Rams get first test against Chargers
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams got their first live reps against another team during training camp when they visited The Bolt, the practice home of the Los Angeles Chargers.
A review of the joint practice between the Rams and the Chargers on Aug. 4 revealed that head coach Sean McVay’s team put out some good work on the offensive side of the ball.
Running back Kyren Williams ran the football like he was in mid-season form. His backups, Ronnie Rivers, Boston Scott and rookie Blake Corum looked solid.
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) in passing form during his team’s joint practice against the Los Angeles Chargers on Aug. 4, 2024. Photo credit: Carlos Jones/News4usonline
“There’s no such thing as a broken tackle in practice because every defender thinks they’ve wrapped up perfectly and every back thinks they broke the tackle,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said after the scrimmage. ”So that’s what tackle football is all about.”
“I thought our guys did a nice job in protection. I’ll go take a peek to make sure that’s correct, but I felt like they did. I thought there were some creases in the run game, which was good,” Stafford went on to say.
The offensive line, minus anchors Alaric Jackson, Jonah Jackson and Rob Havenstein, appeared to hold their own at times against a Chargers’ pass rush of Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack.
At other times, the lack of continuity on the offensive front led to multiple tipped balls and deflected passes that turned into turnovers. The unit’s uneven play against the Chargers is something his team can learn from, McVay said afterward.
“We got a lot of good work in, a lot of learning opportunities,” McVay remarked. “It was good though. We’ll go back we’ll look at the tape. There was a lot of things to learn from.”
“There were a lot of guys in there, especially with our first offense that… it’s some of their first reps against some excellent players. It seemed like there was a lot of tipped balls for us offensively today that led to those turnovers. That’s something that we’ll really look at. There were some good things,” he added.
Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) breaks off a run against the Los Angeles Chargers during a joint practice at The Bolt on Aug. 4, 2024. Photo credit: Carlos Jones/News4usonline
Stafford had a couple of deflections that turned into tip-drill interceptions.
“Yeah, obviously you want good results, but you’re working for the process more than anything at this point, especially being August 4th,” Stafford said. “So still things we can clean up in the process, there’s no question about that. The results are what they are for a practice. We have to go out there and learn from them, whether good or bad.”
Stafford admits there were some plays where the offense shined. There were other times when the unit did not perform up to its capabilities.
“It was up and down a little bit,” Stafford said. “They did a nice job. They got their hands up the line of scrimmage a couple times and tipped balls in this league don’t hit the ground. So it was a nice job by them.”
“We had some good creases in the run game. This is good for us to get out here and get some of this work, see these looks,” he also said. “They have a really talented roster on the defensive side of the ball that we went up against today. It was good for us to see where we’re at.”
The Los Angeles Rams had their rushing game going against the Los Angeles Chargers during a joint practice at The Bolt on Aug. 4, 2024. Photo credit: Carlos Jones/News4usonline
The Rams won’t have time to dwell too long on the scrimmage with the Chargers. They will engage in a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 8 before playing the 2023 NFC East champion in a preseason game on Aug. 11 at SoFi Stadium.
What McVay wants to see from his ballclub between now and then is consistency.
“I think consistent improvement,” McVay quipped. “Some of that you have to have some… patience isn’t something that I’m very familiar with as you know, but I think there’s an understanding of let’s keep building, especially if you have some guys that are getting reps for the first time based on some people that we do have out.”
McVay continued, “What I think is helpful is… no season is ever the same, but there are different experiences you can draw on…I can remember before the ’21 season we practiced against the Raiders. We had a really tough first day of practice. We turned the ball over a bunch. The guys collectively responded the right way. We were fairly decent on offense that year. These provide opportunities to learn, to test things.”