Rams welcome special visitor to camp
MEQUON, Wis. (Camp Day 17)
A blast from the past rolled into Rams training camp Sunday after the team returned to Concordia University following its five-day trip to Nashville. Former coach Dick Vermeil (1997-99) was in the house, at the invitation of current coach Scott Linehan.
Linehan said he wanted to talk with Vermeil about the 1999 season, when the Rams rose from a 4-12 record in ‘98 to Super Bowl champions. The Rams, of course, went 3-13 last year, their worst mark since moving to St. Louis in 1995.
Vermeil, 71, plans to spend a couple of days here. He lives in retirement with his wife, Carol, on their ranch outside Philadelphia.
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Notes & quotes:
>>The team arrived in Mequon about 3 a.m. Sunday, some five hours after concluding their 34-13 loss to the Titans in Tennessee. The players had the rest of the day off, but the coaches were busy in meetings.
>>Practice resumes this afternoon. The team will break camp Thursday and return to St. Louis.
>>Promising rookie CB Justin King, a fourth-round draft choice, is out for the season after tearing a ligament in his big toe Saturday. He’ll undergo surgery.
>>According to the unofficial press-box stats, DT Adam Carriker and DE Chris Long – the Rams’ most recent first-round draftees – recorded nary a tackle vs. the Titans. “It’s not because they’re not trying; they give a great effort,” Linehan said. “But it’s production that counts, and they know it. They’ll get a lot better.”
>>Conversely, S Sabastien Sejean, a foreign player assigned to the Rams by the NFL who will remain as an extra practice squad member throughout the season, had two tackles. Sejean is from France.
>>Linehan indicated that his starters, who played a quarter against Tennessee, will get considerably more work Saturday in the preseason home opener vs. the Chargers.
>>Despite the lopsided loss, Linehan said the five-day stay in Nashville, which included four shared practices with the Titans, was beneficial. “It was a good test all week for us to work against them,” he said.
>>In an unsettling reprise of last season’s trend, the Rams were outscored 14-0 in the second half Saturday. In 2007, their opponents piled up 258 points to the Rams’ 96 in second halves.
All for now . . . more on Monday.
Any chance we can lure Vermeil back?
Oh really Dick is not coming back to this pathetic organization.What a joke and Scott linehan’s the head joke.Along with the front office. The Lambs will be the Lambs until new ownership comes in and cleanses this minor league con cation.
I pity the fool that makes fun of the Rams… :)… Couldn’t help it, “Mr. T”?….
Anything on the Steven Jackson front?
Linehan said before the game (I am pleased, we are ready) Scott what do you think now? Ready for what? a bake off? Your team has no fight! You can’t score points! YOU ALWAYS HAVE AN EXCUSE! Your defence is always in the wrong place! What have your players been doing all this time? You always say (We will fix it for next week.) How about having it fixed before a game starts. All this hype about new training, new location, new coaching and the results are still the same sad product
I share the frustration of many of you, SSDY (same story/different year). The Rams have been using a poor defensive strategy, trying to fix the Run D with fast lineman and using small fast defenders at LB and in the secondary. That is a pass/blitzing D that will only work with superstar/hard hitting LB/safeties, which they have none anymore. The D is out of date by about 7 years (thanks Hasslet) and the head coach is still over his head. After 2 years, you still can’t motivate this team? *sigh* I guess its another horrible year coming up. Please sell the franchise to someone who can build a respectible team.
It’s pretty obvious to me that Linehan is the problem. No charisma, no leadership. He has no fire inside his gut to lead. Is it any wonder this guy can’t win? He shouldn’t even be a head coach. He’s no more than a pencil pushing x&0 guy. I wouldn’t follow this guy anywhere, especially if it had anything to do with competition, battle or injury. How’s he suppose to command the respect needed to guide grown men? It’s always “we’ll fix that” or “we’ll learn from that.” If he truly does learn from his mistakes, he should have a PHD by now.
Ive seen this horrific movie TOO many times,I truly am embarrased to say I,m a rams fan any more . Does anybody in this organization even have a clue as to how to play this game called football ? If so could he PLEASE step forward and state his name and position??????
the organization is not pathetic. Wait and see as we stake our claim for the playoffs.
this team has ALOT of work to do..they will be extremely lucky to make it ot the playoffs. they need a new head coach. Scott sucks at his job.
When Linehan came to St. Louis, Frank Cusamano ask him who he would like to be for a day if he could be anyone. I was hoping to here a winning super bowl coach. Instead he said the Pope. I knew we were screwed.