Welcome to NFL Daily, where not only football is back, but my Tortis Nori is back, too. More on that in a bit. Fun show today. We were at Ram's Camp at Loyola, Marimount earlier, and Jordan Rodriegue of the Athletic joined me. We played a fun if-then game about the whole league, like if Rashaad Bateman stays healthy. You know that man is getting 1,000 yards this year. Then we talked a little bit about the Ram's practice that we watched and about the team this year, and then finally wrapped it up with a fun interview with defensive rookie of the Year runner up, Kobe Turner and emerging Ram's second year center, Steve Avula, who are buddies. I'm going to say it, they were delights. They were delightful people. But I'm adding this to the top of the show because we got a sneaky amount of news and a game to talk to talk about. Yeah, football is back. Randy, hit the news drop. News. Okay, so I will get to the Hall of Fame game soon. That was the plan. We're just going to take two minutes at the top to cover a little Hall of Fame game and feel as fresh as you can when you listen to this.

But look, that game is never going to end. It's technically going on forever. And then suddenly this afternoon became the biggest day of news we've really had in training camp. So I'm going to go over the big stuff. First, this Justin Herbert foot injury is a bummer. He has an injury to his plantar fascia, so he will be in a walking boot for two weeks. But the team has publicly said the expectation is he will be ready for week one against the Raiders. Very interesting by the chargers how much information they did give after Jim Harbaugh was giving no information in terms of injuries just earlier this week. So there's an important distinction to be made here. An injury to the planter plantar fascia is not the same, according to medical experts, as having plantar fasciitis. There's a hope here that this injury is not something that drags his whole season down as he plays through pain, as we've seen with plantar fasciitis over and over. It's a really terrible injury. So that's the hope because I've seen enough Justin Herbert playing through injuries over the last two years, and it's just not fun. And maybe being in a walking boot for a couple of weeks and then ramping up as activity gets him better.

We will see, because it should go without saying this team just cannot compete without him. We were at practice on Monday. The difference between Easton Stick is the difference between me and Kobe Turner and Steve Avula. If you check out my socials, I look like a tiny little baby next to these men. And so I think even with Easton Stick running the offense in the next couple of weeks, it's going to make it harder to install the offense and get the receiver's good reps. But hopefully, Herbert can come back. I'm going to be optimistic. Also, DeAndre Hopkins of the Titans is out about four weeks with a knee injury, according to our NFL Network reporter, Tom Pelacero. That four weeks number is so definitive that gets him back before the season. But a knee injury to a receiver his age, obviously a big concern that he won't be 100% right this season. Hopefully, they're being extra careful. They are deeper than they were a year ago. They've got Calvin Ridley, they've got Tyler Boyd. They still have nick Westbrook-Akina and Trayland Birks. It gets in the mix. So do the math. Hopkins should be better, but it's a concern.

Also a concern, Gino Smith has mispracticed the last two days with issues to his knee and hip, which doesn't sound that bad until you heard Mike McDonald, their coach, talk about him getting some imaging. That usually means an MRI. And so we are holding our breath. Nfl Daily is officially not taking any questions on this matter at the time. And we wish Gino the best. We ask everyone to send their best thoughts to the Pacific Northwest. Bucks were in the news today, made Tristan Wurfs the highest paid tackle in the league. On the same day, they got some rough injury news. They lost one of their guards, Suapeta for the season to a torn ACL. And then Yaya Diabe, who's the best edge rusher on a pretty thin group, is out 4-6 weeks. So we will see if he can get back in time. All right, let's wrap this up with the Hall of Fame game. This was fun. It got stopped midway through the third quarter, which stinks for the players that were got to get some snaps, but maybe that's perfect for the preseason. It was a crazy lightning storm. I hope our friend nick Shook is all right.

He was there. Coleen Wolf was there. The game ended 21:17. Bear's win. Pretty Well-played game. Kind of fun. Davis Mills and Kasekeedam lit it up. They cooked. Brett Rippen had three touch downs for the bears. A couple of small nuggets. Khalil Herbert at running back for the bears, played behind Roshan Johnson. The bear's receiver Oliver Colin Johnson, who was once with the Giants, once with the Jags, I believe, made some big-time plays. This is what happens in week one, but we'll keep an eye on him.

And then Kam Akers.

His numbers don't look amazing, but this is a guy coming off his second torn Achilles in a few years. And I thought he had a lot of juice. He looked good. He made some people miss. I think he's going to make that Texan's team. Joe Mixon, by the way, has not hit the practice field since the first day of camp. That is something to worry about. Also, of course, the kickoff rule, the dynamic kickoff. That was really the main story of the night. It's going to be the main story of the month. It's going to be a big story all season. It looks weird. I don't think teams are going to break out exactly all the wrinkles they're going to to this in the preseason. But Matt Iberfluh said after the game, the bear's coach, he's like, Yeah, we don't want to break everything out, but we also are trying to figure it out.

And you could see that the Texans looked a little lost on how to block this, that they could not get the ball deep on their kickoff returns at all.

And you could see the return is just looking back to the ball, which is just not what you want to do to figure out when the guy catch it. The bear seemed to have it more under control. They ran some plays like a trap, almost like you see in often. It's got It's going to be very interesting. But we had seven returns on the night and only one touchback. And I think that's the idea. Get more plays, get another talking point. It is going to be interesting. And yeah, that's it for the first preseason game of the year. We'll get a full slate of games in about a week, and we will cover all those on NFL Daily. And finally, thank you to everyone who really cared about my Tortus Nori, who was lost and remained lost for hours after I stopped taping, and it was driving me crazy. I had to leave at one point and come back. I was on my hands and knees digging through my backyard. But in the corner, about a foot under the ground, was my lovely Tortoise Nori. I thank you for all the good wishes you sent her, and she scared me, and I'm putting a tracking device on her now.

All right, let's get to the rest of the show. This was fun. Jordan and I are going to play a little game off the top, and then, like I said, we will get to some Ram's coverage. I will be down at at Saints Camp on Friday, not doing that for NFL Daily, but if you're watching NFL Network, I'll be on Inside Training Camp Live. We will be back with NFL Daily Monday morning, covering every team in the AFC with Camp Notes with nick Shook. In the meantime, I'll throw it to myself and Jordan.

All right, excited to be welcoming in Jordan Rodrieg, our friend, our coworker. I don't know why I'm using the royal wee, but I'm speaking for Randy and Jason and Drake and Cynthia, the whole crew we have out here at Ram's Camp, your home. We're going to get to some Ram's talk. Jordan, welcome.

Welcome, Greg. Welcome to my domain. Doesn't the grass smell amazing?

It is really nice.

This is totally our first take doing this.

It was not sunny before while they were practicing. Nice and cool. You got the ocean breeze. It is great out here.

If you guys think I'm insane for wearing a jacket, it was about to rain a second ago, but I'm feeling good.

Yes, everyone should check out the YouTube version of this show. Like, subscribe. We could use the help there because you can find Sean McVay and Jordan talking in-depth right behind my interview that's coming up a little later in the show with Steve Avula and Kobe Turner. But first, before we get to the Ram's talk, we're going to play a game. It's going to be a fun game, and Randy is in charge here. It's going to be an if then proposition. You came up with this idea. Why don't you explain it? Yes.

To be clear, came up with it very last minute last night. No, it's a great one. After you sent me a very strange photo of Skip Bayliss without any context or captioning.

It was just a funny tweet. If you saw the tweet, you would know Ernestine caught a candid.

It was a candid shot. It was amazing. If then, the concept is literally what it sounds like, if X happens, then I believe Y will happen. Yes, lead-wide. These are takes, but they're takes with stakes because we are timed, and I already had the poop scared out of me by the air gun that is going to go off once we run out of time.

Yes, 30 seconds. We wanted to get as many teams' takes as we could in the show. Great analysis. Why don't you kick us off? Are you ready, Jordan?

I'm ready. You let me know when the clock starts.

All right, let's start the clock, Randy. Let's go.

Okay, if Tajay Spears and Tony Pollard can stay healthy, then I think the Titans have a top five rushing attack this season. I also I feel like that Will Levis at quarterback does provide a little bit of help and support there because they're going to be able to do some of the run past misdirection stuff. And a quarterback being able to run the ball is always going to help the runningbacks. Runningbacks being able to run effectively is always going to help the quarterback. I just think that this could potentially be a top... This is the good thing about this because I ramble. We actually started this idea because we both honk.

I don't think you ramble, but yeah, we're both big-time honkers. Sometimes we need to be a little more concise and nothing like a loud airhorn to motivate us. I thought you were going to get it stopped there at the end, and I like that take. It's a lot of faith in the Callahan father-son duo to turn that offensive line around, but just pure running back talent. That's one of the best duos in the league. All right, I'm going to stay in the backfield. Start the clock. If Randy's packers get Good Year Josh Jacobs, and if you look at Josh Jacobs' career, it's either incredible or it's really not incredible, like injuries or just he doesn't look like the right guy. Last year, he had both of those guys in the same year. But if they get Good Year Josh Jacobs, they have a top three offense in the NFL.

Wow. And he put a little bow on it, too, with the shoulder shrug. Youtube watchers can see that. You did the shrug at me a little bit.

I feel confident in that. I'm emphasizing the packers having a top three offense. I just have so much faith in Matt LaFleur and what Jordan Love can do and this receiver core and how dynamic... I think they have the absolute perfect combination of continuity and youth at the exact same time.

I think they're blessed with great quarterback play, and they should be again this year. They also have tight ends who are super active, both in the run and the pass. They're going to be using those a lot. We've talked about this. Everything springs forth everything else. Everything unlocks everything else. That's the way that offense works.

I think I think you should also, Randy, have just the freedom to use the air horn whenever you want whenever Jordan talks too much. All right, go on. I'm joking because I do it the same time.

I feel seen in so many.

There we go. All right, let's start.

Too much Jordan.

No, I'm joking because I am a chronic overtalker. Let's go.

Okay, ready? Keep it moving. Oh, are we going right now? Start at the clock. Okay. If, quote, unquote, the media is finally tired of quarterback MVP candidates, then candidates I believe who will be in MVP conversation, non-quarterbacks this year, Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson, pending the quarterback situation, Amonra, St. Brown, T. J. Watt, and Max Crosby, unlocked by Christian Wilkins.

Okay, you can use the response as part of the 30 seconds, too, here. Defensive players are never going to get it. If JJ Watt in 2015 or whatever it is-Let me dream. Allow me to dream. Are never going to get it. Aaron Donald never really got considered for it.

But if you're talking about Most valuable, most valuable. Okay.

I'm going to get one more word in there. A receiver, I think someday maybe could. You can't add a qualifier. Hit them with it. If the quarterback situation doesn't work. All right, I'm going to go to my next one. This is what I'm calling a medium warm take. Start the clock. If the Bronco's offensive line holds up, they It won't be an efficient offense. It's just I'm setting the bar- You set the bar so medium. So low, though. But people just think this is going to be a tire fire. I think if you're looking at their skill position players, you can make an argument they're the worst group of skill position players in the entire league. There's probably about I think it's five or six groups. If you're counting quarterback as a skill position, which I do, that would be in that mix. They're one of those five or six teams. But I actually think it's a good offensive line. If it holds up like I think it will, they'll actually be efficient. They'll be like a 14th best offensive Yes.

A, you are totally underselling the apparent whispers coming out of training camp. Everybody is a buzz over the Josh Reynolds, Bo Nicks connection. So let's not get crazy here. Second Again, what you basically did was you proverbially gave the meme of the gold star that says you tried. That was your handoff to the Broncos just now.

It was just a realization that the Russell Wilson Broncos, which were hard to watch, if you looked at the end of the year, they were totally average in terms of DVOA, and that's just what Sean Payton can do. I've been quite down on Sean Payton on this show in various shows for some reasons, but he's going to make an efficient offense. All right, go ahead.

Ready? Start the clock. If the Giants drop four of their first six, then the house is clean. The defenses in their first six are Vikings, Browns, Cowboys, Seahawks, Bengals, quarterback, exposed, Rough scene if they dropped the first 4 or 6.

Cleaning house that early. I disagree. Let's start the clock again because I have one very close to that. I want to talk about them together. If the Saints start slow, they could be picking in the top five of the NFL draft. They start with the Panthers. Got to win that. But then at Dallas, Philadelphia, at Falcons, at Kansas City. The vibes there are funky. The depth chart is funky. And so, okay, I think we're looking at these two teams, Giants, Saints, as potential for slow starts where it could go really bad.

The reason I say this is clean house/blow things up is because you always have to try to recoup anything you could possibly get before the trade deadline. I'm not saying that they... Two more words. I'm not saying that we combine two at one time. Oh, my God, I'm dying.

All right, I guess we have to move on. But I don't know why I don't get the haunts too much.

Yeah, Greg.

My thing with the Saints is I'm not trying to too harsh. I actually think they could go nine and eight, and that wouldn't surprise me. But they just feel like a team, if they start one and three, that the whole thing could fall apart because the foundation just feels a little rickety.

One more point, please.

Yes.

I brought you a water bottle. Okay, so why I'm saying this? I don't think it's like, okay, you lost four of your first six. Okay, it's October 13th. Goodbye. I'm just saying you try to recoup anything you can possibly exchange in the franchise franchise, obviously keeping a few people around player-wise, including ones that have been highlighted here on Hard Knocks. But I do think that if you drop that and your quarterback is exposed in that way, you do have a serious conversation about not only trying to recoup things before the trade deadline, and then you have a serious talk about personnel and head coach.

Just got in there. I agree. We're going to see some Julok. They don't really have many veterans to throw out there. I'll go again. What the heck? Start the clock, and I'm keeping mine simple, so I'll give you part of the 30 seconds. Oh, thank you. If Anthony Weaver's scheme is as good as I think it's going to be and gets Chopp Robinson one-on-ones, he can win Defensive Rookey of the Year.

Oh, I like that take.

A lot of buzz, a lot of dolphins. I feel like we've had some negative dolphins buzz. A lot of good buzz of Chopp Robinson. Might just be a pass rusher only as a rookie, like Byron Young was here, but that's fine. You can win the rookie of the year by getting 12 sacks and 500 snaps.

Something like that. Yeah, I like his upside Side, too.

I'm sorry. I'm just setting you up. All right, the rules say you got to move on. Start the clock, Randy.

Okay. If Russell Wilson misses much longer. I guess he did individuals today, then the Stealers will full-on go to Justin Field's Art Smith. He, of the overhauled dynamic, a new lease on life. He's going to love the dynamic playmaking ability Justin Fields. I want to see them spam the slants, 1.22 EPA per play for Justin Fields on slants, the highest in the NFL. Didn't actually use him enough in that previous offense. And lean into the run game with an extremely explosive quarterback who can run. Do it, Art.

That was the most perfect one. I can't possibly add anything to that. I'm going to say if Bill Belichick has enough fun this year, we doing the media, that we may never see him on the sideline again because he realizes what a good gig it is. He's making a lot of money, I'm sure, between his four jobs. Underdog, our friend Josh Norris. Great job by him getting Bill Belichick signed up. We got the Monday Night Football Well, Belichick with Manning. We got McAffy. We got Inside the NFL. We're getting a lot of Belichick as a Belichick-ophile. I love it. I have a feeling he might really love it, too, and not ever coach again.

That was Great. I have nothing to add. Okay, ready?

Please.

This is an even if. I'm changing the rules of my own game here. Even if Justin Herbert gets that plantar fasciitis in his right foot addressed properly, and I hope he does. He is so much fun to watch. Then I'm Still worried. That is a lingering injury. That's one that can pop up randomly years down the road. That's one where a quarterback who we really wanted to see run a little bit more this year, a quarterback who that's his plant foot, that's something I'm really concerned about. Jim Harbaugh is going to run the hell out of the ball anyway, so just protect him a little bit.

Jim Harbaugh is going to be playing quarterback at these practices because he's going to see enough of Easton stick and say, I want to get in there. I'm bummed out because that is a long term concern. Maybe we'll be proven wrong, but I am bummed out about that. All right, last one for me. I'm going to say, if the NFL thinks they can prevent the quote unquote cheat motion, they are dead wrong. I don't even think they're necessarily trying to prevent it. No. All right, I'm taking a time out. I'm making new rules as we go because this is too complicated to explain in less than 15 seconds. You dive deep into this on Thursday here. Explain it to me. Explain a little context. Because Mike Florio wrote about how they adjusted some of the rules that was maybe going to curb what Kyle Shana had called the cheat motion, which was a very NFL dorks' bonanza of the motion that Tyreek Hill started to do in week one, where he was just suddenly jumping out at the last second from the inside, and all the teams in the league, like the Ram, started copying it.

Explain how maybe this adjustment was a little misunderstood.

Yeah. I love how deep Mike Florio gets into the rule book because someone has to do it. It's not fun work. Someone has to do it, and he really is deep into the rule book and all of those things. The thing is, that motion rule that you cannot move upfields before the snap, that's been the motion rule since motion began. That was always the rule. The way that it's been described to me, we've had an entire crew of officials led by Sean Hockley here. They're basically training with the Rams for the next few days. They're going to do a couple of other camps as well. But I grilled them this morning pleasantly on what this actually was and what it means Basically, they are still looking to make sure this pre-snap motion that offensive skill players are not moving forward toward the line of scrimage.

Which is what they do in the CFL. But that was the rule last year as well.

That's been the rule. It's been the rule.

That has been the rule.It Maybe some players were getting away with it a little bit, but I went and watched, and when Tyree kill did it, they timed it up perfectly. He wasn't moving forward. The only times players probably were moving forward, it was like half a step, and they just didn't time it right.

The rule change Coach has more to do with skill players who are vacillating between a two-point stance and a three-point stance, which one coach described to me as, What are we returning to effing 1960s football? Which for those skill players, that's just not something that comes up very much for specifically wideouts, people like that. The actual rule change was more pertaining, this is how it was explained to me by the crew and by people I talked to here today, Thursday at Ram's Camp, This was more to do with that part of it. Now, the motion can still be used. So cheat motion or fast exit motion, and the dolphins have a really funny name for it that I don't think I can use without Randy bleeping out. But the short fast exit motion that you saw Tyreek Hill and other players across the league really Excel with, that can still happen. It's just the rules are still the same for that motion. You have to time the snap perfectly with the receiver in order to get upfield at the snap. You cannot get upfield before the snap.

I thought Randy was going to hit you with the horn there.

You were trying to go to him into hitting me with the horn, and I'm so upset with you right now. I'm a jerk.

How dare you? I just thought it'd be funny. I just thought it'd be funny. It was a time out, so I'm just breaking all the rules. No, it was badass. You were talking... Thank you, Randy.

My hero.

You're a real R reporter. You're talking to the officials. You have this conversation that's going on with John McVay right behind me getting into the weeds.

Like a sasquatch sighting. I was behind your interview.

Just trying to understand this rule. You want to throw out one more? If then or you want me to. I want to end. I want you to.

You have some good ones.

Let's go, If Marvin Harrison Jr.is that dude.Time in.Time in, Greg. All right, start the clock.

This is a very official serious That's the name.

If Marvin Harrison Jr. Is that dude, the Cardinals will be top eight in EPA for play this year offensively.

I'm going to put them top 12. I'll give them a little bit more of an on-ramp for that. But I already I love what I'm hearing.

Do you know what they were, weeks 10 through 18 last year with Kyler Maree back?

They were like, fifth.

They were top 10 already. I think they were eighth or ninth or something.

Second in running. I think with anything, you're going to need an on-ramp. You're going to install a bunch of new things and try to, again, stay ahead of the curve. So I think that's very possible.

I'm buying. I don't buy a lot of Hype.

I set you up for that. I saw his hand moving.

I'm weirdly buying the Zade Jones type. Just that like, oh, he's a nice fourth receiving option when you have Harrison Jr. And Trey McBride, and Michael Wilson is probably third.

They're going to run the hell out of the ball. Nice little group. They're going to run the hell out of the ball. We know that.

Nice little group of offensive players there. Maybe not as good as the ones here with the Rams. Let's take a quick break, then we'll come back on the other side. Jordan and I are going to talk about the Rams, and then we're also going to talk to Kobe Turner and Steve Avula right after this. Okay, we are back with Jordan Rodriegue doing her favorite thing to do in the entire world. Talk about the Los Angeles Rams.

I do see your tweets, folks.

Oh, don't be hard. I talk about them too much. Don't be hard on Jordan. The team that I cover on a daily basis. She's usually going to be covering the whole league. And yes, we're here at the Rams practice because we live in Los Angeles. It's 20 minutes from work, and it is great to come out to the practice. And I like that these couple weeks of camp is a different vibe of NFL Daily because we're not going to be out in the field at all moving on. But it is cool to see live football. And this was a perfect practice to be at. It was very competitive. A lot of sessions where a certain amount of time is on the clock, they have to go down the field. Rob Havenstein, I guess, was the biggest just little item of news. He had an injury, appeared to be a foot or an ankle injury, and had to leave the field. So it's been a lot of injuries for the Rams this training camp.

Yeah, they're currently without... By the way, welcome. Doesn't the grass smell good? It's incredible. I will be in many fields over the course of this year, and this is my happy place. I am so happy that you guys are here today, that we're bringing the listener in as well. Yeah, they're missing three offensive linemen right now, three starters. They invested millions upon millions, including in that interior line, each guard, a three-year deal. We have some great background sound as well, some excitement.

Espn taping nearby.

We have some great excitement behind us. They extended The right guard, Kevin Dotson, three-year, 48 million. They also paid Jona Jackson, three years, $51 million, and he's injured. He's got a shoulder injury. He's weak to weak. Left tackle, Alaric Jackson is not playing right now. He has an ankle sprain. I asked Sean McVay when we can expect to see Alaric back, and he seems optimistic that he'll be back by the charger scrimage in a couple of days. Rob Havenstein, though, that one's a little bit scary, the foot injury. He is their stalwart on the offensive line. He's the veteran. He's a team captain. I don't like seeing what I'm seeing from the backups right now. There was a lot of pressure on those backups today, a lot of run plays that got blown up. I'm not confident in that backup group right now, but getting those guys back, it does seem like Sean believes they're going to get them back at some point.

Yeah, I know that would be a massive injury. It's so crazy to think about the Rams, and I think just going big picture, not just what we saw today, although the offense got plenty of wins. You might say you didn't like what you saw, and there was a lot of pressure on Matthew Stafford, but let's just say they looked a lot better than the Chargers offense on Monday that I was witnessing. Like, Puko is making play after play. Cooper Cup was open all day. Matthew Stafford is getting a lot of hoops from his teammates because he's dodging defenders and making people miss and throwing spin moves out and doing Matthew Stafford things. So the offense looked pretty good on balance, but it is crazy to think I think the way this Rams team has evolved since you started covering them, that now the offensive line is just a huge part of their identity, how nasty they are, and they need that group to be great to do what they want to do.

Yeah. Matthew Stafford staying upright is literally the key to this season, going the way that the Rams wanted to go. They have extremely high hopes and high aspirations for themselves. It's whispered in this building here and there about what they believe they're potentially of doing. And they had a lot of momentum, sorry, momentum going into the end of last season before that Detroit Lion's loss. And this offensive line was planning on moving people on running whatever the heck run concept they wanted to run, not staying in a world of midzone and outside zone, which not stretching the field wide, going right at your face if they needed to, and also protecting Matthew Stafford entering his 16th season. They got the Stafford deal done, and he's out here dealing. This was his best day so far. Now, granted, the first two days he was out here and the first two pads days, it was a very run-heavy installation day, so less juice, less energy. I thought they looked flat on Tuesday, and then they came out here. Someone said something to someone because they came out here, and Matthew Stafford played what I politely call his very particular brand of FU football.

And guys are getting open for him, and he can still sling it around.

It was awesome to to watch just like that high-It doesn't get old.

He can throw the hell out of the ball.

That high level of skill between him, Puka, and now that Cooper Cup is looking like Cooper Cup. That feels like one of the big takeaways from camp. Just cross your fingers. But I'm guessing at no point last year, he certainly didn't ever on the field in a regular game ever really look like the guy that we've seen dominate the league. Maybe he hasn't quite looked like that for a couple of years, but he looks different this year, you're saying?

Yeah. One day, Cooper Cup looked like Cooper Cup last year, and it was the first joint practice between the Rams and the Denver Broncos in Denver. And then he hurt his ham string again. And so that one day is now carrying over and over and over and over. He looks like that. He's crossing 30. He's past 30 this season when the season starts. We know about the injury history. We know at what point, receiver start to drop off. But when I watch these practices, this is the best time of year for me because we get to be right on the sideline up close. Obviously-i didn't even know where you were.

Having a lot of-I thought I was in a good spot. I was like, Where's Jordan?

You lost me multiple times. Where were you? I was over in the back corner of the end zone. So was I, just the other corner. When they were working on red zone, I was watching Cooper, literally in his cut split, moving an inch to the right because that movement, resetting and making sure he was right on the detail of the space he needed to be on pre-snapped. And then that play ended up springing DeMarcus Robinson loose for a big catch in the end zone. And it's just those little tiny details. But then also he broad-stepped against Quentin Lake. It It almost was like a hezzy, but it wasn't. But it was almost like that at the beginning of his route in order to catch that high flying leap that he made in the back of the end zone. And you didn't see him pushing his body like this last year. When I saw him take those strides the way that he did in that one particular play, you just never saw that last year. He was so worried about his body, and for good reason, because it just wasn't right last year.

Yeah, he skyed for what would have been a shutdown, but he only got one foot down. But I think I got... I was the only play I recorded. I fanned out, I guess, and recorded one play the whole practice, and that was it. I got some IG heat coming.

Maybe. I hope it looks good. Good luck because dart to the neck. These guys don't let you report or record scheme. I'm going to give you a little pro tip. That's not a scheme.

It's just him jumping in the end zone or whatever. But he also had another play where Stafford was scrambling around. Like I said, Stafford looked very mobile today, and he comes back to the ball to get close to the end zone. To me, that was just such a Cooper Cup and Stafford know what each other is doing. But then you also have for the first time healthy Cooper Cup next to the best receiver on the team. I'm just going to assume Pukenakuya is the best receiver on the team. He looks extremely quick. Everything is going to him, and those two together, that's special. Let's talk about the defense before we go because it's such a weird thing to expect a defense that loses Aaron Donald to get better or that loses Rahee Morris to get better. But it is year Two of this rebuild with the defense. There are some reasons, I think, to believe that they can be at least where they were last year or maybe better. What stood out to you from the defense so far?

Well, the defense has been feeling themselves a little bit through the first part of camp, particularly when the pads got on. They've been making plays. They've been getting into the backfield on a lot of these run plays. Byron Young was really active today, both in the pass rush, but then also he was getting out into the flat on some of those little underneath plays and some of those check downs to Kyron Williams.

He took out Blake Coram, and actually we saw a nice moment here by the set as Blake was leaving the field, and he came over. Young came over to him, and he was just apologizing profusely. Like, I would never mean to do that, man. I didn't do that on purpose. And Blake was like, Yeah, okay, man, but this was still not good.

Yeah, but Byron has a good saying. They got it from a team meeting where you're not going to make it. You don't have any enemies on your own sideline. And so it's basically reminding them because the defense came out so fired up the last couple of days, there were some moments where you thought, Oh, could this boil over? It's a young group. It's a lot of new guys mixing with guys who are now in their second year, their third year. And then a couple of vets, especially on the back end, I think Trey White looks great. Some of the plays today that Matthew Stafford made against him, only two quarterbacks maybe in the league could fit the ball where they fit it, the other being Pat Mahomes, when Cooper Cup was in that, he was doubled back there in that back corner, and then Trey let another one go through. But basically, there's nothing you could do about it. That was one of those where you just shrug your shoulders and the DB's coach comes over and congratulates Cooper because there's nothing you can do about it. But I think Trey White looks really good.

They obviously missed Darius Williams, had the ham string issue. They do expect him to be back at some point as well. But yeah, this is a really scrappy young defense. They're fired up about life. It's energizing to be out here listening to them talk to each other. Braden Fisk does not look like a second-round pick at all to me so far. His hands are good, his feet are great. When the pads came on, he validated all of those things.

Is he been better than Verse, you think so far?

It's different positions. You know me, I don't like comps. I don't like rankings or comps. It's different positions. I love rankings. So obviously for the listener, Jared Verse is playing on the outside.

It's like how I got to where I am. Just a bunch of rankings that don't mean anything. Jared Verse needs to calm down a little bit, though. He ran right through Stafford, hit him fairly hard today. Yeah, he's got to pull it back a little bit. That was just a dicey moment. Stafford got up, just not looking old or anything, but looking like he just got run over by a 270-pound guy.

That's what a first-round pick looks like. Right.

But also just like, you do not want to do that. It could have gone very poorly. I'm worried about the defensive coordinator change, but talent-wise, I'm with you. I kept my eyes on Trey White, who just was not healthy at all the last two years in Buffalo and could be a big difference maker. Then Kam Kroll was a big addition at safety, coming off a really good season with Washington. Good player. The It was a two-point conversion that the Rams tried today and was unsuccessful. If I was reading the play right, and I think I was, Kroll really took away where Stafford wanted to go on that play, and it was unsuccessful, and the defense went absolutely crazy, and Sean McVay was not happy about the offense not getting it, but that was what a heady older safety is going to do. That's interesting what you said about this whispering in the building of what they think they can accomplish.I mean, I guess we can guess.Huge expectation.

To win a Super Bowl. They think they can do that.

This team thinks that if they can stay healthy, that's being the key. We're going to go to if then. My if then for the Rams, if they can keep Matthew Stafford healthy, then this team believes that they are Super Bowl contenders.

I believe it. Why not in this NFC?

They looked like it at the end of last year.

They had a chance. Yeah, it's no fun losing Donald. But I think for the most part, this is a really young team with a couple key older guys sprinkled in. But For the most part, it's one of the youngest teams in the league. That's our Ram's talk, but we're not done with Ram's talk. We are going to hear from Kobe Turner, the conductor, and Steve Avula, one of the best young offensive linemen in the league. Left-handed. Who just happen to be best friends or good friends. I don't know why I'm saying best friends, but they're friends. You can absolutely tell. It was fun sitting down with them. Let's take a listen. That's good. You gave us our soundcheck for us. I love it. All right, let's get going. Sure.

There we go.

Wait, did you hear the sound of that? That sounded like the start of a dreams by Phelipua Mac. He wouldn't know.

I don't know. Let's just start the interview. That way. We're keeping this. I'm here with Kobe Turner and Steve Avula. There we go. Coming off.

People don't pronounce that right. Isn't that crazy?

I did my homework. You did. You're a star. If it was your rookie year, I would have messed it up. But you're the center now. You had a great rookie season. And before we even started talking, you come over to me and you're like, Oh, Erica said you're the little one.

Just go over with the little one. I told her. She was like, Yeah, just say it. I'm like, Dude, I don't want... Am I going to offend anybody? You got to let me know what the inside joke is. What is that?

There's not an inside joke. She made that up, but just.

Oh, my God.

That's Erica. But she's right. I'm sitting next to two large humans who had It's great rookie seasons. From what I can tell, our good buddies, Kobe Turner, Steve Abula, what? Just because the rookie class, you guys bonded?

Yeah, it started me. We have our lockers all right next to each other. But off rip, I just knew. I could feel just the energy that he brings. I feel like we're like each other in a lot of ways. It also helps going against each other every day. But the whole rookie class last year, we were bonding over the things we were going through, just with adjusting to a lot of things, adjusting to the coaching staff, adjusting to different experiences. So it was cool.

I like how you wanted to interview a voice there because you were like so live and so. That was very professional. No, in a good way. In a way I liked. You came over, and that's what I was talking about, Kobe. You seemed Really excited. So for everyone listening, Kobe Turner, of course, one of the defensive Rookey of the Year candidates last year, the conductor, my friend J. B. Long, nicknamed you, I believe. And you were really excited because today was your first day, I think, back at practice. How did that go? How did your matchups go here?

It was so much fun. I'm not somebody who takes for granted things, but I mean, every step of the way, I would be dressed up for walkthrough, and it's everybody else's down day. It's like third day, and I'm like, I'm out there with the ones today, even though it's jog through. Or, I get to put on my pads, and I haven't put on my pads yet, but everybody else has been practicing. Then today to be able to put it all together. I'm still not getting the full snap count yet, but that'll be picking up in the next couple of days. But it's just such a blessing to be back out here with the guys.

You guys seem competitive because you were saying, Steve, you guys on the offense needed to bring the energy a little bit more, which I'm surprised. Having watched the defense got their wins early, but the offense got their wins late at that.

Yeah, I mean, that's something that Sean emphasizes a lot. There's a lot of acronyms that he uses, but I know one of them has to do with energy. I did feel like the defense brought it today, but that's something that we definitely need to work on because it's for a long season. We're definitely needed through the games. But I feel like overall, it was a good practice. It was nice having him back out there. That's another person to get me better.

Yeah, it's really good to be able to go back and forth. I mean, that's a sign of a good team, in my opinion, is that no one day dominates the entire day. It's about how you respond and whether that be play-to-play basis, series-to-series basis. To be able to go out there and see the back and forth, that leads to bigger energy on both sides, because it's an actual competition. It's not just one side dog walking the other the entire day.

I feel that simulates the game. We've been in a lot of different instances. I feel like this past year, when we were playing the Colts, bro, we were up by so much, and then towards the end, it was like, Oh, my gosh. The same thing with the-Roberts.

Robert.

The same thing with the-We got a stage jump. Commanders, I know.

That's Bobby Brown. Bobby Brown.95..

It seemed like-Robert. When the defense broke up that two-point play at practice today, Sean McVay almost sounded like he was talking trash to the defense, almost that he was upset. Does that annoy you as a defensive player? That he doesn't seem to be rooting for you all. No, not at all.

Sean, he's a head coach, so whichever way the day goes, he wins. He's office and defense. But it's good because I'm pretty sure he's a play caller, right? It's good to have that little competition. Even with the head coach, you'd be like, I knew that one was coming. Or sometimes we'll be talking on the sideline and I'll call out plays or something like that. I'll be like, okay.

I was thinking about the identity of this team that you guys have because you're such a young team. You guys are great representatives of that. Two, I think of now core Ram's young starters. But you also have Obviously, the veterans like Matthew Stafford. You have Tredavius White now coming in, but you no longer have Aaron Donnell here. How do you see the identity of this Ram's team now that the younger guys have some miles under them?

Well, I feel like me and him definitely had a lot of talks this offseason, just with the understanding and realization of those people are leaving. This is our second year. I've said this for myself as well. You have to be a leader. I feel like a lot of the reason why we had success last year is because the coaches trusted us. I feel like me being moved to center was also another indicator that the coaches trust me. I feel like that would put me more in a leadership role, but overall, I feel like I'd have to earn that respect for my teammates. I'm sure the same thing for you with AD and stuff.

Yeah, it's an everyday quest to just keep getting better and better and better and to keep bringing people to what I know and what I've experienced. I haven't experienced much of anything. I'm only a rookie, but to keep bringing people along and to keep encouraging them.

You're not a rookie anymore.

I was only a rookie until we get some games under our belt this season, but to just keep bringing those guys along and hoping that the work ethic that I exemplify my process is something that's worth following. But we have so many great leaders on this team. Even just thinking defensively, AD left, but at the same time, you have guys like Ernest Jones, who's just the heart of the defense, the true heart and soul of the defense. That makes it easier also to lead my respective group up under and learning and using his leadership also as fuel for that as well. Then you got guys like Tredavius White who comes in, and he's just a natural leader. He's only been here since the spring.

He's a trash talker.

Yeah. Is he?

I guess so.

He was talking trash to the photographer on the side. I'm just saying he was watching you.

He might be playing around. I don't know.

He's a good guy.

But yeah, we have a lot of good guys and a lot of just strong character, strong leadership guys. We're all building this up together. Now everybody has a piece of the puzzle, and we're all putting it together.

I feel like one thing, and I'm sorry, I don't mean to-No, I want you to.

Please, you're making my life easy. It's good.

I feel like one thing for us last year is just the relationships that we had. When you have siblings, man, you all fight all the time. That's how I try to approach practice. There was talking all the time on the field. I try my best not to take it to heart because at the end of the day, we're on the field and we leave everything on the field. But at the end of the day, man, we're all like teammates. We're all brothers, and that's how we treat each other. We haven't had anything go on in the locker room. I I feel like everything has been focused on trying to win games and trying to do it with the person next to you.

Is there something you learned from Aaron, specifically, just being next to him? It must have been, I don't know if it was intimidating at first, just coming into the league. I know it's different with Rob Havenstein, but I think of... They were both on the St. Louis ram, and now they're here. They've obviously won a Super Bowl. You guys had that success that you had last year. What was it like? Was there something you took from being next to those First of all, it was a little intimidating to start.

I don't think I was looking him in the eyes in the huddle till week seven, maybe, after I started making a couple of plays or something like that. But no, I think the thing that I appreciated the most about him was his process. He was a man of few words, but when he said something, he meant it. But to be able to have the impact that he had where people were following him just strictly off of, This is the work that I'm putting in. You guys see what I'm putting in, and if it's worthy of being followed, then you guys are going to follow me. That's something that I try to model the way in as well. If my process is worthy of being followed, then it doesn't matter what words I say. Obviously, my personality lends itself a little bit more of vocal leadership. But regardless, if my example is worthy of being followed, then people will.

For Rob, I feel like it's a lot of the same thing. They've been through a lot, man. When you're part of a team for that long, you go through ups and downs. He's learned from people, too. Witt on the team, so that's some knowledge from Witt that Rob eventually passes down to us. But that was one of the first people. He was actually one of the first people to text me when I got drafted. I remember that. But I've always tried to learn under him. I remember one of the best things he told me. I was so nervous before this first game. He was like, The difference between college and the NFL? I was like, What? He was like, Nothing. It's football. It's so simple. But to know that he could give me that advice, it really calmed me for that There's a lot of different stuff that he tells me during practice, during the meeting time, in the weight room, everything. I'm just glad that I have someone like him.

Who's someone you like going against? That's a good challenge. Not on this team necessarily. On another team? Yeah, that you played against. I'm not saying they gave you the business, but it was a good battle back and forth, and it was respect. Same for you, too.

For me, there's... Okay, people ask me who's the best person I go against. I feel like I categorize defenses. I know Dallas was a good matchup for all of us. I learned a lot about myself that game. But I will say, Jonathan Allen had this one move that he does on offensive linemen. I have never seen in my life. I've seen it, I've never gone against it. It was a process in the game. I feel like Sean talks about having a growth mindset, and that's what I had to have during that game to make adjustments to figure out what to do against that move. But I feel like that was That was a good game. It definitely boosted my confidence to know that I can lock in mid-game and try to establish myself to figure out what I'm going to do.

He's nasty. Who's an offensive lineman, Kobe? That's tough. Other than your buddy here. Right.

Aside from our team, we faced a good couple, but I think some of the best battles that I've had have been against... Is it Chris Lindenbaum from the Ravens? Yes. The center? Tyler Lindembaum.

Is it Tyler? Yeah.

That was one of the games where I look back and I'm like, Oh, the Raven. That was just good work. I know he's a respectable center in this league, and I felt like there's a good back and forth. Then I'm excited for week one, too, to be able to go back and see Frank Ragnar again. Of course, one of the top O'Liaman in the league, one of the top centers. There's just certain things going into that game where it's like, you got to lock in, see this. He blocks a different way and picked up some wins and took some losses, but it was a really good battle. So looking forward to that as well.

Last thing I'll leave you with. My daughter, Ellis, is a huge Rams fan. Okay.

Are you? You can't disclose that.

You put me on the spot.

That's my girl. So I'm rooting for her happiness. But I grew up in Massachusetts, and now I got this logo on, so I'm not supposed to be rooting. But of course, I want my daughter to be happy. So they gave her a moment at the Super Bowl that I'll never forget. It came out of her eyes. So can you Can you give her some optimism about these 2024 Rams that you're going to speak to her and give her some great memories?

Yes. Well, I feel like a couple of things you'll get out of us. One, you're rooting for some great guys. That's number one. You're rooting for some great guys. And two, you're rooting for some guys that are going to give it all every play. Okay.

Yeah. And that the work that we put in is something that's every day growing and going in the right trajectory. At the end of the day, we all that we are one team and we are one unit, and we truly are a brotherhood in more ways than just words and more than just clichés. When you see us out there during the season, it's going to be 22 playing as one. The this entire time. How old is she?

She's 12.

She can understand. I don't know why I was thinking five. I'm like, he's over here riding a bull.

He sounds very presidential.

They call him the conductor.

I can see that. I know you got the vocal range, and you might have a career in politics with that voice.

I'm not here for politics.

Okay, maybe not.