Rams can’t run from worries about their ball carriers

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Rams can’t run from worries about their ball carriers

Running back Raymond Calais #30 of the Los Angeles Rams runs for yardage against the Los Angeles Chargers in the fourth quarter of a pre-season NFL football game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Saturday, August 14, 2021. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

By KEVIN MODESTI | kmodesti@scng.com | Daily News
PUBLISHED: August 16, 2021 at 8:10 p.m. | UPDATED: August 17, 2021 at 1:33 a.m.
THOUSAND OAKS — Either the Rams need more from their running backs, or they need more running backs.

The question – will the backup ball carriers on their roster be good enough? – lingered after a lackluster showing by the running game in the Rams’ 13-6 preseason loss to the Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Saturday.

Xavier Jones, Raymond Calais and rookie Jake Funk combined for 47 yards on 17 carries (a 2.8 average) in their first public audition for the role of backup to Darrell Henderson, who has replaced injured Cam Akers as the lead back.

Whether the problem was them, the second- and third-string offensive line, or the vanilla play-calling common in exhibition games, the Rams coach Sean McVay was blunt in his assessment.


“The run game, you know, it was sloppy, it wasn’t very good, it wasn’t clean,” McVay said Monday after practice. “There were a couple of opportunities, but for the most part I didn’t think it was very good.”

McVay gave credit to the Chargers, although they started a defensive line made up of second- and third-stringers.


“It’s a lot of guys that haven’t gotten those full-speed reps before,” McVay said of the Rams’ backs and blockers. “That’s no excuse. We have high expectations for those guys.”

The coach didn’t spare the line, on which Chandler Brewer, Coleman Shelton and Bobby Evans started across the interior with Alaric Jackson and Tremayne Anchrum at tackle.

“I want to see these guys really start to implement the fundamentals and the techniques that (offensive line) coach (Kevin) Carberry’s been working on hard,” McVay said. “We want to see consistency from one snap to the next. We want to see these guys play as a unit, really good communication.”


The Rams started the 2020 season with Malcolm Brown, Akers and Henderson splitting carries. Brown left as a free agent last March. Akers tore his Achilles on July 19. Henderson’s own durability is an issue after he missed practices or games with hamstring, quadriceps and ankle injuries last year.

“Every day (in practice), we get to really evaluate and see where Darrell’s at from the standpoint of how many carries (he can handle) week in and week out,” offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell said.

Backups will be vital, but Jones, Calais, Funk and rookie Otis Anderson have zero career regular-season carries.

And there’s no easy answer in the trade or free agent markets. The top unsigned free agent is Todd Gurley, and McVay has ruled out signing the former Ram.

Thomas Brown, the Rams’ running-backs coach and assistant head coach, pointed to positives in Saturday’s game: The backs played almost mistake-free, Funk broke a backfield tackle and converted a fourth-and-1, and Calais flashed his speed (more on a 46-yard punt return than with a handoff).

“I just want to see more creativity after contact,” Brown said. “There’s not always going to be a huge run, a huge gaping hole. In this league, to separate yourself, I want to see guys who can create for themselves, break multiple tackles, win their one-on-ones.”

Brown said he wasn’t thinking about whether the Rams need running-back reinforcements.

“My job is to coach the guys in this building and make those guys the best they can be,” he said. “If an opportunity comes where we’re having movement at our spot or anywhere else on this team, we’ll address that when the time comes.”

HEALTH DEPT.
Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd walked off the field with a trainer an hour before the end of practice on Monday, and he was having his right ankle examined as McVay talked with reporters.

“It seems like it’s good, but we want to get a little further evaluation on it,” McVay said.

Wide receiver Trishton Jackson missed practice Monday after hurting a knee in Saturday’s game, and wide receiver Tutu Atwell and defensive end Eric Banks sat out with sore backs.

ROSTER MOVES
The Rams waived tackle Ryan Pope, defensive end Maximilian Roberts, defensive tackle George Silvanic, linebacker Derrick Moncrief and kicker Austin MacGinnis.

That got them down to the 85-player limit before Tuesday’s deadline. NFL rosters must be cut to 80 by Aug. 24 and 53 by Aug. 31. The Rams open the season on Sept. 12 against the Chicago Bears at SoFi Stadium.

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD
Rams coaches said Monday they began Saturday’s preseason opener with their headsets on the wrong channel to communicate with the quarterback and the defensive signal-caller.


Rookie linebacker Ernest Jones had to line up the defense without instruction from defensive coordinator Raheem Morris throughout the game-opening 21-play drive, which ended with a Rams stop and a Chargers field goal.
Morris said Jones, a third-round pick identified early as a candidate for a signal caller’s green dot on his helmet, showed “absolute poise.”

“He couldn’t hear me, and you didn’t even know it,” Morris said. “That coming from a rookie was pretty impressive.”

NOTES
The Rams planned a walk-through practice Tuesday before holding scrimmages against the Raiders Wednesday and Thursday at Cal Lutheran University. Unlike the Aug. 7 scrimmage against the Dallas Cowboys in Oxnard, these won’t be open to fans. The Rams and Las Vegas Raiders play a preseason game Saturday at SoFi Stadium. … Second-string quarterback John Wolford practiced fully for the first time since his Aug. 6 appendectomy. … Thomas Brown said the Achilles he tore during a practice last October is fully healed. “I’m good to go now. I can’t play anymore, but I’m 100% to coach,” the running backs coach, the 2005 and 2006 leading rusher at Georgia, said with a laugh.