The Los Angeles Rams arrived for training camp on Tuesday and quickly got on the field, holding their first practice on Wednesday afternoon. Fans were not in attendance, as the first open practice will be on Saturday, but reporters were there to see the team take the field.
The team is still in the early phase of camp and the pads won’t come on for a little while, but this is the unofficial start to their 2023 campaign.
Below are news and notes from reporters in attendance for practice, including a participation update and an impressive play by Stetson Bennett.
Injury updates
As Sean McVay indicated they would, the Rams did place Warren McClendon Jr. and Hunter Long on the PUP list, which will keep them both out of practice for the time being. They can be activated at any time, but there’s been no indication of when either will return.
In other injury news, the Rams got back a handful of players who were either held out or limited in the spring. Ben Skowronek practiced after missing time in OTAs and minicamp with a foot injury, which is a good sign. Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald were also full participants, according to Gary Klein of the LA Times.
Joe Noteboom practiced, as well, as he continues to recover from the torn Achilles he suffered last season.
Competition at center and left tackle
McVay confirmed it’ll essentially be an open competition at left tackle and center this summer, with two players battling at each position: Noteboom and Alaric Jackson at left tackle, and Brian Allen and Coleman Shelton at center.
McVay didn’t give any indication of who the Rams favor at either spot, but he wants to see them competing throughout training camp as Los Angeles tries to find its five best players up. front.
“I think you want to see competition across the board, but when you look at it, you’ve got four players that are competing or rotating at those spots right now that have all played in bigtime games and started for us. When you look at Alaric Jackson, you look at Joe Noteboom at the left tackle spot, you look at Brian Allen and Coleman Shelton from the center spot, those are guys that have played a lot of football for us,” McVay said. “I do believe competition brings out the best in guys. And so, whether or not those guys are always at those spots, that’s to be determined, but I do think that they’ll positively push each other and get the most out of each other and that’s what we’re looking at early on in camp. I’m looking forward to seeing those battles unfold and there’s a lot of those on our team in general.”
Stetson Bennett's deep shot to Demarcus Robinson
One of the highlights of practice Wednesday was Bennett’s deep ball to Robinson. According to team reporter Stu Jackson, Bennett rolled out, told Robinson to go deep and launched a bomb down the field, which the veteran wideout caught over a defender.
Klein noted in his column that Bennett made “several impressive passes after fleeing the pocket,” so the rookie seems to be off to a good start.
Leaping grab by Robinson, should add https://t.co/2dFslCWouj
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) July 27, 2023
Undrafted rookie DBs making plays
The Rams are looking for a new starter at safety following the departures of Nick Scott and Taylor Rapp, and it’s possible that spot could be filled by an undrafted rookie. The Rams have three first-year undrafted safeties on their roster, including Tanner Ingle and Rashad Torrence.
According to Jackson, Torrence ended practice with an interception on Brett Rypien, picking off the pass over the middle. Ingle also broke up a throw by Stafford, which had the defense fired up.
