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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Cameron DaSilva

6 takeaways from Day 1 of practice between the Rams and Raiders

The Rams kicked off two days of joint practices with the Raiders on Wednesday, getting in a good afternoon of work in Thousand Oaks. The two teams will be back on the field Thursday for another practice, one which Aaron Donald will be present for after getting a rest day Wednesday.

Overall, it was a productive day for the Rams, particularly when it comes to Matthew Stafford, Tutu Atwell and Tre Tomlinson. Joe Noteboom has a minor injury at the moment, so he was held out of team drills, and Cam Akers was pulled early after getting into a fight with Maxx Crosby.

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Here are six takeaways from the first practice between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

1
Tutu Atwell had a great day

Matthew Stafford mentioned after practice that Atwell had himself a solid practice, making a handful of plays at wideout this afternoon. The Rams shared a clips of three receptions by Atwell and two of them he used his speed to beat the defender down the sideline, while the third was a quick route toward the sideline that he turned into a chunk gain by staying inbounds.

2
Tre Tomlinson held his own vs. Davante Adams

This was a good opportunity for the Rams to test their defensive backs against some different receivers and Tomlinson drew one of the toughest matchups around: Davante Adams. He held his own during team drills, making a couple of nice plays – including a pass breakup in the end zone.

Tomlinson also pushed Adams out of bounds before he could complete a catch along the sideline, though the All-Pro receiver did catch a deep pass down the sideline against Tomlinson.

3
Maxx Crosby was in the backfield a bunch

Crosby is undoubtedly one of the best pass rushers in the game today and he reminded the Rams of that on Wednesday. Stafford said Crosby was in the backfield a few times and whenever he got near the quarterback, he would yell “sack” in his face.

Crosby also made this rep against Rob Havenstein in one-on-ones look easy, though it’s not often a tackle has to work in that much space during a game.

4
Matthew Stafford picked apart Raiders secondary

It was apparently a very good day by Stafford against the Raiders defense, throwing the ball all over the field and picking apart the secondary. Stetson Bennett didn’t have his best and was intercepted on a deflected pass but by all accounts, Stafford had a great performance against Las Vegas on Wednesday.

5
Only one fight that briefly disrupted practice

Cam Akers and Maxx Crosby got into a fight about 90 minutes into practice, which disrupted things, but only for a short period. Both teams aided in breaking up the skirmish and both players were booted from practice afterwards; Akers went to the locker room and Crosby remained on the sidelines.

While Sean McVay doesn’t want to see fights in practice, he said it wasn’t overly concerning because the team still got in a good day of work.

6
Joe Noteboom “dealing with a little something” right now

Noteboom’s chances of being the Rams’ starting left tackle (or right guard) took a hit. According to McVay, Noteboom is dealing with an undisclosed injury, which caused him to be held out of team drills against the Raiders. He won’t practice the rest of the week but hopefully he can return for practices with the Broncos next week.

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