[Nick]

Thursday Evening
Thursday, April 20, 2006

- The Rams finalized the schedule for the first minicamp under coach Scott Linehan on Thursday. The camp will kick off Friday morning with a practice followed by meetings followed by another practice and some more meetings. The team will follow the same schedule Saturday with one final workout on Sunday morning. The practices are closed to the public.

- This minicamp is considered mandatory, but like offseason workouts, that term has little meaning. Some Rams are excused from the minicamp, including running back Marshall Faulk, but the majority of the team is expected to participate. In a little bit of a surprise, right guard Adam Timmerman has not been cleared to go. Here's what Linehan had to say Thursday afternoon about Faulk and Timmerman's status.

"For the most part, I would be surprised if not everybody wasn’t there," Linehan said. "I did talk to Marshall (Faulk) and he did have a conflict. He is the one person that is confirmed that has a conflict for this particular minicamp. Plus he is not cleared to do anything anyway, so I okayed that. It’s still a voluntary camp and we just encourage everybody to be there, and I would be surprised if we didn’t have just about everybody there.”

As for Timmerman, his status is a little bit of a surprise since it appeared that he was surgery and injury free. But he has not been cleared to go. Center Andy McCollum also hasn't been cleared.

“Timmerman won’t, but Incognito should be cleared to go at this camp," Linehan said. "They will be going through walk throughs, nothing full speed. Same thing with Andy McCollum. Andy had some offseason surgery stuff that he had to get done, nothing serious, but he is not cleared to go full speed yet.”

- That said, Linehan won't be looking for any big hits or high contact drills. Instead, the focus will be on establishing chemistry and tempo for the practices. It's a chance for the players to get to know the coaches and to get familiar with the playbook some. There won't be much in the way of playbook installation (Linehan said it will likely be "bare bones") but there will be some base things worked on and added. This camp, of course, is the first of three that the Rams are allotted. Teams that add news coaching staffs are given the liberty of adding an extra minicamp.

- The NFL Draft is almost one week away and things remain completely muddled at the top. Thus, things are still muddled for the Rams. One thing that is beginning to crystallize is the players and positions that would cause the Rams to move up in the draft. I have received tons of emails on this topic and it appears there are two or three players that could potentially fall into the area the Rams would consider for a move up that they would consider. Maryland tight end Vernon Davis is probably one of those players as is Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk. Again, though, this is the season of misinformation so it's hard to know what anyone is truly thinking.

Be sure to check back this weekend for complete coverage from minicamp include Notes updates after practice. It will be nice to see some helmets working this weekend and to get a look at some of the new talent.