Watkins making people notice in camp, including quarterback Jared GoffBy RICH HAMMOND
IRVINE — Heads turned when receiver Sammy Watkins made a catch on the run during the first play of 11-on-11 practice drills Wednesday. Rams fans noticed and chattered. So did the guy who threw the ball.
“I did a little bit,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “You try not to, but I did kind of turn around, like, ‘Everyone see that? All right.’ It was a good catch and hopefully something that won’t be quite a surprise any more.”
That’s the plan, anyway. Watkins, acquired from Buffalo in a trade last week, practiced for a third consecutive day at UC Irvine and, for the first time, jumped into full-team scrimmage drills. Watkins, a former 1,000-yard receiver, looked comfortable and made a few impressive catches.
Watkins likely will get work with the first-team offense when the Rams play a preseason game at Oakland on Saturday night.
“When the ball is in his hands,” Coach Sean McVay said, “you can feel his speed and his juice down the field. I thought it was good to get him out here. We was comfortable with the things we were asking him to do, so it was great to have Sammy out there and get him in the mix.”
It certainly helped Goff, who threw five interceptions in practice on Monday and Tuesday but looked sharper overall on Wednesday and made better decisions with the ball.
McVay said Goff had “a better day” but also praised the Rams defense for disguising coverages and making things tougher for the quarterback. Goff also benefited from the fact the Rams practiced without injured cornerbacks Kayvon Webster, Nickell Robey-Coleman and Mike Jordan.
It’s also fair to note that the Rams practiced Wednesday without three starting offensive linemen, who rested, yet Goff showed improvement.
“I was being a little bit aggressive the last couple days,” Goff said. “Some plays I can’t make. I’m still learning and still growing. You should test your limits a little bit, I think, but at the same time I have to be smarter than that and take care of the ball better than that, and I will. In practice, you just try some things you might not try other times, but you still have to be smart with it.”
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