Training Camp

NFL Europe may have ended Donald Sellars' short career with the Rams. Sellars is complaining of tendonitis in his knees, which could ultimately be his demise with the Rams and their newfound depth at the WR position.

Here's a fairly thorough summary of Howard's show today in case you missed it. Please be aware that most of the words in quotation marks are not direct quotes, there's alot of paraphrasing by me, but it's very close to the original...(FE)

ACCORDING TO BALZER

The Rams had planned to practice in full pads yesterday, but did not due to the heat. They will have their first practice in full pads this afternoon.

LB Charlie Clemons and Greg Hill were involved in a pretty serious skirmish yesterday in practice. Balzer left no doubt that Clemons was the offending party... "Clemons is fighting for a starting job and he was very overzealous throwing elbows and throwing people down in a practice with just helmets and shorts. He also roughed up WR Mac Cody out of bounds". (FE note - my impression from Rams Park is that this is an attitude that Vermeil enjoys to a large extent and that helps to explain the altercations involving Clemons and London Fletcher's bitter fight in minicamp).

The Rams found a small tear in the cartiledge around D'Marco Farr's knee in an MRI months ago, but it was very minor and they felt it would heal with only treatment. He aggravated the tear during one of his patented spin moves in practice yesterday. He's expected to miss no more than a month.

The trade for LB Mike Morton should be seen as protection against the Leonard Little situation. There is still some uncertainty about how Little will bounce back after missing 8 games, and Morton provides some insurance. In order for the Rams to give up the 7th rounder in 2001, Morton must remain on the roster all 16 games. The implication by Balzer is that unless Morton plays very well, he may be a casualty of Little's return for the 2nd half of the season.

Vermeil says that the team is well ahead of where he thought it would be in respect to learning Mike Martz' new offense. Martz' plan is to throw it all at them right away and then go back later and focus on the specifics, rather than putting the offense in little by little. They have already covered most of the basics. Balzer repeated the comments made earlier in the offseason by Martz about his own offense... that it will focus on confusing defenses with alot of movement, shifting, and running different plays from the same sets and the same plays from different sets. It is very important that the players learn the most intricate parts of the offense in order for these goals to be successful.

Leonard Little did not appeal the NFL's 8 game suspension. His agent had questioned the motivation behind the sentence--whether it was based on league policy or the tragic results of the accident. After talking with the union and with Little's family, they decided to accept the suspension. (No mention was made of the Rams having any part in this decision). Little has looked great in camp thus far. Balzer said he has been "very noticeable on the practice field" already, and the coaches have emphasized that he seems to have retained everything despite the long layoff and has "picked up right where he left off".

A couple of whiners notes: Garrison Hearst had surgery on his ankle yesterday. The surgery actually consisted of drilling holes in Hearst's ankle to encourage blood flow and stimulate the healing process. The initial report was that Hearst could be back in 10 weeks, but that's the bare minimum, 14-16 weeks is much more likely... Hearst probably won't be back until late November or December at the earliest. Also, the whiners will sign LP tomorrow.

INTERVIEW WITH CHARLEY ARMEY:

"There's a certain amount of anxiety involved (in watching the roster you assembled take shape on the practice field). What's really great is when guys step up and perform at a level that's above your expectations, when they do things that you did not expect. Of course, there are some who disappoint you when you get them on the field as well."

"We've had very good luck with (rookie) free agents in the two years that I have been here. London Fletcher is a good example, and we have a couple of guys who we are excited about this year as well. We also feel very good about some of our late round draft picks this year."

"There are no bad players at this level. The gap between the very good players and the marginal players is very small."

They have already started on next year's draft. They have about 1500 players on their draft board at this time and it will be trimmed to 134 in the months following the college football season.

"This is by far the best team I've ever worked for in terms of the ownership and management situation. The entire organization works together and is very cohesive. John Shaw is the ideal man to work for. He is open to everyone, he listens to everyone's opinion and adds his input. Of course, it's Dick Vermeil who makes the final decisions."

"This will be the best Rams football team of the 1990's. We're a very young team and we're looking forward to a good 10 year run... We will cut some very good players this year who can make other teams' rosters. That hasn't happened since I've been here. We've already had inquiries from about 7 other teams regarding certain players who may not make our football team and we will make some trades this year before final cuts to improve our draft position in the coming years."

The Rams are allowed extra players in camp at this point (they currently have 85) due to NFL rules about NFL Europe players. Armey referred to them as "bonus players" and they allow the team to look at additional talent as well as provide some extra bodies for practice.

Armey stressed the importance of "working the roster from the bottom as well as the top", continually bringing in players from all sorts of origins to see how they stack up against the core players on the team. "We always actively monitor the waiver wire... we scan the arena league... we monitor NFL Europe very closely... we send scouts to Canada."

A couple of examples he mentioned were: "Van Hiles is a guy who has an excellent chance of making this football team and helping us out. He spent one year in Chicago and I have no idea why they cut him."

"Tom Nutten. Here's a guy who never got a chance to play. He went over the Europe and had a chance to start and develop his skills. Now he has a very good chance to be our starting LG. He is right now. Were it not for the European league, he'd probably be pumping gas somewhere."

"Jay Zygmunt is the best in the business. He is the most patient guy I've ever dealt with in regards to contracts. I know this because I've worked for a number of teams and I've done contracts myself and no one does contracts as well as Jay. That's why I'm not at all concerned (about the negotiations with Faulk)."

"I'm not concerned at all (about Faulk missing part of training camp). I can't speak for Dick Vermeil or the coaching staff, but my opinion is that running back is a natural, instinctive position, and he should be alright there. I may be concerned about someone else, but Marshall is a very intelligent, very bright young man and he should have no trouble picking it up when he gets here."

"We have some very good young defensive tackles that we are developing here... Corey Sears and Weaver and English from McNeese St. are two more. I am still looking at that position if we can find someone to bring in who we feel can make this team. We may bring in a young 300 lb. defensive tackle from Humbolt State in the next few days and get a look at him."

"I feel very good about this football team and about our ability to put a product on the field that will get the fans in St.Louis excited this year."

BACK TO BLAZER

Blazer feels that the Ricky Williams trade was probably worthwhile for the Saints. He thinks the price they paid is overblown in the media. "After the 3rd round, the draft is basically a crap shoot. When you look at it like that, they only gave up 2 1st and 2 3rd round picks for the RB they wanted." (FE note - I think this is the silliest thing I've ever heard Balzer say.)