LOS ANGELES – Day 4 of Rams Training Camp presented by UNIFY Financial Credit Union was the longest yet, and featured some spectacular plays on both sides of the ball.
On defense, inside linebacker Nate Landman continues to shine while outside linebackers Jared Verse and Byron Young made some noise. Offensively, competitive situation drills and deep passing headlined the day.
Senior staff writer Stu Jackson spent the afternoon watching the offense, while staff writer Wyatt Miller watched the defense. Here are notes on each unit:
Offense
1) A back-and-forth two-minute drill. This situational work was the most competitive period of the day, with the first team offense going against the first-team defense. After quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had a pair of passes broken up by cornerbacks Cobie Durant and Emmanuel Forbes (one each), he responded with an intermediate completion to Puka Nacua, then a deep completion to Davante Adams before spiking the ball to stop the clock for a series of field goal attempts by kicker Josh Karty.
2) Going deep. One of Garoppolo's best passes of the day came on a ball he launched down the left sideline to Adams, who made the catch look easy.
3) Going deep Part II. Quarterback Stetson Bennett also had an impressive deep completion when he connected with wide receiver Xavier Smith for a big gain during team drills.
4) Konata Mumpfield impressing. While most of the attention has been on Nacua, Adams, Tutu Atwell and Jordan Whittington so far, rookie Mumpfield was a standout on Saturday with the movement and separation skills he displayed. His best catch of the day was on a short pass near the sideline from Bennett in tight coverage during team drills.
5) Whittington remains consistent. The second-year wide receiver was once again a reliable target for Bennett throughout team drills, and also hauled in a impressive touchdown reception during team drills on a perfectly-placed pass by Garoppolo.
Defense
6) ILB Pooh Paul and CB Ahkello Witherspoon out with calf injuries. McVay said they are "being smart" with Paul, but did not give a specific timeline, and said Witherspoon is "day-to-day" as both nurse calf injuries.
7) Nate Landman displays command of the field and huddle. Landman set the defensive sideline into uproars when he punched the ball out of tight end Davis Allen's hands during red zone drills, and the fumble was recovered by cornerback Darious Williams. He was a leader in the huddle once again and McVay was complimentary about his leadership skills.
"He's a great communicator," McVay said. "He's got great command. He's got the ability to elevate people. He's got a great feel for attacking the football... He's just got some natural leadership traits and communication skills where he understands what's going on from an All-22 perspective. And I think when you're talking about a guy that's at that inside linebacker position, it's key and critical, and he's done a great job leading the way for that group."
8) Young gets consistent penetration. Young beat multiple opposing tackles to pressure the quarterback and collect some sacks, or at least they would have been if contact was permitted. His bull rush was powerful, his moves were twitchy and his quickness was on full display. He also ran down speedy rookie Jarquez Hunter on a run to the outside before he could turn the corner. It looked like Young's offseason pilates training has paid off.
9) Verse's competitive edge comes out. Verse was hounding the quarterback all day. His constant trash talk and aggressiveness led to a teaching moment with McVay.
"One of the things that makes Jared great is that edge that he plays with," McVay said. "I can remember it's the same things that Aaron (Donald) and I used to talk about when he was playing... You don't want to take that away from him, but you want to make sure that you're able to reset from one snap to the next. We always talk about, let's respond, let's not react, and I like the way that he finished practice."
10) Troy Reeder picks off Bennett. Near the end of practice, Bennett tried to thread the ball between defenders in the middle of the field, but Reeder leapt in front to snag the interception.
