By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Aug. 03 2006
Asked how his Monday went, Rams tackle
Orlando Pace stroked his chin and
replied, "Hmm ... what'd I do Monday?"
The big man was kidding, of course. He missed both training camp practices
Monday to be with his wife, Carla, for the birth of 8-pound 8-ounce Landon,
their third son. They also have a daughter.
"Monday was good," Pace said, dropping the act. "Everybody's healthy, so
everything's fine."
Pace, 30, is in the pink, too, as he prepares for his 10th NFL season. "I feel
good," he said. "This is a fresh start, a new environment, new coaches,
different schemes, different challenges. As players, the older you get, if
you're in the same regime, sometimes you kind of get bored with it."
It's not as if Pace needs a lot of extra motivation. After all, he's been a Pro
Bowl selection the last seven years. Coach
Scott Linehan said the 6-foot-7,
320-pound Pace, the No. 1 overall selection in the 1997 draft, is the
embodiment of what a left tackle in the NFL should be.
"If you were going to make one of those LTs, he's what you're looking for,"
Linehan said. "He does things you can't coach, but he's also a very coachable
player who takes pride in his technique."
Pace, in camp under his third head coach, said Linehan's approach differs
widely from those of Mike Martz and Dick Vermeil. "It's a lot more physical,"
Pace said. "We're really emphasizing the run, and we're going after it pretty
good."
Linehan has promised to balance the attack, which was decidedly pass-heavy with
Martz at the controls. That sounds good to Pace.
"I like the balance, where teams won't be able to come into the Edward Jones
Dome and say, 'OK, they're going to pass the ball 50 times a game,'" he said.
"I really enjoy knowing that we can pass and run."
Pace, for whom early holdouts used to be the norm until he signed a seven-year,
$52.9 million deal last year, never has been happier to be in training camp.
While Carla is home with the kids, Pace is housed with his teammates at an
Earth City hotel, not missing a wink.
"I can sleep good at night," he said. "I planned this pretty good."
Guarded optimism
Pace had a new partner at left guard Wednesday, as rookie
Mark Setterstrom
shared first-team reps with
Richie Incognito. Pace liked what he saw in the
6-4, 314-pounder from Minnesota.
"He's playing well; obviously, he was coached well in college," Pace said. "I'm
really shocked and surprised at the effort he's giving out there."
Setterstrom, a seventh-round draft pick, appreciated Pace's strong review but
declined to offer a self-evaluation. "It's early, and I'm still learning the
system," he explained. "There's a long way to go before anybody talks about
making the team for sure. I'm just out there battling."
A four-year starter for the Gophers, Setterstrom helped carve out room for
running back Laurence Maroney, a Normandy High product who was drafted in the
first round this year by New England. Maroney piled up 4,808 yards and scored
56 touchdowns at Minnesota.
"It was so much fun to have Laurence in our backfield up there, because he
could make a big play at any time," Setterstrom said. "We opened some holes for
him, but at the same time he made us look a lot better than we were sometimes."
Ram-blings
Cornerback DeJuan Groce returned to practice after sitting out two days with a
strained hamstring. ... Defensive end
Leonard Little missed a second day of
workouts with the flu. With Little out, Anthony Hargrove shifted to the left
side and Brandon Green was on the right side with the first unit.