Although a highly eventful year has passed, Rams second-year guard Roger Allen recalls vividly the emotions he experienced at the start of the 2009 training camp.
"It was a ton of nerves and excitement ... and a little fear of the unknown," said Allen, who arrived as the rawest of rookies, an undrafted hopeful from NCAA Division II Missouri Western.
The 6-foot-3, 323-pound Allen, a Raytown (Mo.) High product, beat the odds. He made the 53-man roster, although he was among the Rams' game-day inactives for the first 13 games.
He finally suited up Dec. 13 vs. Tennessee, then saw extensive action the next Sunday at Arizona. Allen took over at left guard after Mark Setterstrom left in the second quarter with a triceps injury.
With Setterstrom done for the year, Allen started in the season finale against San Francisco. The real-game experience, as brief as it was, was invaluable, he said.
"You come out on this practice field, and there's a certain speed. And then scrimmage steps up to another speed, and then preseason steps to another speed," he said. "And then game time in the season is a whole other speed. ...
"Going against those guys ... really just showed me what the tempo and the speed of the game is, and what I need to work on to get to where I play at that level consistently."
But it cost him, too. Allen tore a ligament in his knee vs. the 49ers and had surgery in January. His recovery is going well, although he was limited during the first two days of training camp.
"Obviously, he had a setback; he missed all of the spring" work, coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "Roger's a competitor. ... But realistically, he's missed a lot of football. It might even be that he's back to square one."
Still, Allen is much more comfortable this time around.
"I feel light-years ahead of where I was this time last year. I know what to expect," he said. "My brain's not trying to understand the offense and the cadence and stuff. I've been in this a whole year, so it's now coming second nature.
"I can just focus on improving my technique instead of always thinking what to do, what to do, what to do, and then my technique being sloppy."
Allen, 24, also feels comfortable enough to offer advice to this year's newcomers. Among them is fellow guard Joe Gibbs, an undrafted rookie from Tennessee-Martin.
"I've talked to Joe, and I've told him a lot of it's weight room and preparing your body to be able to meet the demands of this league. That's half the battle," Allen said. "Then it's knowing your plays and ... not getting complacent or satisfied with what you're doing."
Allen said that he won't fall into such a trap.
Making the team last year "was a huge sigh of relief," he said. "And it'll be a huge sigh of relief this year and every year after that, because I'm not taking it for granted.
"I know that I'm fighting for my job every time I step on the field."
Allen could find himself battling for a first-team job; the competition at right guard appears to be wide open. Other contenders are John Greco, Adam Goldberg and Hank Fraley.
"It's all up to Coach," Allen said. "All I know is he's given me a fair opportunity to fight for this job, and that's what I'm going to do."
First, however, he has to get the medical OK to go full tilt at practice. That can't come soon enough, he emphasized.
"They're slowly working me into the scheme of things, just so I don't put too much stress on it right away," Allen said. "But my knee feels great, and I just can't wait to get out there."
