Rams' rookie receivers remain a mystery

In the secondary, a rookie will start at cornerback (Janoris Jenkins); another could be the nickel back (Trumaine Johnson).

On offense, rookie Rokevious Watkins may get the start at left guard. And of course, if Michael Brockers' ankle were healthy, he'd be a starter at defensive tackle.

So what to make of wide receivers Brian Quick and Chris Givens? During preseason games, neither rookie got a single football thrown his way by quarterback Sam Bradford. And except for a play or two, neither player was even on the field with the starters during exhibition play.

Following the preseason finale against Baltimore, coach Jeff Fisher said the plan was to get Quick and Givens some game experience with Bradford against the Ravens.

"We had intended to play Sam the entire first half," Fisher said. "But with the production and all we decided it's time to start rolling people."

In other words, getting the substitutes in. Bradford and the rest of the starting offense left after 1½ quarters, producing three touchdowns in four possessions with the aid of a takeaway by the Rams' defense deep in Baltimore territory.

"We had intended for (Quick and Givens) to play with him later on in the second quarter," Fisher said.

As a result, Quick and Givens enter the regular season with basically no game experience with Bradford. Fisher already has wearied of being quizzed about playing time for the pair.

When asked last Friday how Quick and Givens were progressing, Fisher replied: "They're in position. If they make the team, and then they're active on Sunday, then they're going to play."

They made the team. Fisher was being sarcastic at the time, just a few hours before the league-wide deadline to reduce rosters to the regular-season limit of 53 players.

Following Thursday's practice, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was asked if Quick and Givens were behind in their development.

"I don't think so," Schottenheimer said. "In the preseason, we're rolling everybody through. I think you saw 'em getting better. A lot of the work comes through practice time. You see these guys are out there throwing now (after practice).

"They're out there throwing during defensive periods and stuff like that. It's not just what you see on game day that (gets) them catching up to speed. We feel good about where they're at and we know they'll help us in some capacity from this point forward."

The expectation on draft day — and today — was that both eventually would be starters. And it may happen at some point this season. Just not on Sunday against a Detroit secondary that isn't the greatest to begin with and almost certainly will be minus injured starters Louis Delmas (knee) at safety and Chris Houston (ankle) at cornerback.

Quick was the first player taken in the second round, and the fifth wide receiver taken overall in the draft in April. Givens went in the fourth round. But veterans Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson and Steve Smith aren't yielding any ground so far on the depth chart.

"I think we're probably deeper at that position than we have been in the past two years," Bradford said. "We've had some guys who have been here and have played well for us."

That was a reference to Amendola and Gibson, as well as Austin Pettis, who will miss the first two games because of an NFL suspension.

"And then we've added some guys," Bradford said. "Steve's (Smith) going to be a tremendous help to us this year. He's had a great camp, and then the two young guys, they both bring something different to our offense. Quick's a bigger, more physical receiver whereas Givens has got a little bit more speed."

Even with the dearth of preseason playing time together, Bradford says he feels comfortable throwing to Quick and Givens based on what's happened at Rams Park.

"The past couple weeks they've been rotating in there with the '1's' quite a bit," Bradford said. "So even though I haven't thrown to them much in games, I think we've developed a nice chemistry in practice the past two weeks."

During the preseason, Quick was targeted nine times, catching five passes for 68 yards. Givens was targeted seven times, catching four passes for 50 yards. On average, the Rams targeted 15 different receivers in each preseason game, and no receiver — be it wideout, tight end or running back — caught more than seven passes in exhibition play.

"I mean everybody wants to play," said Quick, who made a dazzling one-handed grab in practice Wednesday. "I want to play. We'll see how it happens."

"I'm going to play as much as the coaches want me to," Givens said. "I'm not really too anxious about it. I'm not going to get too high or get too low about it. I'm going to try to stay even-keel all week, and just be ready when my number's called."