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Thursday Notebook
Friday, July 30, 2004
By NICK WAGONER
Staff Writer
Training camp always begins a few days before the real training begins. The Rams moved into Thompson Hall on Tuesday afternoon and had their first pair of practices Wednesday, but it wasn’t official until they strapped on the pads Thursday morning.
When the hitting begins, the intensity picks up and the real grind of camp starts. St. Louis reverted to the shells (shoulder pads and helmets) in the afternoon, but will go full pads for the only practice Friday morning.
Coach Mike Martz said the addition of pads helps, but it is too early to judge his players based on one practice in them.
“The whole idea is watching it is we are still so far away from being in football shape,” Martz said. “It’s a collision game. We want to find out from some of these guys who is committed, who isn’t and who is willing, who isn’t.”
There were no noticeable skirmishes in any of the first four practices, but the speed and hitting levels went up with the pads. St. Louis will practice once Friday in the morning, giving the players an opportunity to rest in the afternoon. Martz said the idea of taking every third afternoon off came from studying the training regimen of Olympic athletes.
The Rams will do some weightlifting and special teams classroom work in the afternoon.
“We usually do fieldwork with the special teams, but we can do most of that in the classroom,” Martz said. “It allows these guys, every third day in the afternoon to get off their feet and recover physically a little bit.”
INJURY UPDATES:
The first two days of camp have been relatively injury-free. All of the injuries suffered have been minor.
Tackle Kyle Turley took it easy in both practices because of some muscle deterioration in his leg.
Defensive tackle Bernard Holsey, coming off surgery on his quadriceps, has missed some time as well. Holsey is attempting to regain strength in his leg and most likely won’t play at full speed until that happens.
Offensive guard Peter Heyer, who the Rams signed as part of the NFL International Development Squad program, missed practice Wednesday. Heyer went through some tests Wednesday night, but Martz said the trainers ruled out any major problems.
Cornerback Robert Cromartie left Thursday’s afternoon practice with what Martz described as a minor hamstring pull.
EARLY IMPRESSIONS:
Rookie defensive end Anthony Hargrove has been one of the early standouts in camp. His burst off the ball and strength drew praise from line coach Bill Kollar numerous times in both practices.
Martz even called Hargrove out to participate first in a drill in the morning session. After the late practice, Martz said Hargrove has talent, but downplayed his early showing.
“We have a long time before we start going through evaluations on any rookies,” Martz said. “I have to check myself because we all want to evaluate after every practice. Coaches are notorious for that.”
Friday, July 30, 2004
By NICK WAGONER
Staff Writer
Training camp always begins a few days before the real training begins. The Rams moved into Thompson Hall on Tuesday afternoon and had their first pair of practices Wednesday, but it wasn’t official until they strapped on the pads Thursday morning.
When the hitting begins, the intensity picks up and the real grind of camp starts. St. Louis reverted to the shells (shoulder pads and helmets) in the afternoon, but will go full pads for the only practice Friday morning.
Coach Mike Martz said the addition of pads helps, but it is too early to judge his players based on one practice in them.
“The whole idea is watching it is we are still so far away from being in football shape,” Martz said. “It’s a collision game. We want to find out from some of these guys who is committed, who isn’t and who is willing, who isn’t.”
There were no noticeable skirmishes in any of the first four practices, but the speed and hitting levels went up with the pads. St. Louis will practice once Friday in the morning, giving the players an opportunity to rest in the afternoon. Martz said the idea of taking every third afternoon off came from studying the training regimen of Olympic athletes.
The Rams will do some weightlifting and special teams classroom work in the afternoon.
“We usually do fieldwork with the special teams, but we can do most of that in the classroom,” Martz said. “It allows these guys, every third day in the afternoon to get off their feet and recover physically a little bit.”
INJURY UPDATES:
The first two days of camp have been relatively injury-free. All of the injuries suffered have been minor.
Tackle Kyle Turley took it easy in both practices because of some muscle deterioration in his leg.
Defensive tackle Bernard Holsey, coming off surgery on his quadriceps, has missed some time as well. Holsey is attempting to regain strength in his leg and most likely won’t play at full speed until that happens.
Offensive guard Peter Heyer, who the Rams signed as part of the NFL International Development Squad program, missed practice Wednesday. Heyer went through some tests Wednesday night, but Martz said the trainers ruled out any major problems.
Cornerback Robert Cromartie left Thursday’s afternoon practice with what Martz described as a minor hamstring pull.
EARLY IMPRESSIONS:
Rookie defensive end Anthony Hargrove has been one of the early standouts in camp. His burst off the ball and strength drew praise from line coach Bill Kollar numerous times in both practices.
Martz even called Hargrove out to participate first in a drill in the morning session. After the late practice, Martz said Hargrove has talent, but downplayed his early showing.
“We have a long time before we start going through evaluations on any rookies,” Martz said. “I have to check myself because we all want to evaluate after every practice. Coaches are notorious for that.”
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