Pressure's on Goff as Rams open camp

Pressure's on Goff as Rams open camp

By Jim Thomas

[www.stltoday.com]

IRVINE, Calif. • It was just practice, as former NBA star Allen Iverson once infamously exclaimed.

But the butterflies were there nonetheless for Rams quarterback Jared Goff, just like they were at rookie minicamp and at the start of offseason practices in June.

Only this time it’s different.

“We’re starting the actual football season now,” Goff said. “We gotta play pretty soon. It’s exciting. I think everyone’s excited for it.”

The Rams are less than two weeks away from their exhibition opener, against Dallas, and are six weeks away from their regular-season opener, against San Francisco. In this age of shorter practices, no two-a-days and limited work in full pads, that’s not a lot of time.

Especially if you’re the No. 1 draft pick, someone the Rams gave up six draft picks to land from the Tennessee Titans.

There’s a lot of pressure on Goff. High expectations. If the Rams really are to make a splash in Los Angeles, end their decade-plus drought of winning records and playoff berths, Goff must prove worthy of all those picks.

As he enters the final year of his five-year contract with the Rams, coach Jeff Fisher said Saturday, “I plan on coaching here a long time.”

Whether that’s actually the case — for him and general manager Les Snead, who’s also entering a lame-duck season — could come down to how well Goff performs as a rookie.

Although Fisher has said repeatedly he won’t rush Goff into action, it’s difficult to imagine Goff not being under center Monday night, Sept. 12, against division rival San Francisco.

First things first.

As the Rams embark on their first training camp back in the LA area, Fisher just wants steady progress from Goff.

“He gets the huddle, he gets his teammates, he gets that stuff,” Fisher said. “He understands what’s ahead. It’s just the reps and getting the experience and completing balls and making decisions.

“And making mistakes. You can’t expect anybody to go through a mistake-free camp, and he’s not going to, either. Particularly because as you know, you learn from ’em. You need to experience those things. So there’s going to be mistakes, and they’re OK right now.”

Goff, out of the University of California, made some mistakes Saturday in his first NFL training camp practice. Working with the second-team offense, there were some center-exchange problems with Eric Kush.

“I’m not going to put it on Kush,” Fisher said. “But a couple of those snaps — it’s hard to catch a ball at your ankles, and get up and throw it when you have rushers in your face.”

A couple of plays after one of those exchange problems, Goff threw an interception on an intermediate pass over the middle. Surprisingly, the large “opening day” crowd at California-Irvine responded with boos.

Some fans expressed frustration over the repeated check-downs Goff threw, unaware that’s what the offensive installation called for Saturday.

“We just put some simple concepts in,” Fisher said. “The ball wasn’t designed to go down the field — it was underneath, short passing game, those kind of things. But I thought he was good. He’s much more comfortable now than he was when we left” offseason practices.

Goff concurred.

“I definitely feel 10 times more comfortable — much more comfortable with everything we do as far as daily stuff,’’ he said. “Just very comfortable on the field.”

During the nearly six-week break between the spring practices known as organized team activities (OTAs), Goff didn’t just work on his tan or golf game.

He gathered some receivers and worked with his Rams teammates, staying in Southern California.

“It’s my job now,” Goff said with a shrug. “I think myself and the rest of the 90 guys out here were doing a lot of work. So obviously, I was putting in a lot of work in the offseason and trying to get as ready as I could” for camp.

Not every NFL quarterback, rookie or veteran, takes the time during the break to work with teammates. Sam Bradford routinely gathered teammates for a few days in Norman, Okla. Nick Foles indicated to reporters last summer that he didn’t do so. Both now are former Rams QBs.

This group, and this quarterback, did get together.

“They made the commitment to each other to do it on their own, which was great,” Fisher said. “They picked dates and times, and locations, and they worked together and they threw.

“That’s how the league is right now. Good players, good football teams, commit themselves year-round to getting better.”

Veteran Case Keenum, who currently holds the No. 1 spot on the quarterback depth chart, took part in those informal workouts as well, and has quickly developed a bond with Goff.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming in, and it’s been far and away more than I could’ve ever expected from somebody like him,” Goff said. “The way he’s helped me, treated me, and brought me in, and kind of helped me with anything.

“If I’ve got a question I go to him, he’s going to help me. You know, he’ll ask me little things to keep me on my toes, just stuff like that. He’s been really good and really helpful, and one of the best teammates I think I’ve ever had.”

That relationship is important, because there’s not a ton of hands-on QB experience on the Rams’ coaching staff. Fisher’s background is on defense. Offensive coordinator Rob Boras’ area of expertise is the running game.

Quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke won the Heisman Trophy playing QB at Florida State and was a backup for most of an NFL career that spanned parts of seven seasons. But this marks only his second season coaching quarterbacks in the NFL.

The Rams did add Mike Groh from the Chicago Bears’ staff, a former college quarterback, to serve as passing game coordinator (as well as wide receivers coach).