St. Louis Rams Training Camp News & Notes, July 26

The St. Louis Rams held their second full-squad workout of training camp on Saturday afternoon. Though forecasts called for triple-digit temperatures, it ended up being more of a dry heat, and the clouds that emerged during the course of the session actually provided for some very nice weather. The team was not in pads, but there were a few notable developments:

• As was the case yesterday, rookies Johnny Millard, Kadeem Jones, Ethan Westbrooks, and Christian Bryant, as well as defensive end Sammy Brown, did not participate at all during the course of the practice. Veteran offensive linemen Scott Wells and Jake Long and defensive lineman William Hayes participated in individual drills but did not get any team work.
• Speaking of Long, he looks good as he continues to recover from ACL surgery. While he didn’t work in the team session, he looked solid during individual drills, particularly in the offensive line blocking drills where they practiced double team blocking while going up a steep hill.
• Cornerback Trumaine Johnson left the practice early with an injury that was not considered to be serious. His reps in the team session went primarily to second-year corner Brandon McGee and former undrafted free agent Darren Woodard, who spent all of 2013 on the practice squad.
• After a bit of a rough day yesterday, rookie defensive end Michael Sam had much more success on Day 2, getting consistent pressure from the left end position while working with the second-string defense. He did leave the field briefly after taking a hard hit to the head, and he was a bit more inconsistent after that.
• Sam, who many have talked about as being a possible option on special teams coverage units, did not practice with those guys today as the team worked mainly on punt coverage.
• Obviously, things can change as camp progresses and during preseason games, but right now it’s looking like running back Chase Reynolds has a pretty good shot at making the team. Time after time, he’s the first player special teams coach John Fassel calls on when he begins drills.
• After struggling on Day 1, second-year center Barrett Jones looked better today. He garnered praise after pushing a fellow lineman all the way up the hill during individual drills, and he later got reps as the first-team center during the team session. Tim Barnes had filled that role yesterday.
• Once again, rookie offensive lineman Greg Robinson lined up with the first team at left tackle. Rodger Saffold played left guard, while Davin Joseph filled the right guard spot.
• It looks like Phillip Steward, an undrafted free agent last year who spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve, will have the first crack at the sixth linebacker spot. He’s lined up with the second team at left outside linebacker on both days of practice so far.
• Kenny Britt had some great catches today. Also, he makes it a point to get in someone’s face and brag about it every time, whether it’s a defensive back or one of his coaches. After beating rookie corner Marcus Roberson on a jump ball, he ran back and yelled “Fool! Fool! Fool!”
• Sam Bradford and second-year wideout Stedman Bailey also displayed a very powerful connection on Saturday. It will be interesting to see if that holds up after Bailey exits the facility for four weeks to serve his performance-enhancing drug suspension.
• It’s been an interesting couple of days in the competition for a possible fourth tight end spot. Undrafted rookie Alex Bayer has had some impressive catches during team drills, although he’s had some embarrassing drops during individual work. Conversely, converted defensive lineman Mason Brodine has looked very solid as a receiver during individual drills, though he hasn’t really been thrown to during team work. Second-year player Justice Cunningham has looked solid as a blocker and has gotten pretty extensive work as a fullback, too.