Rams Head Coach Scott Linehan

Rams Head Coach S= cott Linehan

May 9, 2008

(On which players we= re not present at practice)

“As you probab= ly noticed, we had a couple of players who were excused and were absent today. Todd Johnson had a charity event today that he had planned well before we h= ad set our off-season schedule. He tried to change it, but he will be back Sunday. The auction was this afternoon and he had= to a take a flight to get down to = Florida. His event is tomorrow. He comes back tomorrow night so he will be back for Sunday’s practice. Dustin Fry had been engaged a year ago. They set t= he wedding date for this weekend. He actually checked with me in the winter ti= me and this was going to be our rookie mini-camp. I changed it on him, so I gu= ess I allowed him to get married. Rob Pettiti was i= njured during the off-season program with an Achilles (injury). He will probably be about six months from being cleared to do any running. Those were the guys absent.”

(On the first day of mini-camp)

“I was really = pleased with the tempo and the attitude and the whole deal. There is a pretty refre= shed feeling around here and it is amazing what a new season and a few new faces will do to everyone’s attitude. They came out here with a purpose and they know we have a lot of work to do. You hear that all the time, but they worked. The plan is to do less talking and do more working and produce on t= he field when we start playing these games. Right now it is a great start.R= 21;

(On who got a better workout, the receivers or Offensive Coordinator Al Saun= ders)

“I don’t= know. I’ve heard about it. It’s pretty famous, the lore about Al runn= ing down there. I asked him if he was going to still chase the receivers. He sa= id he had been training. He said, ‘You’ll see.’ I was pretty impressed. I don’t know how old Al is but at his age I hope I can run that well.”

(On how the rookies = did without having a rookie mini-camp)

“I thought the= y did extremely well. I was leery of how that was going to go with them. A lot of times that crushes a rookie when he gets going a lot faster than normal. Th= ese guys were pretty mature and were pretty well-prepared. We spent a lot of ex= tra time meeting with them today during breaks and they were pretty ready for today. We will see how tomorrow and the next day go when they get about three times as much information.”

(On DE Chris Long)

“I think Chris= had a great first day out. I noticed him a few times. He was doing everything he = is supposed to do. I know one time he got a nice rush on the passer which is g= ood to see. What is funny about Chris is that he just goes. You don’t hear him talk a lot, which I like. He just goes 100 miles an hour, which is nice.”

(On what Long was ta= lking about with DE Leonard Little during practice)

“I don’t= know exactly, maybe he is telling him jokes. I think Leonard understands what Ch= ris is going through and certainly understands that at this point he is taking a lot of reps. Also, James (Hall) on the other side is too so it can really b= e an asset for them, especially this time of year. I think he is really just try= ing to help him. The great thing about Chris is that he is all ears. He knows he has a lot to learn and he is going to the right guys. That is for sure.R= 21;

(On how WR Donnie Av= ery looked in practice)

“I thought Don= nie looked really good. I thought he looked a little nervous early, but he plays fast. There was no hesitation out there. He made some nice catches down the field and he has some serious speed. It is the first day, but I really liked how he came to work today.”

(On the offensive li= ne)

“We had so man= y spaces in our O-line group during stretch. I didn’t have anyone to talk to during stretches for about half the season last year. I told Orlando (Pace) that it has been a long = time since we were able to talk during practice. It is true though. It is good to see the guys back out there and see a good full group. They are really anxi= ous to get back out there and they have a lot of things on their mind that they would like to prove. I know that.”

(On T Orlando Pace b= eing limited in reps)

“Orlando is not going to take much at all until we get back into training camp. He will do all of the walk-throughs and the individuals. He will be cleared and = good to go for training camp. We can’t put him in that position yet. We mo= ved Alex (Barron) over to the left side and had Adam Goldberg playing on the ri= ght side. We got the young kid (John) Greco in there with the second group.R= 21;

(On the attitude dur= ing practice)

“I think it wa= s a genuine sincere approach to what is going to be an exciting season for us. = They came out here with a whole new life and energy. It was really inspiring for= me to see that. It came from the core leadership on the team and the young kids followed it. That’s what we need.”

(On WR Torry Holt taking fewer snaps)

“He doesn̵= 7;t need all of the snaps. The snaps he does take are the first of the sets we do wi= th each group. We have a couple of young players behind him and we need to get them reps. I think Torry understands the offense pretty well. As long as he is in there and his presence is there and he is = able to get the reps that he needs, we can use all those other reps for the youn= ger players.”

(On having K Josh Br= own on the Rams sideline replacing former K Jeff Wilkins)

“It is nice. I= can tell you that. I think this thing about ‘Wilky’ and what he meant to this team and the whole thing with him retiring with a= ll of the emotions we went through during the off-season was sad. It was really sad to see his career come to an end. To have Josh come in and fill his role is a bittersweet kind of a deal, but it is = nice to have Josh here. I’m glad we had a chance to replace Jeff with a gu= y of his caliber, that’s for sure.”

(On Rams DL Adam Carriker’s progression in rehab)

“He can do any= thing. He was probably sneaking in there. I was watching to make sure he didn̵= 7;t sneak into team. I think it is amazing how fast he has recovered. Generally, with an injury like that, it is four to six months before you can do anythi= ng. I think in this case he could probably be able to play a game if we had to = play one. I said it was youth but I think a lot of it has to do with work ethic = and want. That guy has been busting his butt since the end of the season to get= to where he is at. It has really paid off.”

(On DE Leonard Little’s health)

“Leonard had t= o check up with the surgeons who did the surgery and they said he was good to go. Actually, they cleared him for some team work and things like that now, whi= ch made me raise my eyebrows a little bit. We will probably hold off on that for a little while, but Leonard cannot stand watching. We will get in there for a few plays but still make sure we don’t overdo it at this point. We don’t need to ease him into i= t, but just be smart about it and he can get a lot of work in now.”=