Friday Notebook

**RamWraith** · #1 (**permalink**) -30-07-2004

Friday, July 30, 2004
By NICK WAGONER
Staff Writer

With the third day of practice came an additional influx of intensity and another chance for some of the young players to impress the coaches.

The Rams practiced in the morning, getting the afternoon off. St. Louis will use the free afternoon to workout and go to meetings. Every third day, the Rams will have one practice leading up to the break of training camp Aug. 20.

Perhaps the extra rest awaiting the Rams on Friday afternoon signaled to coach Mike Martz an opportunity to kick up the hitting. St. Louis went “live” about halfway through practice, opening up the tackling for the younger players.

Martz said the hitting is a big part of football, so it was only natural for the team to step it up.

“That’s what this game is about, contact,” Martz said. “It’s time to get things rolling pretty good. It’s an attitude.”

None of the first unit offense participated in the live 11-on-11 drills, but it did provide a few fireworks for the fans.

Rookie safety Jason Shivers had one of the hits of the day, nailing Adam Matthews in the backfield. Shivers said the chance to do some real hitting was one he had been waiting for.

“To get in and mix it up for me, my first big hit as part of the Rams’ organization felt good,” Shivers said. “I’m a safety, that’s what I am supposed to do. I’m supposed to bring the wood, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

Shivers wasn’t the only safety to deal a big blow Friday morning. Justin Lucas dropped rookie tight end Erik Jensen on a pass play over the middle. The hitting drills were probably the liveliest part of camp so far; drawing many oohs and aahs from the crowd.

INJURY CHECK- Offensive lineman Ryan Schau left practice early with what Martz described as cramping in his back. Martz said the injury was minor and doesn’t expect Schau to miss much time.

BULGER BETTER? - Quarterback Marc Bulger wowed the crowd in the morning practice, throwing accurate deep passes and zipping the ball through traffic to receivers in stride.

Martz said Bulger is noticeably better than last season, a year in which Bulger went to the Pro Bowl and won MVP honors.

“I do know that he is markedly improved,” Martz said. “There is no hesitation in anything he does

**RamWraith** · #2 (**permalink**) -30-07-2004

PLease read all the fine print!!!

BULGER BETTER? - Quarterback Marc Bulger wowed the crowd in the morning practice, throwing accurate deep passes and zipping the ball through traffic to receivers in stride.

**Nick** · #3 (**permalink**) -31-07-2004

Sweet!! Hope that keeps up. I can only assume it will as he continues to develop more rhythm with players and get more comfortable with the first team. But that's great news!

And I would have loved to see Shivers's first hit. I'm really excited about this guy.

**HUbison** · #4 (**permalink**) -31-07-2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickSeiler

And I would have loved to see Shivers's first hit. I'm really excited about this guy.

It was a thing of beauty. The D-linemen (Kennedy & D-lew, IIRC) sucked up the interior O-line and Shivers was in the box and filled the hole. Nailed Matthews 2 yards in the backfield, looked like Matthews was waiting for one hole to open while Shivers was coming through the other. The defense went nuts!