Linehan lays into his weary troops

By Bill Coats
St. Louis Post-Dispatch


MEQUON, Wis. (Camp Day 6/late report)

With about 30 minutes remaining before the scheduled conclusion of Wednesday afternoon’s practice, coach Scott Linehan blew his whistle and had his troops huddle around him at midfield. It looked as if he were going to call for an early adjournment, an occasional occurrence as camp drones on and the players wear down.

Instead, Linehan laid into the team. Although his words were intelligible from the sideline, there was no mistaking a significant increase in decibel level. After about 3 minutes, the meeting broke up. And the final half-hour was the crispest segment of the two-practice day.

Linehan declined to detail his message. “It was between myself and the team,” he said. But in general, he was exhorting the players to gut it out despite the less-than-ideal weather conditions (89 degrees at the start of the 4 p.m. workout) and a growing injury list (only 68 of 80 players practiced) that forced some of the healthy players into extra work.

“This is the hottest day we’ve had,” Linehan noted. “It was a challenging day, and there were a lot of guys taking a lot of extra reps because of guys not being in there. But that’s the way it’s going to be in games, and you’ve got to train yourself.

“It’s going to be like that down in Tennessee next week, and it’s going to be like that when we play on the road early in the heat. We’ve got to get ourselves prepared.”

<><><>

Punter Donnie Jones, who turned in a standout season last year after the Rams picked him up as a free agent, is absolutely killing the ball during camp. He’s launched several bombs that traveled 75 yards or so in the air.

“Donnie always has had a great leg,” Linehan said. “He’s much more comfortable with the set-up, with the snapper and timing and everything. . . . He’s really, really got himself in good shape, and he’s kicking the ball very well.”

<><><>

Steven Jackson watch:

*Days out: 6

*Practices missed: 9

*Fine total: $90,000

<><><>

Notes & quotes:

>>Newly signed DT Henry Smith wore No. 69 Wednesday after practicing with a linebacker’s number — 54 — on Tuesday. 69 became available when DT Josh Thompson was waived/injured.

>>Brett Romberg has a sore hand, so Richie Incognito has been working at C with the first-team offense for a couple of days.

>>S Todd Johnson, filling in for injured Oshiomogho Atogwe (hamstring), has been impressive.

>>DE/DT Victor Adeyanju was back at Concordia on Wednesday after returning to St. Louis for surgery on the broken middle finger on his right hand. He’s expected back on the field in about two weeks.

>>QB Marc Bulger had his sharpest, most accurate day of camp Wednesday.

>>A week in, the contenders for roster spots are beginning to separate themselves from the pretenders.

>>Be sure to check out Chris Lee’s updated camp photos elsewhere on the Rams section of stltoday.com.

All for now . . . two more reports Thursday.

Love to hear that Bulger is back to crisp passing. He is going to be a monster again this year behind a good OL... can't wait.

Thanks for the update Wraith!

75 yards in the air for Jones? I hope that he's got some directional ability with that leg, because there's no way our coverage guys are getting downfield to down the ball. And that is most certainly a good thing. Crazy good.

It'd be nice if he actually said who the contenders and pretenders for roster spots were...

Lastly, I also find it good that the team, regardless of past feelings, is responding to Linehan now. When he demanded that extra push to end the practice, in less than ideal conditions, they gave it to him. Now, I can only hope they give it to him at the end of games as well.

All good news. Jackson? If you are listening,...........Get your butt to camp!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TekeRam

Lastly, I also find it good that the team, regardless of past feelings, is responding to Linehan now. When he demanded that extra push to end the practice, in less than ideal conditions, they gave it to him. Now, I can only hope they give it to him at the end of games as well.

---

I absolutely agree. This is good to hear, but if it doesn't carry over to the regular season, it's just another meaningless training camp observation.

Atogwe being out is a concern. But it great to hear that Johnson is doing great. If the Offensive line is healthy and everyone steps up then Marc will be back to crush some numbers.

With Jackson out. Leonard and Minor get to showcase their talents. And Al Saunders has always had descent running backs in his schemes.

About as good as can be expected from camp. I just hope they are doing some new type of conditioning program, because last year in almost every game we looked good until the 2nd half where we wore down. Plus, poor conditioning leads to a lot of injuries. Conditioning was my #1 concern, and I just hope they have changed the program since last year.

Just gotta get Jackson in now. I'm not too worried about him, but I can't help but think about Larry Johnson and Tomlinson last year. L.T. just didn't play in the preseason as normal, and Johnson missed a lot of time, and both of these guys had under 4 yards a carry earlier in the year... some rust perhaps?