3 Reasons Why Los Angeles Rams Fans Should Remain Calm After Disasterous Joint Practice

Don’t get me wrong, the Los Angeles Rams did not look good in their joint practice against the Los Angeles Chargers . All the things the average fan would want to see weren’t there. Matthew Stafford was under nearly constant pressure, they turned the ball over six times, and the team’s second-year star receiver, Puka Nacua , ended his day on the sidelines with his knee wrapped with an ice bag.

But head coach Sean McVay has said the only way one learns is through failure, so the Rams have a lot to learn from this practice.

1. Reading Between The Lines: Los Angeles Rams Defense Flying Under The Radar

The Rams’ offense is dominating the headline coming out of this. All bad. But what we didn’t hear from either the Rams or the Chargers beat writers is how the Rams’ defense faired against the new look Chargers offense. This is certainly skewed because the Chargers’ offense was forced to go without their starting quarterback, Justin Herbert .

But, as the old saying goes, no news is good news. Neither Gus Edwards nor J.K. Dobbins drew the spotlight their way with huge plays. This means that the Rams young defensive line held up well against, what could be one of the premier offensive lines in the league, now featuring three top-20 draft picks.

Two safeties were singled out by TheRams.com Senior Staff Writer Stu Jackson . Rookie Kamren Kinchens, for a solid training camp and for breaking up a deep pass during the practice, and newly acquired Kamren Curl , who picked off a pass against the Chargers.

Throughout training camp, the Rams’ defense performed with impressive energy and generally outplayed the offense.

2. Evolution Can Be Sloppy

Certainly, the injuries to the offensive line contributed to Stafford’s tough day, but another factor at play is the evolution of Sean McVay’s offense. Training camp showed that they are leaning into the identity that carried them through the back half of the 2023 season, in which they went 7-1 and made the playoffs.

During training camp, the offense showed a variety of looks that will distinguish this season from past offenses under McVay. They are trying new things and that process isn’t always pretty.

With new schematic changes comes new personnel. Steve Avila is in the midst of learning center after starting at left guard, second-year tight end Davis Allen ‘s role has changed dramatically, tight end acquisition Colby Parkinson is learning the offense and they are learning how to work Blake Corum into the rotation at running back.

All of those things take time to fall into place and in the interim, mistakes will be made and that is OK.

3. Excellent Track Record Combatting and Rehabbing Injuries

Injuries are never good. But they are a part of football. Derion Kendrick (CB), Darious Williams (CB), Alaric Jackson (LT), Jonah Jackson (LG), Rob Havenstein (RT) and Nacua have all missed time due to injury. The good news is most of the injuries are listed as week-to-week. Other than Kendrick, as of today, the Rams haven’t lost anyone for a significant number of games.

Vice President, of Sports Medicine and Performance, Reggie Scott , and his team are renowned around the league for their injury prevention and treatment methods. Outside of 2022, the Rams have been one of the NFL’s healthiest teams and that isn’t a coincidence.

Luck still has a lot to do with injuries, but one of the things that has made the Rams successful is controlling as much of their injury variance as humanly possible.

Most of these players will be ready to go within the first few weeks of the regular season, if not sooner.

More must-reads:

• Los Angeles Rams Add Reinforcement To Battered Offensive Line
• Los Angeles Rams QB Details Severity of 2023 Thumb Injury; “I thought I was done for my season, maybe career”