Rams coach Sean McVay is liking what he’s seeing at Organized Team Activities, but he’s tempering his enthusiasm with a reminder that what he’s seeing is not actually football.
Asked for his assessment, McVay said that OTAs, which are non-contact practices, can only tell a coach so much.
“I’ve seen steady improvement, but this isn’t real football until we put the pads on,” McVay said. “But I’ve been pleased with a lot of the things before the ball is snapped, the operation, the communication, getting our cleats in the ground, getting aligned in some of the appropriate formations, so it’s been positive. Guys are working, and the other thing is learning how to practice while minimizing the risk of injury. How to be able to protect each other but positively push one another. I like the vibe of this group, but there’s so much work to be done.”
The Rams are the favorites to win the Super Bowl after adding reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to an already strong roster. But we won’t find out whether they’re for real until they’re playing real football. And that doesn’t happen in June.
When the U.S. faces Paraguay on Friday, attendees will have no issues when it comes to buying a beer or a hot dog.
Via the Associated Press, the union representing roughly 2,000 SoFi Stadium workers announced Tuesday that a deal has been struck to avoid a strike during the World Cup.
Union members, who recently voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, will vote Wednesday on the ratification of the agreement.
The agreement includes higher wages and protections against the subcontracting of union work.
SoFi Stadium will host eight of the matches in the upcoming international soccer tournament. The labor peace also will extend to Rams and Chargers’ home games.
The Rams have added an outside linebacker.
Los Angeles announced on Tuesday that the club has signed Tomon Fox.
Fox, 28, spent the last four seasons with the Giants, largely bouncing between the team’s active roster and the practice squad after initially signing with the club as an undrafted free agent in 2022.
In 37 career games with two starts, Fox has recorded 45 total tackles with 2.0 sacks. Last season, he appeared in nine games with one start, tallying six total tackles while mainly playing special teams.
Rams offensive lineman Alaric Jackson was arrested for felony domestic battery on Monday night in Los Angeles.
NBC4 reports that Jackson was arrested at around 11 p.m., after police were called to his home.
The report said Jackson and a woman had an argument, Jackson thought the woman was recording him with her phone and allegedly tried to take the phone out of her hand, and investigators said the woman had scratch marks on her arms.
Jackson was jailed early Tuesday morning, and released after posting a $50,000 bond.
In 2024, the NFL suspended Jackson two games for violating the Personal Conduct Policy, as a result of a woman reporting that Jackson recorded her during sex without consent, refused to delete the video and taunted her with it. The woman filed a lawsuit against Jackson in November.
Last year the Rams signed Jackson to a three-year, $57 million contract extension. Jackson started 16 regular-season games and all three postseason games for the Rams last season.
Myles Garrett got on the practice field with the Rams for the first time on Monday and he began to acclimate himself into life with a new team.
It’s also a new defense, but it doesn’t sound like Garrett is going to have to spend too many late nights in the playbook to be ready to take the field. Defensive coordinator Chris Shula invoked some big names on Monday while talking about how the team views integrating Garrett into the scheme.
“Obviously, we’re still gonna have our principles . . . but we’re gonna let him do what he does best, and we all know exactly what he does best,” Shula said, via the team’s website. “You’re not gonna take Michael Jordan, LeBron, all those guys and pull them out of their comfort zone. We’re gonna work with him and put him in the best spots that we think for him and the defense to succeed.”
There will be some things for Garrett to get used to as the Rams run a 3-4 base rather than the 4-3 he became familiar with in Cleveland, but any alignment is going to benefit from Garrett getting after the quarterback as often as possible.
