9/23 Practice Report: Facing a Familiar, Unfamiliar Opponent

Practice Report 9/23: Facing a Familiar, Unfamiliar Opponent

By Myles Simmons

[www.therams.com]

The NFL schedule is set up in such a way that it’s rare for two teams in the same conference but different divisions to play every year. In fact, it takes a decently special set of circumstances for that to happen.

That’s part of why it’s so atypical the Rams and Buccaneers are squaring off for the fifth straight year. The two franchises have faced one another in each year of head coach Jeff Fisher’s tenure, and so far, the Rams are 4-0 over Tampa Bay.

“It’s unusual to play a non-division team, four, five years in a row,” Fisher said this week. “There’s some familiarity there from a player match-up.”

While the Rams have been fairly consistent with their coaching staff over the least four years, the Buccaneers have gone through a few stages of upheaval. The club dismissed Lovie Smith after the 2015 season and promoted its offensive coordinator, Dirk Koetter, to head coach. The move helped keep the offensive system consistent for quarterback Jameis Winston, aiding his development.

In fact, Winston said this week there hasn’t been much of a difference for him with Koetter now as the head coach.

“I just feel like I’m more comfortable in the offense, which allows me to have more control of the offense just by my comfort level and by my knowledge of the game plan and what we have got in store,” Winston said.


Conversely, there have been some more significant changes on defense for Tampa Bay. Mike Smith, former head coach of the Falcons, has come on to be the Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator. Koetter was Smith’s offensive coordinator from 2012-2014 with the Falcons, and the two also coached together in 2007 with the Jaguars.

“Mike Smith, whenever he’s coached defense, wherever he’s coached it, he does a great job,” Fisher said. “The defensive side of the ball is very disciplined, they can rush, the linebackers are really good, they can close – they’re sideline-to-sideline players. The schemes are a little bit different, but they’re doing well in the scheme right now.”

“They’ve got some of the same players, but have made some additions on defense, secondary wise, a couple of guys up-front,” quarterback Case Keenum said. “Obviously, a different scheme, so we got our work cut out for us in that aspect. A little bit different than, say, watching the film last year.”

According to tight end Lance Kendricks, the Buccaneers’ team speed also stands out from the first two weeks of the season.

“We were watching the Atlanta tape and they fly around the ball,” Kendricks said. “They get off really good off blocks. They know how to attack the runner. So we’ve just got to be really disciplined in our offense and how we’re running things.”

TRAVELING EAST

While it isn’t the first road game for the Rams this year, it is their first trip across time zones. The team will fly from Los Angeles to Tampa on Friday afternoon, giving them Saturday to get acclimated to eastern daylight time.

“We’ll address it each day. Unfortunately, we get in there late, but we’ll let them sleep and let them adjust,” Fisher said. “That’s the most important thing – is the sleep and adjust and a little bit of exercise on Saturday.”

“I think we’ve done enough traveling in the last year to where it probably won’t affect us too much,” Kendricks said.


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One factor that works out in the Los Angeles’ favor is that the game is slated for a 1 o’clock pacific kickoff, as opposed to the early window of games at 10 a.m. But if there’s an element of the east coast that might affect the Rams this week, it could be the weather. The current forecast for Sunday at 4:05 p.m. local time is 89 degrees with scattered thunderstorms.

“We have to deal with the elements, as well,” Fisher said. “It will be 90 degrees, it’s going to be humid, so we have got to address that.”

“We played in the heat this past week, so I think we’ll be good with the heat,” Kendricks said. “I don’t think the game is too early to where we’re going to be tired or anything. But we’ll be out there and we’ll be ready.”

INJURY REPORT

The Rams have six players on their injury report for Sunday, and at this point, none have been declared out.

“They’ll all make the trip,” Fisher said.

Safety Maurice Alexander (thigh), running back Benny Cunningham (knee), cornerback E.J. Gaines (thigh), cornerback Lamarcus Joyner (toe) are all listed as questionable.

Wide receiver Pharoh Cooper (shoulder) and wide receiver Nelson Spruce (knee) are all listed as doubtful.

All six players participated on a limited basis for both Wednesday and Friday’s sessions.

ROSTER MOVES FOR BOTH TEAMS

The Rams have promoted defensive back Isaiah Johnson from their practice squad. An undrafted rookie out of Georgia Tech, Johnson joined the Rams in the first week of September after the Lions waived him in reducing the roster to 53 players.

As a corresponding roster move, Los Angeles waived CB Steve Williams.


Also on Friday, the Buccaneers waived second-year tight end Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, after he was involved in an early-morning, off-the-field incident.

“We are very disappointed in today’s news,” said Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht said in a statement. “After careful consideration, we felt this was the right decision at this time.”

“It’s unfortunate what happened last night with the Bucs,” Fisher said. “I understand that they released him, and it’s just a great example of players needing to [understand and] make better choices. That hurt the football team.”

The tight end was a significant part of the Buccaneers’ offense, which means the Rams will have to adjust accordingly. Another tight end for Tampa Bay, Luke Stocker, will also be out for Sunday’s matchup with an ankle injury. The Buccaneers have promoted Alan Cross from their practice squad.

“Well we have to look at things from a defensive standpoint, because they’ve had four tight ends on their roster and one just got released, and the other’s been designated as out,” Fisher said. “You have to anticipate different things.”

EXTRA POINTS

— Fisher said there will only be two active quarterbacks on Sunday, but declined to name who among Jared Goff and Sean Mannion would be the backup to Case Keenum.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” Fisher said.

— Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams coached with Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter on the Jaguars in 2008. Williams was the defensive coordinator for that team while Koetter was the offensive coordinator.

While it was some years ago, that level of familiarity between the coaches could have an effect on the game.

“I did coach with Gregg in Jacksonville, and the challenge is that Gregg always got plenty up his sleeve,” Koetter said this week. “Everywhere he’s been, his guys on that defensive unit play extremely hard for him. They’re well coached across the board, and anytime you’re going up against a Gregg Williams defense, you know you’re going to have your hands full all day.”

“The fact that I’ve been in the fire with him helps a little bit,” Williams said of Koetter Friday. “But they probably think the same thing about me, too, because we went against each other in practice all those times.

“Dirk Koetter is a very, very good football coach, and I always teased him about the fact that he could coach defense, too,” Williams added. “That’s the way he coaches offense because he’s no nonsense, he’s very aggressive in his ways, he’s very detailed in his ways. I have a lot of respect for him.”