Rams Practice Report 8/5: Rules of the Game

Practice Report 8/5: Rules of the Game

By Myles Simmons

[www.therams.com]


Every year there are a few changes to the NFL rulebook. Some are designed to enhance player safety, others made to quell any competitive unbalance. On Friday, a crew of NFL officials were at UC Irvine to help explain them to the Rams through a short video presentation and officiating practice.

“It’s always good when you have a referee and part of his crew out,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “We’ll kind of informally talk; they’ll informally talk with the players, answer questions and things like that. It’s always a good meeting to attend.”

“One of the reasons we come to training camp, is to show the video and to answer questions, and then put ourselves on the field with them, so [they can] ask questions out on the field,” said referee John Hussey, who also gave a presentation to the media. “A lot of times they won’t ask a question in the meeting, just for whatever reason. But they’ll come up to you out on the field and they’ll talk in further detail. It’s very helpful for us, and I’ve always found it good to engage with the players in an environment where we can kind of interact and kind of figure stuff out.”


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Fisher said he wasn’t too concerned about any of the rule changes, though there was one he brought up that may take some adjusting.

“There’s not really anything significant other than, to me, from my opinion, other than the touchback,” Fisher said. “We have to wait and see where that goes during the year. Beyond that, subtle changes related to player safety and things like that.”

While many recent changes to the rulebook have a reputation for benefiting the offense, there are a couple this year at least in part designed for defensive players. The most clear example of that is the elimination of the chop block.

From the video the officials show to players around the league, a chop block is “a two-man, high-low block, in which a defensive player is engaged above the waist by one offensive player, and blocked at the thigh or below by another offensive player.” As Hussey put it, these blocks have mostly been phased out of offenses. But in the few instances that they do happen, it is a safety issue because of the high risk for lower-leg injuries.

“If you’re out there and you see it, it’s ugly,” Hussey said. “And it engenders ill will because players have careers. I like [the change].”

Another point of emphasis this year will be the quarterback feet-first slide. This year, it’s a point of emphasis for signal-callers to get down early if they want full protection from receiving a legal hit by a defender.

“They were pushing the envelope of getting to the ground,” Hussey said. “And that’s what the point of emphasis is to them, to say, ‘hey, you want max protection and you don’t want to get touched at all, then get down early.’ And that’s the message that we hope is clear.”

That, however, doesn’t mean a defender has free reign on a quarterback who’s clearly going to the ground — particularly when it’s a player-safety issue.

If [the quarterback] slides while the defensive contact is imminent, then the defender needs to stay off the head,” Hussey said. “If he’s airborne and he’s launching, and he’s up around the head or neck area [the quarterback is] fouled. Or if [a defender] lowers the crown of his helmet to any part of his body, [the quarterback is] fouled.”

Another headline-garnering change is two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties resulting in an ejection. Officials have always had the option to eject a player if necessary — for actions such as a punch or spitting. But implementing this rule is akin to making a deterrent so players will be less likely to do whatever they’ve done again.

“This is really an emphasis toward behavior toward your official and your opponent,” Hussey said. “Taunting, actions towards us — so it’s just putting more depth in the unsportsmanlike [conduct penalties].”

There are a few more rule changes and points of emphasis that will be implemented for the 2016 season. If you’d like to watch the video the players saw about them, you can view it here.


EXTRA POINTS

— The Rams will host Family Day at the Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. The players will strap up their pads at the stadium for the first time since returning to Los Angeles.

“Oh man, that’s going to be a great feeling. It’s definitely going to be breathtaking,” offensive lineman Rodger Saffold said. “You’re talking about just a ton of people in there. It’s going to be good just to just scrimmage.”

While the event is free, fans do need to register for tickets. You can do that at the link here.

Gates open at 1 p.m. and practice will start at 3 p.m.

— Rookie wide receiver Pharoh Cooper made his return to the practice field on Friday after sitting out a few practices due to a mild quad issue.

“They’re just being precautionary about it — nothing real, real serious,” Cooper said of his quad. “It felt good to get back on the field today after a couple of days off. It was the first time I could actually put the pads on, so it felt good to be back out there with the boys instead of just watching.”

— Fisher said cornerback E.J. Gaines has a mild hamstring strain and will be out for a little while.

“I haven’t ruled him out for Dallas yet, but I’m not anticipating him doing anything tomorrow,” Fisher said.

— As expected at this point, Fisher confirmed Case Keenum will be the starting quarterback in the Rams’ first preseason game against the Cowboys on Aug. 13. Rookie QB Jared Goff will follow Keenum and get significant playing time.

“Nothing unusual — what you want to do is you want to play your starting quarterback with your starters and then you start subbing and then Jared comes in,” Fisher said. “He will get to play. I’m sure he will get to play quite a bit — probably play a half.”

— Finally, the Rams had another special guest at practice as the club hosted new Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton for Friday’s session. Fisher said he was excited to have Walton around the team.

“We made contact over a week or so ago and I was really impressed that he wanted to come down and see what we do,” Fisher said. “We got to spend a lot of one-on-one time together today, which was very, very impressive from my standpoint — to have an opportunity to learn his world and he got an opportunity to learn our world.”

Our Dani Klupenger sat down with Walton for her own one-on-one time with the head coach, which you can view in the video below.