LOS ANGELES – Head coach Sean McVay, offensive lineman Rob Havenstein, defensive back Quentin Lake, wide receiver Tutu Atwell and offensive lineman Steve Avila each held press conferences with local media as players arrived for the start of Rams Training Camp presented by UNIFY Financial Credit Union, discussing camp getting underway, young and veteran leadership, and more.
Here are some of the highlights and key takeaways from those conversations, which you can watch below.
"(Tyler) Higbee will be the only one (who will go on the Physically Unable to Perform list)." – McVay
- In terms of injury updates, the veteran tight end is the only player the Rams will place on the PUP list at the start of camp, per McVay.
- Higbee continues to rehab a torn ACL and torn MCL sustained in January's playoff game against the Lions.
"It's kind of having the personality for it. It's who you are as a player, who you are as a person. Obviously, that can evolve over time. But it's basically whether a guy wants to, whether a guy can, and that's just who he is as a person." – Havenstein
- When it comes to future leaders of the team, Havenstein can easily identify them based on those characteristics.
- "The one big thing I've kind of seen is that the fake leadership, the fake energy, doesn't really get you anywhere," Havenstein said. "So you have to be that person in your own heart."
"Nothing was discussed. We were just laughing, talking a little bit of a mess, but it's always good to see him." – Lake
- Part of Lake's offseason included training in Orange County at the same facility where former Mater Dei High School teammate and current Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown also was.
- "It's always good to go against him, because, as we know, he's one of the top receivers in the league," Lake said. "And if you're getting that type of repetition and experience, you know it's going to be very valuable going into that Week 1 matchup that we have against Lions."
"I'm gonna be back there this year. You're gonna see some of Tutu at kick returner." – Atwell
- According to Atwell, you can expect to see him involved in kickoff returns – which have a new hybrid format this year.
- Atwell said he and the Rams' special teams coaches worked on a few ideas during OTAs but ultimately stopped, but he's hoping they'll revisit during training camp.