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By Jim Thomas, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Oct. 23--Every Wednesday when the Rams' practice week begins, coach Steve Spagnuolo strikes up a theme during the morning team meeting. This Wednesday, following the day's practice, Spagnuolo dropped it on the media almost casually.
"I told the guys this morning we're 3-3, which means we're an average football team," Spagnuolo told reporters. "We're trying to get better -- 3-3 says average. Let me help you out with the injuries here ..."
That's it? Your team registers a big victory, defeating four-time defending AFC West champion San Diego. And you tell them they're average?
"I don't know what point he was trying to get across to the team by saying that we're average," running back Steven Jackson said. "But I do take this from the speech: We've put together two wins in a row before and we came out and laid an egg. Don't go and look at Tampa Bay as a gimme game. Go about it with the same approach that you prepared for the Chargers and other teams that you've played."
Slowly but surely, Spagnuolo is trying to change how this team views itself and change its expectations. To wit, he didn't say a lot to the team in the locker room after that 20-17 victory over the Chargers. He didn't glow and gush about their effort, their progress, and that afternoon's achievement. It was more along the lines of: We expected to win, now on to Tampa Bay.
"I think that just shows that the expectations around here have been set high," quarterback Sam Bradford said. "Obviously there have been some struggles in the past but there's no reason why this team can't have high expectations. He's right, 3-3 is an average team. We had a chance to win those first two games but we didn't, so we've got to continually get better and continue to set the bar high for ourselves."
"We do not want to be average," center Jason Brown said. "Even though they're a few people out there that even if we finished out the season 8-8 would say, 'Oh yeah, they're rebuilding.' And give us a pat on the back for doing that."
Actually, 8-8 would be quite an achievement considering the team's 1-15 mark a year ago and 6-42 ledger over the past three seasons. But Spagnuolo is pushing this team. He doesn't want it to settle; he doesn't want it to feel satisfied. Not in late October.
"What he's trying to say is that regardless of how many games we've won (or lost) in the past, we're 3-3 right now," wide receiver Danny Amendola said. "And that's average. We didn't strive to be average. We're striving to be better than average. We're striving to be a great football team. And in order to get that we're going to have to win more games."
The Rams were in a similar situation two weeks ago heading into Detroit. They had posted a couple of impressive home victories, reaching the .500 mark for the season. The next hurdle was to prove they could win on the road.
The result was the embarrassing Meltdown in Motown, a 44-6 loss to the Lions that had fans and observers wondering if the bubble had burst and the same old Rams had returned.
Then came last week and another impressive home victory that again boosted the Rams' record to .500 for the season. Once again, the Rams will try to prove they can win on the road -- this time against the surprising Buccaneers (3-2) at Raymond James Stadium.
It's not that Spagnuolo necessarily thinks the Rams started getting big heads after the earlier triumphs against Washington and Seattle. There were no visible signs that that was the case heading into Detroit. But apparently, he's taking no chances.
"We came in here (after San Diego) and we got chewed out," Brown said. "It was very much deserved -- there were still points left out there on the football field. There are so many things that we can do to improve. ... It's a learning process."
In a rare moment of introspection, Spagnuolo said Friday that he wasn't sure what to expect from this team on a weekly basis.
"I don't have a good enough feel yet for this group," Spagnuolo said. "I'll be honest with you, some days I think we need to mature more. Some days I sit there, I watch and say, 'We're there. We're getting there.' It's kind of an up-and-down thing.
"I think that's probably typical of every team, but we are a young football team in a lot of areas, so there is a quick growth process here. But those excuses are out the window now. We've got six games under our belt. It's time to go play football."
And try to win on the road for the first time this season, and just the second time in 11 tries during Spagnuolo's tenure.
Oct. 23--Every Wednesday when the Rams' practice week begins, coach Steve Spagnuolo strikes up a theme during the morning team meeting. This Wednesday, following the day's practice, Spagnuolo dropped it on the media almost casually.
"I told the guys this morning we're 3-3, which means we're an average football team," Spagnuolo told reporters. "We're trying to get better -- 3-3 says average. Let me help you out with the injuries here ..."
That's it? Your team registers a big victory, defeating four-time defending AFC West champion San Diego. And you tell them they're average?
"I don't know what point he was trying to get across to the team by saying that we're average," running back Steven Jackson said. "But I do take this from the speech: We've put together two wins in a row before and we came out and laid an egg. Don't go and look at Tampa Bay as a gimme game. Go about it with the same approach that you prepared for the Chargers and other teams that you've played."
Slowly but surely, Spagnuolo is trying to change how this team views itself and change its expectations. To wit, he didn't say a lot to the team in the locker room after that 20-17 victory over the Chargers. He didn't glow and gush about their effort, their progress, and that afternoon's achievement. It was more along the lines of: We expected to win, now on to Tampa Bay.
"I think that just shows that the expectations around here have been set high," quarterback Sam Bradford said. "Obviously there have been some struggles in the past but there's no reason why this team can't have high expectations. He's right, 3-3 is an average team. We had a chance to win those first two games but we didn't, so we've got to continually get better and continue to set the bar high for ourselves."
"We do not want to be average," center Jason Brown said. "Even though they're a few people out there that even if we finished out the season 8-8 would say, 'Oh yeah, they're rebuilding.' And give us a pat on the back for doing that."
Actually, 8-8 would be quite an achievement considering the team's 1-15 mark a year ago and 6-42 ledger over the past three seasons. But Spagnuolo is pushing this team. He doesn't want it to settle; he doesn't want it to feel satisfied. Not in late October.
"What he's trying to say is that regardless of how many games we've won (or lost) in the past, we're 3-3 right now," wide receiver Danny Amendola said. "And that's average. We didn't strive to be average. We're striving to be better than average. We're striving to be a great football team. And in order to get that we're going to have to win more games."
The Rams were in a similar situation two weeks ago heading into Detroit. They had posted a couple of impressive home victories, reaching the .500 mark for the season. The next hurdle was to prove they could win on the road.
The result was the embarrassing Meltdown in Motown, a 44-6 loss to the Lions that had fans and observers wondering if the bubble had burst and the same old Rams had returned.
Then came last week and another impressive home victory that again boosted the Rams' record to .500 for the season. Once again, the Rams will try to prove they can win on the road -- this time against the surprising Buccaneers (3-2) at Raymond James Stadium.
It's not that Spagnuolo necessarily thinks the Rams started getting big heads after the earlier triumphs against Washington and Seattle. There were no visible signs that that was the case heading into Detroit. But apparently, he's taking no chances.
"We came in here (after San Diego) and we got chewed out," Brown said. "It was very much deserved -- there were still points left out there on the football field. There are so many things that we can do to improve. ... It's a learning process."
In a rare moment of introspection, Spagnuolo said Friday that he wasn't sure what to expect from this team on a weekly basis.
"I don't have a good enough feel yet for this group," Spagnuolo said. "I'll be honest with you, some days I think we need to mature more. Some days I sit there, I watch and say, 'We're there. We're getting there.' It's kind of an up-and-down thing.
"I think that's probably typical of every team, but we are a young football team in a lot of areas, so there is a quick growth process here. But those excuses are out the window now. We've got six games under our belt. It's time to go play football."
And try to win on the road for the first time this season, and just the second time in 11 tries during Spagnuolo's tenure.
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