IRVINE –– Rams coach Sean McVay hasn’t been fond of giving his top players reps in exhibition games, but with a roster brimming with rookies and other signs of a transitional period present, a new approach appeared to be afoot this preseason.
“It’s going to be very different than what you guys are accustomed to. We haven’t decided exactly, but we’ve got to get guys ready to go,” McVay said at training camp Saturday. “There’s a lot of players on this team that haven’t had an opportunity to really suit up and play real tackle football that we’re going to be counting on (in Week 1) against Seattle.”
While McVay said he wouldn’t be tossing domineering defensive tackle Aaron Donald or starting quarterback Matthew Stafford into formal exhibition action, he did say this preseason would harken back to 2017, McVay’s first season with the club. Then, he tended to give starters more reps, especially in the early going of both games and the preseason itself.
“I just know that whenever I’m asked to play, I’m going to go play, and whenever I’m not, I’m not, and I understand that,” Stafford said. “As a competitor, you always want to play but at the same time I totally understand the choice not to, especially with the amount of experience I’ve had in this league.”
Stafford also pointed to the increasing prevalence of cooperative practices between teams as a valuable tool for players, veterans included, to get up to game speed without the rigors of the preseason schedule. The Rams will start that type of training with the Las Vegas Raiders next week and then the Denver Broncos the following week.
While Super Bowl LVI MVP and top receiver Cooper Kupp will all but undoubtedly join Stafford and Donald as they swap helmets for baseball caps on the sidelines, McVay said that he hoped Kupp would be back from a “day-to-day” hamstring injury he sustained on Tuesday in time for those intra-squad practices.
“He just felt a little tweak. It was a red-zone route. He just felt a little tightness in his hamstring. I don’t think it’s anything to be overly concerned with but we want to be able to be smart with him. I’m hopeful to get him back out here sooner than later,” McVay said.
HAVENSTEIN STANDS TALL
With the height of a basketball forward and the girth of one of the world’s strongest man competitors, offensive tackle Rob Havenstein has to really work at going unnoticed.
Yet when an offensive tackle in today’s pass-heavy NFL is doing his job well, he barely stands out at all as he lets his ball-carriers shine.
“I love Rob Havenstein. He’s been here from the very beginning. You talk about a throwback, we had him at guard because he was so lean getting ready for his wedding when he first got here in 2017,” McVay said.
Havenstein, a 2015 second-round pick, came into his own under McVay and opposite now retired left tackle Andrew Whitworth, a foundational figure in the Rams’ two Super Bowl appearances and one victory.
“He got a chance to witness the way that Andrew did it and I think they’re two great leaders. Andrew is obviously such a special player and Rob is a great leader in his own way,” McVay said.
“He’s got a great way about challenging guys and I think it’s really easy because he ends up doing the exact same things. He’s not asking guys to do things that he’s not doing. He’s so smart and cerebral, and conscientious as hell,” he continued.
McVay has gained an even deeper appreciation for Havenstein, whom he described as “an extension” of the coaching staff, during the difficult moments of last year’s injury-riddled, all-time-worst, 5-12 title defense and the current youth movement in the Rams’ locker room. In a campaign during which 14 different linemen started for the Rams, Havenstein not only missed zero games, he barely missed any snaps.
While Havenstein’s No. 79 may have been far from the most popular jersey in the bleachers at UCI Saturday, there was no shortage of appreciation for him from the names on the SoFi Stadium marquee.
“He’s a leader. He’s one of the older guys now. I remember him coming in as a rookie,” Donald said. “He ain’t the most vocal guy, but he’s got to speak up.That’s what it’s about, being a leader, at times, you’ve got to let your voice be heard. He’s having a great camp so far. He’s leading the offensive line.”
McVay said that he would be stunned not to see Havenstein voted as a team captain again this season because of the esteem he’d earned over time from his teammates, in the lineman’s room, on the offense and beyond. That respect was typified by Stafford’s assessment of his most experienced pass protector.
“He knows how to communicate at a high level, he’s obviously physically really talented, he’s in great shape right now, he looks really good and he’s been playing at a high level,” Stafford said. “I know that the guys in that room can always look to him for what it’s supposed to look like.”