IRVINE, Calif. — When Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay is irritated, you know it.
Monday, as starting quarterback Matthew Stafford took what the team says was a “pre-planned” rest day, the offense featured backups Brett Rypien and Stetson Bennett in a pretty even rotation. Both quarterbacks ran plays with the first and second teams in Stafford’s absence, after they spent the opening week of training camp rotating evenly with the second team.
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Bumps are to be expected with less experienced players — Rypien is entering his fourth active NFL season but has only appeared in eight games, while Bennett is a rookie fourth-round pick — but McVay made it clear exactly what irked him.
“For the most part, I felt like defense did a really good job setting the tone at the beginning. It felt a little sloppy (on offense), just as simple as the way you break the huddle,” McVay said. “You can appreciate the command that Matthew has and everything that offensive operation entails.”
McVay added that Rypien was fairly “smooth” while some of the initial rocky moments from Bennett settled down as practice continued. It was also a heavier run day (the Rams lined this up in part to coincide with Stafford’s rest day), but the quarterbacks still have plenty to do.
“I remember my rookie year, it was the same way, you’re learning so much in such a short amount of time,” Rypien said. “It’s protections, it’s learning how to call plays, it’s the footwork, all of these different things. … It’s the operation. There’s so many different things. Even when you have a run play called here, you could (still) have a receiver in motion, you could have a ‘can’ on it, so you have to know all of the criteria and different things like that. You still have to be locked in, you still have to operate, call your play in the huddle and do your job. Those things can be taken for granted.”
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Red zone one-on-one drills produced mixed results for both quarterbacks, though plenty of excitement from the surrounding crowd. Cornerback Tre Tomlinson got called for pass interference against veteran receiver Demarcus Robinson, and position coach Aubrey Pleasant sprinted across the end zone shouting coaching notes to Tomlinson as he ran. Tomlinson got flagged again a few minutes later, this time for pass interference against receiver Tutu Atwell. Both times, the throws were on target. Tight end Tyler Higbee caught a toe-tapping touchdown, and Cooper Kupp also adjusted nicely to a slightly-porpoising pass from Bennett and caught it over the top of a defensive back for a touchdown.
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In red zone 11-on-11s, one of Bennett’s best throws of the day was to Kupp in the back of the end zone. For Rypien, it was a slick mid-range throw in partial-field 11-on-11s after Higbee got a step on his coverage. Rypien hit Higbee in stride and just inbounds at the sideline. In those partial-field reps, Bennett (under pressure) also lost control of a snap that resulted in a dead play.
It’s obvious that Bennett is still learning. But some of his best throws have been when he’s on the move, and especially when he’s working out of structure.
“You could say that once I get out of the pocket, I stop thinking about it (and) just go play,” he said. “Maybe in the pocket, I think about my footwork, the reads, whatever. You know, that’s part of the growing pains you talked about. That’s part of being brand new in a system. Those things are gonna happen, but you’ve got to keep growing and keep working on those things.”
Bennett may have been at Georgia for a long time, but he’s starting from total scratch in Los Angeles. His workload, aimed toward his development into a viable No. 2 in the NFL who could give the Rams a chance in a game in a worst-case scenario, is significant.
“It’s just something you’ve got to accept, and keep moving forward,” he told The Athletic. “I haven’t known anything about this offense, it’s different. The language. At the end of the day, it’s still football and the checks make sense. It has been a learning curve. Today I had a few bumps, but had some good ones too.
“Honestly, just don’t think about it. That play is done. You’ve got to flip a coin and go onto the next one, otherwise you linger on it and make another mistake.”
Just how “back to basics” did the Rams have to get with a totally new group of backups? In OTAs, Bennett, Rypien and third-string quarterback Dresser Winn all spent practice time with quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson drilling only their play-action steps, because each step (down to the inch!) has to be timed perfectly with the skill players in either the run or pass play.
That’s a Top 🔟 play right there. pic.twitter.com/LCB65LYgel
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 1, 2023
Rypien and Bennett have also been rotating centers, as the Rams have previously swapped Coleman Shelton and Brian Allen into first-team reps with Stafford. So, until Monday, for some snaps the backups have had Shelton, and other snaps they have had Allen. Monday, Rypien said, they each got just one guy and Rypien especially felt like that helped him settle in.
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“That always helps,” said Rypien, grinning. “It’s not even who that really matters, it’s just having a consistent snap every single time … when you’re able to have that, it may seem small but to take something off of your mind is like, ‘OK, where is the snap point gonna be?’ And it helps you get into a better rhythm.”
Unlike Bennett, Rypien has some experience with a distant cousin of McVay’s offense from spending his 2022 season in Denver under Nathaniel Hackett. That doesn’t necessarily shrink his workload, though. Even on a day that features less passing, differentiating between types of zone run concepts in McVay’s playbook versus another playbook, and applying new language to those concepts, is a work in progress.
After practice, the quarterbacks get copies of the practice script and go over their film, taking notes on calls and adjustments (they do another film review the following morning).
“Write down corrections, memorize the plays,” Bennett said, “once I see a play I try to draw it out on a piece of paper or my notepad before it comes up and check my (work) to see if I was right.”
When will Bennett know he fully “gets it”?
“You’ve got to memorize it, to an extent, but I’d like to know it,” he said. “It (will feel) like my last year at Georgia. That’s what it (will feel) like. … It’s good to have that in my mind, to know that I’m not there yet, and it’ll probably take a while until I get there. But that’s what you’re working towards, for you and for the Rams, because they’re gonna be counting on us.”
While the gap between the backups and Stafford was glaringly evident Monday, this is the choice the Rams consciously made when they overhauled their quarterback depth last spring, and they understand that a necessary learning curve will take place. It’s going to come with bumps. McVay was happy that Bennett especially didn’t let a rough start to the day smother the rest of it.
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“He didn’t let some of the early parts of practice affect how he finished,” McVay said. “You (correct the player) in the moment. I think the best feedback you can give is immediate … you get a chance when we go back through the film with our guys in the morning. That’s kind of what coaching is. It’s all-encompassing to everything I was just mentioning.”
A few notes from Monday’s first padded practice:
(Reminder: Per the Rams’ credential policy, media with access to practice cannot report formations, personnel groups, deployment of personnel, starting lineups unless confirmed directly by a coach or player, unconventional plays, the number of reps players take at certain positions, etc.)
• Receiver Van Jefferson also had a rest day, his second in one week. McVay said Jefferson’s rest days were also pre-planned ahead of training camp.
• Cornerback Derion Kendrick has missed the last two practices with a hamstring issue, but McVay said he’s making positive progress toward a return. Minus Kendrick, cornerbacks Ahkello Witherspoon (who was back practicing in a split-finger club after thumb surgery and broke up a pass intended for Higbee in 11-on-11s) and Robert Rochell got more opportunities at outside corner.
• Outside linebacker Ochaun Mathis limped off the field near the end of practice and grabbed his left leg as athletic trainers attended to him. He eventually was carted to the locker room.
• Defensive highlights included a notable upgrade in role for defensive lineman Earnest Brown IV and safety Russ Yeast (carrying over from the first week of camp), a run fit by safety Tanner Ingle that drew praise from teammates and coaches, and a punch-out on a Zach Evans carry by defensive back Tyon Davis that was recovered by outside linebacker Daniel Hardy.
(Photo of Stetson Bennett: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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