Check out photos from Day 7 of the Los Angeles Rams OTAs.
Team insider Myles Simmons shares his top 10 observations from Los Angeles' seventh OTA session of the spring.
1) Legendary Rams wide receiver Torry Holt was on the field with the club as a coach on Monday afternoon. According to head coach Sean McVay, Holt is taking part in the league's minority coaching internship program. But even though he's serving as a coach, Holt went through dynamic stretching with the team — getting loose to run around during practice like another Rams coach.
2) Wide receiver Brandin Cooks' speed comes across even in change-of-direction drills. With the wideouts working on a drill where each had to zig-zag through a few cones before catching a ball, Cooks' feet appeared to move quicker than the rest of the group — including those of fellow starters Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp. That's no knock on Woods or Kupp, who have proven themselves to be productive players, especially in McVay's offense. But it was an example of how special Cooks appears to be.
3) When the wideouts were working with the quarterbacks on routes against air, Holt sometimes lined up against the receivers and gave them tips as the players were running. One overheard coaching point: "Head and eyes up."
4) On the defensive field, safeties were working on taking different drops and making interceptions. They started out going deep down the field, having to make an over-the-shoulder pick or leap to catch the ball. Then they came in and worked on intermediate and short drops. As usual, takeaways are a significant focus for L.A.
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5) Not that it's happened often**, but whenever a Rams receiver doesn't make a catch when going over routes with quarterbacks, the QB will call the player back to get in a good rep after the rest of the line is finished. It's an example of the little things needing to be right during this time of the year.
6) Wide receiver Robert Woods made a nice one-handed catch at the right sideline during group offense. The catch came against air, but still showed nice hand-eye coordination.
7) During one of the periods of 11-on-11, defensive lineman Michel Brockers ripped through the offensive lineman assigned to him and appeared suddenly right in front of Sean Mannion — the scout-team quarterback. Brockers stepped out of the way — obviously, he can't hit the QB in practice — but it's easy to imagine that was not the most appealing sight for a quarterback in the pocket.
8) Notably, kicker Greg Zuerlein practiced a few kickoffs and field goals with the entire operation — long snapper Jake McQuaide flinging the ball to punter/holder Johnny Hekker. Zuerlein was performing this without kicking through uprights, but it was still an encouraging sign. McVay said during his press conference that the club will continue to bring Zuerlein along slowly so as to not risk any setback.
9) During another 11-on-11 period, quarterback Jared Goff connected with Kupp on three sharp passes. The offense was moving down the field based on where the plays ended, and Goff hit the second-year wideout with a pair of passes to move the chains before one final completion that ostensibly would have gone for a touchdown.
10) A half-hour after practice ended, Brockers and fellow defensive lineman Omarius Bryant were both working with second-year D-lineman Tanzel Smart. Brockers and Bryant were serving as offensive lineman for Smart, who was presumably working on a couple moves to combat double teams.