Rams Notebook: Pace likes balanced approach of offense

[RamWraith]

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.

[chiguy]

Balance! Yay!

[HUbison]

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.

Wow! The 7th round Gopher must be really stepping it up. Keep it going big guy!

(Doomsayer reads) Oh no, Incognito must suck if he's sharing time with a 7th rounder. Let's just cut him now and get it over with!

[Dr. Defense]

This kid really must be good for Orlando Pace to be sayin that this kid is good. The last person that he said that about was Alex Barron............and we all know where that led to.

[tomahawk247]

If Setterstrom takes the LG spot then Incognito would likely take a starting position away from one of the doughnut brothers. However i wouldnt read too much into Setterstrom getting first team reps, they are probably just trying to get him some experience with the first unit.

[Torry Holt]

That's great, the Rams resolve their OL problems IMO with good depth and youngs players for the future.
In a couple of years a line with Pace, Terrell, Incognito, Palmer (or Setterstrom), Barron could be very strong.

[chiguy]

If Setterstrom takes the LG spot then Incognito would likely take a starting position away from one of the doughnut brothers.

If by the end of camp Incognito can't beat out a 7th round draft pick, then I seriously doubt he'll have any starting slot on the line.

Let's just hope one of these guys -- Setterstrom, Icognito, Terrell -- gets it together and gives us a good season. Bulger needs it.

[LongTimeFan]

It looks like there may be another reason Setterstrom has been relieving Incoginto (not to take anything away from Setterstrom.) This is from Linehan's Day 9 quote's (8/4/06):

“Richie’s got a great chance to really establish himself by how he performs here in the upcoming weeks. He’s played very well and he’s competing day in and day out. He’s played through some pain: He had an infected toe and he played with it. I think he’s still trying to manage that, but he’s really shown that he has the toughness and mental toughness to fight through it. He’s really been playing pretty mistake free. That’s unusual for a young guy. It does help to be working there next to Orlando (Pace) and Andy (McCollum) because when in doubt, ask the guy next to you if he knows. He’s certainly given a pretty good impression so far.”