IRVINE, Calif. – The Rams on Thursday convened on the campus of UC Irvine for Day 2 of Training Camp presented by UNIFY Financial Credit Union, with the practice featuring several impressive throws by quarterback Matthew Stafford and some big plays by the secondary as well.
Staff writer Stu Jackson shares 10 Observations from the session:
1) Quarterback Matthew Stafford makes it look easy during redzone drills. He connected with wide receivers Van Jefferson, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, all on tight-window throws.
2) More on the Woods touchdown catch: To understand just how small the window was on that throw, safety Taylor Rapp was in a great position to make a play on the ball. After the play was over, Rapp appeared to stand there in disbelief thinking he had done everything to make the interception. Rapp did everything he could, it was just a great throw from Stafford.
2) Toe-tap touchdown catch: During redzone work, Jefferson made a contested catch in tight coverage and got both feet down with little room to spare.
3) Then the secondary responds. In a fun sequence, cornerback Darious Williams followed the Jefferson touchdown with an impressive interception in the back of the endzone on a Stafford pass intended for Woods.
4) Another nice catch from tight end Kendall Blanton. The former Mizzou standout lept for an impressive grab over the middle on a John Wolford pass attempt during 7-on-7 work. He made a good one on Day 1, too.
5) Safety Nick Scott and linebackers Ernest Jones and Travin Howard active in 7-on-7. Both Scott and Jones had near-interceptions during the period, while Howard added a pass breakup on a short throw to running back Jake Funk.
6) Good day for Robert Rochell. The rookie cornerback had a couple of pass breakups during team drills, including an impressive one near the sideline on a Stafford pass attempt targeting Jefferson.
7) Skying for the catch. Team drills also saw rookie wide receiver Ben Skowronek high-pointing the ball in traffic to make the grab on a Wolford pass attempt.
8) Tip drill. Second-year safety JuJu Hughes broke up a Stafford pass intended for Jefferson, and Rochell nearly snagged it out of the air for the interception, but couldn't get to it in time.
9) "Cooop." During the throwing sessions in the early periods of practice, Kupp was greeted his customary cheer from Rams fans after hauling in one of his first passes of the day from Stafford.
10) Mixing it up. Thursday displayed a healthy variety of competition, with reps not limited to just first team offense vs. first team defense.
