Rams Finish First Lesson at Camp Knox : NFL: New coach says Phase 1--an attitude adjustment period--has been a success.
With only one morning practice remaining and with the entire roster preparing to head over to Jim Everett’s house Saturday night for a mini-camp party, Coach Chuck Knox said he was satisfied by the first series of organized workouts with his new team.
The Rams had their final day of two-a-day practices Saturday. Today they will break camp until advance training camp for rookies and some veterans begins July 15. The regular training camp begins one week later.
Knox wanted the team to do some attitude adjustment during mini-camp, to begin thinking the Knox way, and he sounded comfortable that his goal was accomplished.
“I’ve been very pleased (with) the way they’ve worked, the way they’ve accepted to do the things that we want them to do,” Knox said Saturday evening, recapping the week of work.
“Now, this is a first step, but I think it was very successful. (Today) will be the seventh day for our veterans, and they’ve responded well.
“I like their attitude, I like the way they work, especially our veteran players. I like the way they came out here with a lot of spirit, a lot of enthusiasm. You would expect that initially, we’ve had it every day.”
Because it was a mini-camp and because the players did not wear pads during the workouts, Knox says he cannot make any talent assessment about the team, which was 8-24 the past two seasons.
He said he just wanted the players to develop a sense of what he wants from them once the hitting begins.
“I haven’t seen them with the pads on yet,” Knox said. “I haven’t seen them respond in the game. But that’s what the preseason is for, that’s what training camp is for.
“I’m not forming any judgments about anything. I’m just getting general impressions during this mini-camp.”
Ram Notes
Chuck Knox was fuzzy Saturday when asked if last year’s starting right cornerback Darryl Henley will start training camp as a starter or a backup. The status of Henley, who did not practice until Saturday because of a sore right knee, is in question because Knox used the team’s second-round pick to select cornerback Steve Israel, a bigger, faster player, and perhaps by the development of second-year player Robert Bailey.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” Knox said. “We’re mixing people in there, we’re going to have competition for the spots. We’ll line them up in training camp. Obviously, Darryl couldn’t be in there as the starter from Day 1 because he had the knee problem. But we’re not into that at this point.”
Tailback Marcus Dupree, bothered with a sore right hamstring, did not work out with the team Saturday. . . . Tight end Damone Johnson, bothered by a fractured finger, has been held out of workouts.