutu Atwell that was perfectly thrown but dropped, and then hit Puka Nacua on another downfield shot where the receiver made a spectacular catch.
McVay has been pleased with Garoppolo’s play, which has kept the whole offense on schedule in Stafford’s absence.
“We’ll certainly be really excited when we get ‘number nine’ back out here leading the way for us. In the meantime, I’ve been really pleased with Jimmy,” McVay said. “I don’t want to say that I’m surprised, but it is a big factor for us to be able to feel like we can be as patient as we need to be for what’s smart for Matthew. Then oh, by the way, it’s not affecting the team at this time right now because of what Jimmy is able to do. We’ll be excited about getting Matthew back here, but having Jimmy as a big edge for us.”
Offense bounces back on Day 2 of pads
McVay suggested the defense won the Rams’ first padded practice of camp on Monday but the offense appeared to bounce back Tuesday with a better showing. Garoppolo looked sharp and the running game was creating big chunks of plays with all three backs.
“I think the defense has had two really good days. I thought the offense responded better,” McVay said. “The caliber of just competitiveness on both sides and just the quality of football felt like it was a notch up. That’s what we’re striving to do. To be able to positively push one another. It’s not necessarily about winning the drill, but it’s, are we having good quality football snap in and snap out, minimizing some of the mistakes and playing with the techniques and fundamentals that we want? I thought today was a good step in the right direction.”
Pair of DBs exit with injuries
Emmanuel Forbes Jr. felt his hamstring tighten up a bit during red zone drills and though he tried to return to the team portion of practice, McVay and Aubrey Pleasant opted to play it safe and keep him on the sidelines for the rest of the day.
Later on, Kamren Curl had his ankle stepped on and after walking to the trainer’s tent, he was carted to the locker room. McVay didn’t sound overly concerned about either player, but he should have further updates on Wednesday.
Curl is an unquestioned starter in the secondary and Forbes has been getting first-team reps, so both provide value in the DB room.
Nate Landman is going to be a major factor
With each passing day, Landman seems to draw more and more praise. His leadership has been on full display in camp as the defensive signal caller, making his presence known on the field throughout practice.
McVay loves the way Landman carries himself and he’s having a huge impact on the defense. After forcing a fumble on Monday, Landman came back with another good performance on Tuesday.
“You can hear it, you can feel it,” McVay said of Landman’s impact. “He’s one of those guys, he has some natural leadership traits and characteristics. I think you’re innately thrust into that when you play an inside linebacker position. He’s just got a good feel. He’s got great awareness, a good understanding of how to be able to positively uplift his teammates and challenge them in the right way. I love what this guy is about. You saw there was a great play kind of in a short yardage situation that ‘Kam’ Kinchens did a great job of being able to kind of spill the ball outside and Omar and Landman in unison ended up getting a knock-back tackle on a fourth-and-1. He has consistently shown that type of stuff.”
Blake Corum and Jarquez Hunter continue to make plays
Kyren Williams is having a good camp himself, but it’s hard to ignore the two guys behind him. Corum and Hunter each broke a couple of long runs on Tuesday, showing their burst and speed.
Those were the types of plays missing from the offense last season, so it’s encouraging to see both players having an impact in practice.
“I think he’s done a really good job,” McVay said of Corum. “I thought he had some excellent runs today. I think he’s had a really good camp. He’s one of those guys that because of how conscientious he is, he’s just going to improve into his second year. I think Ron Gould does such a great job with that room as a whole. Like I’ve mentioned, Kyren has done a great job. Really love what we’ve seen from Blake and Jarquez Hunter.”
Puka Nacua made two spectacular catches
Nacua’s first highlight-reel play was a spinning touchdown catch over Darious Williams in the end zone, elevating to come down with a spectacular grab for a would-be score.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, he made an even better play later on in camp where Garoppolo threw a deep ball and Nacua hauled it in while being dragged to the ground by Ahkello Witherspoon, who was called for pass interference.
Rob Havenstein gets veteran rest day
After Davante Adams and Tyler Higbee got Monday off, Havenstein got a rest day on Tuesday. McVay said it’s by design to give veterans one day off during each of the four-day blocks, so Havenstein’s turn came on Tuesday.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: 7 takeaways from Day 6 of Rams training camp: Backup RBs keep making plays
Reporting by Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
