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Los Angeles Rams will meet Friday in Manhattan Beach to discuss logistics of move

Rams Coach Jeff Fisher responds to a question during a news conference at the NFL combine last week.

Rams Coach Jeff Fisher responds to a question during a news conference at the NFL combine last week.

(Darron Cummings / Associated Press)
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Two months after NFL owners signed off on the Rams’ move from St. Louis to Los Angeles, the team’s players will visit Southern California en masse for the first time.

The Rams are scheduled to meet Friday in Manhattan Beach for a question-and-answer session with Coach Jeff Fisher and team executives.

Since it is the off-season, the special meeting was arranged after discussions with the NFL Players Assn. and the NFL’s Management Council.

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“They were flexible with us,” Fisher said last month. “They understand the need for it. ...They’ll both be present at the meeting.”

Fisher, the Houston Oilers’ coach in the 1990s when the franchise moved to Tennessee, said last month that the Rams’ meeting was set up because “it’s easier to answer one question once than it is 60 times.”

He said the meeting would be for players only, but that players were welcome to bring their families on the trip. Players at the meeting are expected to receive information about traffic patterns and recommendations about housing.

“It’s a weekend for them in L.A.,” he said, adding, “We just want to give them information.”

Players know that the Rams will play home games in the Coliseum for the next three seasons while a new Inglewood stadium is constructed in time for the 2019 season.

But Fisher and others are expected to discuss details of the team’s plans to use multiple locations this season for off-season workouts, training camp and regular-season practices.

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In April, May and June, the Rams will hold organized team activities, also known as OTAs, in Oxnard. The team could hold training camp at UC Irvine before moving to another location, possibly in the Thousand Oaks area, once the season begins.

Rams General Manager Les Snead said at the NFL scouting combine last week that Los Angeles would be used as a recruiting tool when attempting to attract free agents.

“If you’re from L.A., you know the weather is really good and it’s a good place to be if you’re young,” Snead said, adding, “No. 1, it will come down to money — are you in the ballpark. No. 2 is going to come down to your head coach and your coaching staff, and they’re going to vet who they’re going to be working with every day.

“And after that, I think the city comes into it. But yes, I think L.A. is a positive thing for young professional athletes.”

Friday’s meeting comes on the eve of what is commonly known as the “legal tampering” period, when representatives of unrestricted free agents can negotiate with other teams but not sign contracts. The two-day window begins Monday in advance of the start of the new league year — and free agency — on Wednesday.

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The Rams this week put the franchise tag on cornerback Trumaine Johnson, one of their 12 unrestricted agents. Johnson will earn nearly $14 million next season if he and the Rams do not work out a long-term deal by July 15.

Follow Gary Klein on Twitter: @latimesklein

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