After four straight mornings in full pads featuring live contact, St. Louis Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo _ as promised _ lightened things up Tuesday afternoon.

Practicing in shells (light shoulder pads) and shorts, the Rams were barely on the practice field for one hour under overcast skies Tuesday afternoon. After the obligatory stretching period at the start of practice, the Rams went straight to “team” (11-on-11), featuring mainly passing plays by the offense. The practice may have been short, but the tempo was brisk and the energy level good, with players in a near sprint when moving to different areas of the field.

“I’m looking for everybody to bounce around,” Spagnuolo said. “Walking on the field; I just don’t think you do that on the field. I think our guys have been great on it. But you’ve got to stay on ‘em. . . .We don’t condition after practice. We try to condition during practice.”

* Injury update: After sitting out most of the morning practice, safety James Butler (knee) was back on the field Tuesday afternoon and took his regular turn with the starters. But fullback Mike Karney (ankle) missed both practices Tuesday.

* Return men: For the first time in camp, Rams special teams did extensive work on kickoff returns. Kenneth Darby, Derek Stanley, Samkon Gado, and Donnie Avery all returned kickoffs.

* Ram-blings: In the midst of his annual camp tour, ESPN’s John Clayton arrived in Earth City Tuesday afternoon to get his fill on the Rams. . . .No. 2 overall pick Jason Smith got some work at left tackle in the afternoon with the second_ and third-team offenses. . . .Running back Samkon Gado has been doing some work at fullback. . . .Despite threatening skies and some rain between the morning and afternoon sessions, the Rams were able to get in both practices outdoors Tuesday.