Rams Training Camp presented by UNIFY Financial Credit Union will be conducted a little bit differently this year.
Veterans officially reported for training camp Tuesday, while rookies, quarterbacks and injured players did so on Monday, kicking things off with their first round of COVID-19 testing. Each group must test negative three times before entering the facility to begin taking physicals, picking up equipment and conducting workouts.
Players will then be tested daily for two weeks beginning today – the earliest they can get physicals and equipment – and if the rate of positive results is less than five percent by the two-week mark, testing will be conducted every other day.
The rest of the time leading into the regular season will look like this. Note: All training camp activities and practices are closed to fans.
Aug. 1-2 – Players who recorded three negative tests may begin getting physicals and picking up equipment.
Aug. 3-7, 9-11 – Acclimation period with 60 minutes of weight room work and 60 minutes of on-field conditioning work in small groups of no more than 15. Only strength and conditioning coaches are allowed on the field during this period, which is subject to traditional Phase 1 organized team activities (OTA) rules.
Per those rules, only quarterbacks, receivers, kickers, punters and long snappers are allowed to use footballs – "quarterbacks can throw to receivers with no coverage, kickers and punters can kick, but players cannot field the ball and no snappers or holders can be involved, long snappers can snap into a net, defensive players may not catch balls at all regardless of who is throwing them."
Walk-thrus no longer than 60 minutes can be conducted the first four days, up to 75 minutes on the final four days.
Aug. 13-15, 17 – Gradual ramp-up period with a 90-minute practice on Day 1, with no more than 15 minute daily increase (up to a daily maximum of 120 minutes). On-field instruction – practices, walk-thrus, etc. – may not exceed 3.5 hours each day. Aug. 13 and Aug. 14 kick off Phase 2 activities, with players allowed to wear helmets and protective shirts. Non-padded practices will take place Aug. 14 and 16, with helmets, spiders and shells allowed.
- Aug. 16 – Per a league memo sent to teams last week, all rosters must be reduced from 90 to 80 players by this date.
Aug. 18-Sept. 6 – Contact integration period beginning with 90-minute durations, followed by 15-minute daily increases. Increase or decrease following an off day is prohibited. Time limits are dictated by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and no more than 14 padded practices can be conducted during this period.
- Sept. 5 – Teams' 80-man offseason rosters must be trimmed to their 53-man regular season versions by 1 p.m. pacific time Sept. 5.
- Sept. 6 – Claiming period for players placed on waivers at this point will end at 9 a.m. pacific time Sept. 6. Teams can begin assembling their practice squads an hour later.
Sept. 7 – Rams officially begin preparing for their Week 1 and SoFi Stadium opener against the Dallas Cowboys under in-season rules.
