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From the Podium: Sean McVay and Jared Verse discuss first two days of Rams Training Camp, Verse details his workout with Aaron Donald

LOS ANGELES – Day 2 of Rams Training Camp presented by UNIFY Financial Credit Union took place without some key pieces to the Rams' offense. Quarterback Matthew Stafford was still working with a trainer behind closed doors while dealing with back soreness, while wide receiver Davante Adams, offensive lineman Rob Havenstein and tight end Tyler Higbee all received a veteran rest day.

After practice on Thursday, head coach Sean McVay and outside linebacker Jared Verse discussed the first two days of training camp, and Verse detailed his grueling offseason workout with Rams legend Aaron Donald.

Here are the most significant quotes and talking points from those press conferences:

"With how we're situated, most of these guys (who get veteran rest days) are on offense just because, usually if you want to say 'Where is that kind of threshold?' It's usually going into Year 10 or more. We try to make it consistent where the rapport for our offensive guys that we project to be able to play together as much as possible." - McVay

McVay explained that the second day of each training camp block, which consists of four-straight practice days, will be veteran rest days. Today, Higbee, Adams and Havenstein weren't doing drills, but were still on the field giving advice to their position groups and watching intently.

Having these veteran rest on the same day ensures that they are on the field together as much as possible, so once the regular season rolls around, they've built chemistry.

Both quarterbacks, Jimmy Garoppolo and Stetson Bennett, have "done really well," McVay said. He believes that Garoppolo is a starting-caliber quarterback and is happy that Bennett is receiving live practice reps. In the preseason, McVay said that Garoppolo "probably will not play," so getting Bennett playing time in these practices will go a long way toward his preseason preparation.

"In a lot of instances, (Adams) reminds you of Cooper (Kupp)'s football acumen, where these guys look at the game through the lens of a quarterback. They understand coverage contours. They understand timing, rhythm, route distribution. And there's a lot of experience. And then there's an understanding of the craft in and of itself with how you work edges, how you separate, how you're able to try to be able to regain leverage, even if you're in an unfavorable spot." - McVay

Adams' "consistent approach" and willingness to pour into his teammates, regardless of his activity on the field, has impressed McVay. That's included an acute ability to teach the Rams' young wide receivers with his "big picture understanding."

Higbee is another veteran mentor who got the day off, but could still be seen supporting his teammates on the sidelines. McVay described him as "a glue guy" who is "revered and respected by his teammates" because he's "all about elevating people." That includes rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson, who was drafted in the second round, despite the Oregon alum potentially taking some snaps from the 10th-year tight end.

Before the Rams drafted Ferguson, McVay said he called Higbee, who said he couldn't wait to take the rookie under his wing. That's exactly what he's done during OTAs and the first few days of training camp.

"That workout (with Aaron Donald) was psychotic. I'm never doing that again. He did change my workout routine, though... It was definitely the mindset that you got to keep going. The one thing he kept saying throughout the whole workout, and he doesn't really show too much in the video, (was) 'Think of the fourth quarter.' Everyone's good (in) the first and the second, third (quarters), but what about the fourth? That's where you make your money." - Verse

When Verse arrived to Donald's residence for their workout, he was only expecting it to last around an hour – he had even made plans for later that day and also intended to watch film and hop in the sauna. Little did he know, none of that would happen.

They started with four circuits of cardio workouts, including versa-climber bike sets, lunges and core, followed by four more core workouts, all featuring four sets each. After 45 minutes of that, Donald asked Verse "are you ready for the real workout?"

It's safe to say that he wasn't. Donald put him through eight different circuits of arm workouts with four sets each. 90 minutes after he arrived, Verse said Donald's wife came in and he told her to call the police. "I'm not even joking, I'm dead serious, I told her to call the police. She wouldn't do it." Then he tried to lie and say his mom was at his house and had to go let her in, but Donald told him to give his keys to his assistant, and they'd go let his mom in.

"I didn't work out for another day-and-a-half because I couldn't move my body," Verse said.

"I think my rookie year, I was so mentally like, 'Oh, I got to pound it, got to pound it, got to pound it.' (But) this is a grind. It's a long 17-game season. We're trying to go a lot longer than 17 games, so I can't push myself too much harder. I was getting after it, but I still was able to take a little step back and realize not every day needs to be the grand finale." - Verse

Intense is an understatement when it comes to Verse. Everything from his play speed to his trash talk seems to be elevated beyond the usual levels, but he's learned that it's okay to ease up, saving some physical and mental energy for game days.

In that same vein, Verse isn't setting any lofty expectations for himself. When asked what his goals are, he simply said, "Be me." As long as he's the best version of himself, he'll be able to help the team, and that's what matters most to him.

Verse sets different objectives for himself each practice. Today, he worked on setting the edge, whereas yesterday he did more inside moves. He was impressed with the secondary, saying they were "locking everybody up" and giving the pass rush time to close in on the quarterback.

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