Two days in, and they’ve already had a month’s worth of stories. It was a closed scrimmage on Sunday with no fans allowed in at all, but they opened the doors for the first time this summer on Monday. That first day was a 2:45 PM start with the first practice at 4:15, and the weather was pretty great. Sunny and in the upper 80s, about as good as it gets for an early-August practice, and even without pads the team is putting out storylines by the hour.
Garrett’s first practice lived up to the hype. They’ve been building to this moment since the trade with Cleveland made it official, and Sunday provided the defense with its first real look at Myles Garrett playing in a Los Angeles uniform. He spent his first few weeks back on the roster working in empty facilities doing individual drills, so it was a true debut of sorts and the staff wasted no time throwing him into 11 on 11 drills against the ones and twos rather than saving it for a walkthrough later in the week. He was every bit the dominant force they’ve claimed he’d be even without the pads, and defensive coordinator Chris Shula made sure to acknowledge just how thrilled he was with the first real look at the franchise. “We’ve been looking forward to it all week,” Shula told reporters of the highly anticipated debut after the session, and Trent McDuffie was almost as giddy next to him while showing off his teammate. “You can sense the aura as soon as he walks in the building,” McDuffie said. Meanwhile, one writer who attended the session had even more to say about the impact of the first time Myles Garrett was on the field wearing a Rams uniform. “It only took one practice for him to make the case that LA will be the team to beat this season,” he wrote about the early look at the new additions on the defensive line.
Bennett got the first team reps, not Simpson. That’s not a typo. One of the few talking points around the Rams the last couple of weeks has been the status of the rookie quarterback, and Sunday was supposed to be the first true look at him. With Stafford getting a bye under the four day rotation system implemented by head coach Sean McVay, most outlets had assumed that it would be rookie Ty Simpson getting the majority of the first team reps with the starters. They were very wrong. Fourth year veteran Stetson Bennett worked with the ones and twos in the first practice of the camp, while Simpson stood on the sidelines. For now, at least, Bennett is clearly ahead of the rookie in the pecking order on the Rams’ depth chart. In typical fashion, the coaching staff intends to keep an equal eye on both young quarterbacks throughout the process of sorting out their competition for the backup gig. At least for now, Bennett looks like the safer option overall, and offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase had a few words for the media afterwards about what he saw from their number three quarterback in his first real taste of action. Simpson meanwhile got to see exactly what it was he was going to be throwing to in his first practice, and it’s worth noting that most of what he did was pretty good. A couple of nice short passes and an ill-advised deep ball to Terrance Ferguson that was broken up before it had a chance to connect. One thing to note about him, however, is that he’s not actually unsigned for now, even though some outlets have suggested as much recently. He signed his rookie contract Saturday before report day, making him the last first round pick of the class to sign with the team.
The Nacua extension story is real. Of all the early camp rumors to come out of California this week, the one that appears to have the most foundation is the one about an impending extension for several members of the 2023 rookie class. McVay confirmed it directly, saying that the front office is already having conversations internally about long term deals with Nacua, Turner, Young and Avila as they enter the final year of their rookie contracts. He was careful to point out that they’re definitely not done yet with any of these players, but he also expects all four of them to be in camp this season. That should put to rest any lingering doubts about the commitment level of the front office, after weeks of reports claiming that Nacua in particular wasn’t exactly sold on staying with the team. According to some reports, however, the expectation is that his name will appear at the top of the list when it comes time to finalize one of these deals, and it’s easy to see why. He’s been outstanding for the team, and the front office would certainly like to keep him under their control for as long as possible.
Aaron Donald’s situation has gone quiet, and that itself says something. If one storyline tantalized fans all offseason, it’s the possibility that Aaron Donald comes out of retirement. About two weeks before camp opened, he showed up at the Woodland Hills facility for a session that turned into one of the more talked about moments of the summer, close to an hour of ladder drills, medicine ball work, and pure agility training, and by the end of it, he looked completely spent. ESPN’s Adam Schefter explained the context afterward, describing it less as a tryout and more as Donald testing his own body and mind against the reality of being back in pads after two years away. It wasn’t an isolated appearance either. I agreed with that and then days earlier, he’d been spotted on video giving pass rush pointers to a Pittsburgh Steelers defender while wearing Rams gear.
Since then, though, it’s been quiet. Donald was not among the players who reported to camp this past weekend, and there’s no indication that’s changing imminently. McVay addressed it directly the Friday before camp opened, saying only that Donald is going through his own process and has earned the right to take his time with the decision, not exactly the language of a deal that’s close. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has reported there’s no deadline on any of this and hasn’t expected Donald at the start of camp. And the money side may be the real holdup. Reporting from earlier this month indicated the two sides hadn’t even discussed financial terms yet, with one person inside the building noting the roster’s 2026 cap space is already largely committed elsewhere, and any eventual deal would likely be modest and incentive based rather than a big guaranteed number, partly because Donald himself reportedly doesn’t want to eat into what the team’s younger core is set to earn. Former teammate Andrew Whitworth has said he and Donald have discussed a return directly, and general manager Les Snead’s standard hasn’t moved, Donald has to be completely bought in from day one or there’s no arrangement at all. One NFL Network analyst has floated the idea that if it happens, it could come as late as the second week of camp, but that’s speculation from a single source, not a reported certainty. For now, this remains unresolved, and the longer it stays quiet, the more it looks like exactly what it is, a nice idea that still has to clear some real hurdles before it becomes anything more.
The two new alternate uniforms have arrived. The fun new uniforms that fans have been speculating about for weeks are officially here, and based on the reaction at the season ticket holder event they had a big impact on the people who saw them first. As requested, the Classic Sol design pays tribute to the team’s 1951 NFL Championship team on the 75th anniversary of that special season. It features the yellow jerseys and white pants the team wore back then, and it’s the first time the Rams have worn either in several decades. The other look from the 2024 season, Fearsome White, takes a trip back to the 1960s and the iconic Fearsome Foursome defensive line. It’s the first time the team has worn navy and white since the early 1970s. Stafford, Garrett, and McDuffie were all on hand for the special presentation, and were joined by former players like Eric Dickerson and Hall of Fame defensive linemen Jackie Slater. Dickerson and Slater in particular had nice things to say about what the new designs mean for the fans, saying that they’ve always enjoyed having options and expect others to enjoy them too. Classic Sol is actually scheduled to debut in Week 2 when the Rams host the Giants on a Monday night, and Fearsome White is saved for the Thursday Night showdown with the Chiefs in Week 13.
Von Miller made a big statement with a loud social media post. There were a few developments of note over the last two days, but nothing topped what Von Miller tweeted out on Monday morning. After missing the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, and coming off a nine-sack campaign for Washington, Miller posted a story to Instagram built around nostalgia. Set to Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight the video was all Miller’s old Buffalo Bills teammates and fans, with his number 40 jersey on display. It was all captioned hold on, I’m not finished yet, I wanna make a happy plate. Miller’s message couldn’t have come at a better time for the Rams, as camps are set to open all over the league this week and he wasted little time sparking speculation about a return to his original team. He's even been direct about what he thinks went wrong with his last move, saying he wishes he'd stayed with a contender instead of chasing a ring in Washington.
Careful not to get too worked up over something that isn't official just yet, Miller isn't the first player to float the idea of signing with the Rams this offseason. But some analysts have made a strong case for why the Rams should be his top choice of a destination, if the rumors have any real basis. He has a history in Los Angeles, arriving in 2021 via trade and helping the team win Super Bowl LVI that season. On the more practical side, Bleacher Report’s free agency rankings name the Rams as a logical destination for Miller because they sent Jared Verse to Cleveland in exchange for Myles Garrett. This opens up a rotational spot on the defensive line behind Garrett and Byron Young, and Miller has the upside to fill that role while adding his experience and leadership to the room. Some of the same analysts suggest that signing Miller would be the final piece the Rams needed to convince Donald to come back too, which would put an unprecedented amount of pass rushers on one roster if it actually happens.
None of that is real yet, not even the Donald rumors. But two days in at training camp, and the Rams have already gotten to the point where all of these stories are worth keeping track of over the coming days.
#Rams #NFL #LosAngelesRams