LOS ANGELES — Thursday was the final day of practice at Rams Training Camp presented by CommunityAmerica at LMU. Day 10 showcased the final reps at LMU and some final highlights with the first and second teams during the 11-on-11 period.
Rams head coach Sean McVay, defensive end Braden Fiske and running back Blake Corum all recapped training camp and how they're looking to build on the foundation set at LMU and take it into the season.
"I think it's been good. I think you take it a day at a time. Yesterday, I thought there were some good moments for each side, but it was probably not a good practice for us. I thought we are better than what yesterday was, and I thought the guys came out with the intentionality. And the day before that, before we took a little bit of a break, I thought it was a really good day. So humility is only a day away in this league. I do like the way that these guys respond to whatever occurs, and I like how we're just being present. But so far, so good." - McVay
Wednesday's practice had some hiccups. Thursday looked more sound and brought more confidence and energy from McVay. Both the first-team offense and defense had an incredible Day 7 on Monday. McVay was "really pleased with the collective," and the overall effort shown throughout training camp.
Rather than focusing too much on categorizing practices as good days and bad days, though, McVay chooses to focus on his key questions of, "how are we coming together as a team? How are we playing 11 as one? I've loved the way that the new guys have come in and gotten familiar with the guys that have been here," McVay said.
"There's little tells in camp and just the energy, the vibe guys bring and just the camaraderie that's built through these days of camp when you spend all day every day with each other around the dorms, around the facilities when we're in this confined space. It's a special group, I can say that now for sure." - Fiske
Fiske feels like the defense is clicking. When asked about whether or not you can tell if a defense is special and when in the season that tends to be, he answered with the aforementioned sentiment. With defensive end Myles Garrett back on the practice field Thursday and Wednesday after missing the second block of training camp, Fiske feels like training camp was a good time to keep "working our communication of how to rush together," saying that "that's the biggest thing right now."
Echoing the words of his head coach, Fiske subscribes to the sentiment of stacking days. He believes that "we've done a really good job stacking days, competitive football on both sides of the ball, and I think we've made each other a lot better in the days we've been here," Fiske said.
"I feel like every year I've been here, our relationships, that brotherhood, just the culture of the running back room has grown, and you can really feel it. I feel like our relationships on and off the field have grown." - Corum
Similar to what's been stated in press conferences throughout the past two weeks, training camp provides a unique time to continue to build preexisting and new relationships. For the running back room that returns Kyren Williams, Corum, Ronnie Rivers and Jarquez Hunter, training camp this year was a great time for them to continue to gain trust on and off the field.
For Corum specifically, he spent the offseason and training camp with the goal to "improve in all aspects." And just like Fiske sharing a similar mindset with McVay, Corum echoed his sentiments about what the Rams do best. "That's the special thing about our culture here at the Rams, we don't think too far ahead," Corum said. "We think about the task at hand, and each day, how can we become better football players?"
