Rams playing it careful again with preseason decisions
The coaching staff will meet on Saturday to discuss whether or not to play key rookies like first-round draft pick Jared Verse and second-rounder Braden Fiske against Dallas on Sunday.
THOUSAND OAKS — Now that the Rams are through their third week of practices, the decisions begin for who will play in Sunday’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Under head coach Sean McVay, the Rams have been largely hesitant to play starters or even key backups during the preseason. So playing the likes of quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp and running back Kyren Williams isn’t even a consideration.
But the Rams will meet on Saturday to discuss whether or not to play key rookies like first-round draft pick Jared Verse and second-rounder Braden Fiske, so they get a taste of NFL action before the games start to count in September.
“We wanted to get through today, and then we’ll kind of finalize those plans once we get through tomorrow,” McVay said.
That also goes for a decision on whether or not to play backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has 11 years of NFL experience but will be suspended for the first two games of the regular season.
“I’ll talk to Jimmy,” McVay said. “I would probably say probably not because I think it’s important for [quarterback] Stetson [Bennett IV] to get a bunch of work and Jimmy’s played a lot in this league. If he said that he thought he wanted to, knowing that he’s going to miss those first couple weeks, I’d be open to it.”
Sunday will be Bennett’s first time playing since last year’s preseason. The former fourth-round pick missed his rookie year for what he described as mental health purposes.
“I think command, control,” McVay said when asked what he wanted to see out of Bennett on Sunday. “Being able to get in and out of the huddle. There’s so much that goes into the quarterback position in regards to just calling the play, getting up to the line of scrimmage, making sure that everybody’s set, sending any sort of motion and then being able to just play and trust your instincts after the snap.”
INJURY REPORT
Rams starting inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV was not on the field during practice on Friday. McVay said the defensive captain was dealing with the same knee injury that kept him out of OTAs and minicamp during the spring.
Rookie offensive lineman Beaux Limmer left practice after banging the thumb on his right hand, while outside linebacker Brennan Jackson has missed the last two days of practice with what McVay described as a soft-tissue injury.