Faulk will miss minicamp
By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Jun. 08 2006
Rams running back Marshall Faulk has a busy weekend planned.
He'll be unveiling his first product in a food-industry venture, a low-fat
turkey and chicken sausage, at the Taste of the Central West End. Plus, he'll
be appearing with comedian Tommy Davidson on Saturday night at the Funny Bone
in West Port Plaza in a benefit for the Marshall Faulk Foundation.
One place Faulk apparently won't be stopping is Rams Park. Coach Scott Linehan
said agent Rocky Arceneaux informed him Thursday that Faulk is "physically
unable" to participate in the team's three-day minicamp, which begins this
morning.
Faulk, 33, had "clean-up" surgery on both knees early this year and "is nursing
some issues with the knees," Linehan said. The Rams still expect the future
Hall of Famer to return for his 13th NFL season. But until his knees are
re-evaluated, Linehan explained, the Rams won't know when he'll be available.
Faulk, who also missed the two earlier minicamps, will be missed, Linehan said.
"It's important that everybody's here," Linehan said. "But some things are out
of your control."
Two practices are scheduled for today and Saturday, and one for Sunday morning
(all are closed to the public). Linehan is viewing the full-squad get-together
as the de facto opening of training camp.
"Now that our roster is close to being complete, we want to go full throttle
and incorporate everything," he said. "We'll have all our systems installed so
that when training camp starts, we can dive right into it."
Usually, the first part of training camp is devoted to chipping away the
offseason rust and refamiliarizing with the playbook. With the Rams afforded an
extra minicamp because they have a new head coach, those tasks can be completed
sooner rather than later.
"I like fact that we were able to push things back" about a month later than
the last minicamp generally is held, Linehan said. "Not only are we
implementing our systems, but we're conditioning our players, getting them into
football shape."
After a relatively short break, players are to report for training camp July
26, with practices beginning the next day at Rams Park. Linehan is planning to
alternate two- practice days (morning and night) and single-practice
(afternoon) days. Tentative plans are to open all sessions to the public, at
least through the first 2 1/2 weeks of camp.
"I'm a big believer in that," Linehan said. "We like to have our training camp
here in St. Louis so that our (fans) can have access to it. If they want to
come out and watch their favorite players, I think that's great."
Minicamp No. 3 "will give us a little bit of a taste of what training camp will
be like," veteran wide receiver
Dane Looker said.
Linehan, hired in January after Mike Martz was fired, brought with him a new
coaching staff and new methods of operation. The additional minicamp "gives us
an opportunity to learn the systems faster, get more acclimated with our
coaches and bond as a team faster," defensive end Anthony Hargrove said. "With
so many new faces - new players and the new coaching staff - you get a chance
to ... kind of get a feel for everybody."
The raw basics were instituted in the earlier minicamps, the first for the
veterans, the second for rookies and a number of other young players.
Second-year quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is digesting another plan of
attack after dealing with Martz's intricate system in 2005, said: "They didn't
throw as much at us as quickly as what I had last year as a rookie, and the
guys are picking it up great. I think it's going to be a real successful
offense."
Linehan said that he's been pleased with the "95 percent-plus" attendance at
organized team activities, which are voluntary, and that he anticipates
near-perfect attendance this weekend, too. "We'll add some wrinkles" during
training camp, Linehan said. "But the assumption is that we'll have installed
everything already, and then we'll test the carry-over, see how much they're
able to retain. We really have to turn it up a notch."
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