Training Camp Report: Top Takeaways from Day 14

Training Camp Report: Top Takeaways from Day 14

Kristen Lago

The team was back in full pads during Day 14 of training camp in a high intensity practice session. Today marked the team’s last full-padded practice of training camp before the team travels to Oakland to face the Raiders in Week 2 of the preseason.

The two hour practice was full of energy on both sides of the ball and featured new wide receiver Sammy Watkins being worked in with the first and second team offenses, after observing the majority of yesterday’s session. Here’s everything you need to know from Day 14 of Rams Camp:

TOP TAKEAWAYS

1. Watkins taking more reps at receiver

Watkins, who was traded to the Rams from the Bills just five days ago, saw a lot more action in his second practice on Tuesday. The receiver took a lot of reps during the individual drills, recording an impressive deep catch from quarterback Jared Goff in the offense-only section.

While Watkins begins to familiarize himself with the Rams’ playbook, McVay says he will be slowly worked into the offense during the rest of the preseason. But McVay did mention that he was “pleased” with the receiver’s progress thus far.

“He’s picking things up fairly quickly,” McVay said. “It’s a tough time to come in, in terms of where we’re at in the installation because pretty much everything is in. We’ve gotten all of our situations, so we’re going a little bit faster than you’d be accustomed to earlier on. But, I thought he picked things up well.”

During the one-on-ones session, Watkins had a nice catch in the end zone, reaching over cornerback Troy Hill for the touchdown. He also had a couple of solid grabs in the team’s 11-on-11 drills on passes from Goff and Sean Mannion. As the next two days of practice unfold, we should see him targeted more in the full team drills and situational work.

“He was able to make some nice catches and you can see the movement,” McVay said. “And once he continues to get more and more comfortable, I think you’ll see him be able to play even faster.”

2. Rookie report

One rookie who had a standout day at practice was wide receiver Josh Reynolds. The Rams drafted the former Texas A&M standout in the fourth round of this year’s draft, but has been kept off the field for the majority of training camp due to a quad injury.

After returning to camp late last week, Reynolds was flying all over the field in today’s session. The receiver was targeted heavily and recorded a slew of catches even in heavy coverage situations. In this afternoon’s 7-on-7 drills, Reynolds ran straight downfield before cutting up the middle to grab a perfectly-timed ball from Goff. Later in the team’s 11-on-11 work, the receiver had back-to-back catches on quick corner routes from Mannion, grabbing onto both balls in traffic.

Though the Rams’ offense currently has 12 receivers on its active roster, including newly-signed Watkins, Reynolds did a good job today proving himself worthy of a 53-man roster spot. After practice, McVay told reporters that Reynolds “was continuing to grow” and was excited to see him take the field on Saturday.

“He looked good. He was able to track some balls down the field,” McVay said. “Josh is one of those guys that — he’s got a great stride length, consistently made big plays throughout the course of his career in college and he’s kind of one of those guys that’s deceivingly fast. So it will be good to get Josh back out there and watch him compete.”

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