LOS ANGELES – The final day of the second four-day block of Rams Training Camp presented by CommunityAmerica Credit Union at LMU yet again featured high-flying plays between the first-team wide receivers and defensive backs. What head coach Sean McVay described as an "unscripted" practice featured Matthew Stafford leading the first-team offense with impressive completions to – and equally impressive catches from – wide receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, while Stetson Bennett IV got all of the reps leading the second-team offense. The first-team defense came up with multiple highlight pass breakups and takeaways, and the second-team defense was efficient at run stop.
Senior staff writer Stu Jackson watched the offense Saturday afternoon, while staff writer Zach Edwards watched the defense. Here are 10 things that stood out:
Another scheduled off day for offensive lineman Alaric Jackson: Similar to the previous practice block, Monday was an off day for Jackson as part of the maintenance of medication for the blood clots he's been dealing with since last year.
Stafford's connection with Nacua and Adams on point: Two of Stafford's best throws of the day were an over-the-shoulder touchdown pass to Adams in the face of a blitz – with Adams flashing late hands to secure the catch – and later a back-shoulder throw to Nacua for a touchdown. These were also emblematic of the back-and-forth battle between the wide receivers and cornerbacks: Stafford and Adams made that connection a few plays after cornerback Jaylen Watson broke up a potential touchdown pass between the two, while the connection with Nacua came after McDuffie had a perfectly-timed pass breakup as Nacua was bringing in a deep ball from Stafford over the middle.
"There was a a lot of high quality plays out there," Stafford said. "Plays that in the books will go down as good for the offense, and in the books it'll go down as good for the defense that sometimes you just tip your cap."
Terrance Ferguson's next-play mentality: The second-year tight end had a two-play sequence that stood out. On the first play, he dropped a pass he should've caught from Stafford, but Stafford went right back to him on the next play and he finished strong through the catch point on a slant.
Bennett looks comfortable leading second-team offense: Bennett got all of the reps in team drills leading the second-team offense on Monday, and continued to show command of the offense.
"We were kind of unscripted, and Matthew was out here, and so Stetson got the work that he's earned," McVay said.
McVay also said Bennett has "taken advantage of his reps" and praised Bennett's overall command of the offense now being "significantly improved" compared to a year ago.
Bennett's deep ball to wide receiver Tyler Scott an early highlight: Arguably Bennett's best throw of the day came on a deep ball down the right sideline to Scott, who also deserves praise for the way he tracked the ball and brought it in.
Cornerback Trent McDuffie highlight pass break up: The first deep ball of the afternoon from Stafford had Nacua with a multiple-step advantage on the nearest defender. As Nacua hauled the ball in, McDuffie came in at the last moment to punch the ball out for his hands for the incompletion. "Shout out Puka, that boy is rolling, I'll tell you that much, he went right past me, so I just had to put my head down," McDuffie said recalling the play. "I mean, good ball, good catch, and I was just there, fortunate enough to knock it out." One of McDuffie's more underrated plays came on a blitz with the offensive inside the 5-yard line, as Stafford quickly got the ball out to Adams on a crossing route and McDuffie stopped him short of the goal line as the whistle blew the play dead.
Watson pass break up on another Stafford deep ball: This time, Stafford tossed up the ball along the right sideline to Adams. Watson, adjusting to the placement of the pass, stepped up and knocked down the pass to win that edition of the Watson-Adams battle.
Josaiah Stewart stepping up in Myles Garrett's practice absence with forced fumble: With defensive end Myles Garrett not practicing Monday as head coach Sean McVay said yesterday would be the case, outside linebacker Josaiah Stewart saw more snaps and came up with one of the biggest defensive plays of the day. On a run up the middle, Stewart came in and knocked the ball out of Blake Corum's grasp, which was then subsequently picked up by safety Quentin Lake for a scoop-and-score.
Safety Kam Curl picks off Stafford as pocket collapsed: As the pocket collapsed around Stafford, he picked out Adams on a comeback route in the middle of the field, but didn't account for Curl reading the play and jumping in at the last moment to snag a interception that eventually led to the second defensive touchdown for the Rams. "I love Kam Curl," McVay said. "Just his vibe, made a great play today. He's doing a lot of amazing things, ... re-signing Kam Curl was a huge deal for us as well."
Second-team defense containing the run game: While many of the highlights on defense was awarded to the first team, time and time again, the second-team defense stepped up on rushing downs to stop the ball carrier in the backfield. Outside linebacker Keir Thomas II and cornerback Cam Lampkin both tripped up the runner in the backfield going right on two separate plays, and inside linebacker Grant Stuard came flying in on a run up the middle.
