The Hall of Fame game last Thursday gave us all our first opportunity to see the new kickoff in practice.
If you thought it looked a little odd, you’re not alone.
After Sunday’s joint practice with the Chargers, Rams head coach Sean McVay began his press conference by describing the new kickoff as “interesting, to say the least.”
“It just feels weird,” McVay said. “It doesn’t look like anything that has been anything I’ve been familiar with football. I know the intent is right. We’ll try to figure it out. I know everybody that’s been involved in that has their intentions in the right place but it’s a very foreign-looking play. However we feel about it, we have to be able to adjust and make sure that we adapt and it can be something that’s an advantage to us.”
McVay added that he and the coaching staff will continue to look at ways to make sure the execution of the play can benefit the team.
“I think we also need to probably have some fluidity with it if there are adjustments as we go,” McVay said. “When you see it against some other teams… it’s one thing to work it against each other but when you see it against some other teams, there will be a lot that we can really dive into with the film. That’s what I mean by interesting.”
The Rams will get their first chance to see the new kickoff in game action during Sunday’s preseason matchup with the Cowboys. But as other coaches have said, McVay isn’t anticipating that teams will show much from the new kickoffs until the games count. That’s part of why the joint practices are valuable.
“This was a good opportunity to really get familiar with it in terms of just seeing it against another opponent in a little bit more of a controlled setting,” McVay said. “There’s a lot of work to be done. I think that’ll continue on as we get closer and closer to the opener. I don’t believe that the preseason is going to give us an indication of what this play looks like because I think a lot of teams that have some schematic things, they’re not going to show it just like we wouldn’t as well.”
Rams receiver Puka Nacua had to exit Sunday’s practice with the Chargers early, but it sounds like he shouldn’t be out for too long.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Nacua is considered week-to-week with a knee injury that is not considered serious.
Nacua left practice after a team drills period and was spotted with a bag of ice on his right knee. Head coach Sean McVay did not have an update on his condition in his post-practice press conference.
Nacua, 23, had a record-setting rookie season with 105 catches for 1,486 yards with six touchdowns in 2023. He was a second-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler.
Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa was not the only player to leave Sunday’s joint practice with the Rams with an injury.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua also made an early exit from the joint workout. Jourdan Rodrigue of TheAthletic.com reports that Nacua exited after a team drills period and that he had a bag of ice around his right knee, but head coach Sean McVay didn’t offer any update on his condition.
“I don’t. . . . I’m not sure,” McVay said in response to questions about Nacua’s departure at his press conference.
At this point in the summer, the Rams have no reason to push Nacua to get back on the field until he’s fully recovered from any issue. The coming days should bring a better sense of how long that might be.
The Rams are down three starters on their offensive line.
Rams head coach Sean McVay described left tackle Alaric Jackson, right tackle Rob Havenstein and left guard Jonah Jackson as all “week-to-week.” Jackson and Havenstein both suffered ankle injuries in practice while Jackson is dealing with a bruised scapula. McVay said his concern is for the players’ health and he sees this as an opportunity to get the backups more reps.
“You sit there and you start saying ‘Oh man, you’re bummed out.’ And it’s like how selfish of me. What about these guys?” McVay said, via TheRams.com. “I know they want to be out here. I think the important thing is let’s pour into the guys that are not able to be out here and the ones that are able to be out here. So we’ll be better when those guys are back, whenever that timetable is. In the meantime, we owe it to ourselves and to those other guys to be able to pour into them.”
The Rams have some young and inexperienced linemen that McVay wants to get a look at in camp.
“In the meantime, we’re going to learn about some guys and I mean it’s a Rolodex of guys that are in there right now, even with that first group. And I think it’s only going to force those guys to mature and accelerate their learning process,” McVay said.
All three injured starters have a chance to be back for Week One.
Earlier this week, Rams coach Sean McVay tried to downplay the sentence added to the rule book regarding “cheat motion.” On Saturday, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel most definitely did not downplay it.
“To execute in the game of football, I would say it’s a priority to know the rules,” McDaniel told when asked by reporters about the new sentence regarding abrupt or forward pre-snap motion. “Fortunately, we have NFL officials here at practice. Currently — they were here yesterday, they’ll be here today. And we also have a little a cheat code, if you will, a member of the competition committee [G.M. Chris Grier] resides in an office that shares a wall with me. So [we’re] very, very proactive in knowing exactly what the rules are and anything that we do, we’re either adjusting or catering to any sort of rule emphasis and we’re going to try to keep it that way.”
He was asked whether the new sentence is not a rule change but an effort to emphasize the existing rules.
“I think you read it as it reads,” McDaniel said. “The emphasis is clearly stated. If you interpret that as exclusively timing motions, you better not simulate the snap counter. You’d better not move forward. And our motions will have to be legal for them to work unless we just want to run minus-five-yard plays, so I think we’re fine with that. We’ll always cater to the rules and I think to simulate the snap is illegal and we should not do that.”
Here’s the new sentence from the 2024 rule book: “Any eligible backfield player who changes his stance does not have to come to a complete stop prior to the snap, as long as his actions are not abrupt (false start) or forward (illegal motion).”
“Cheat motion” is effective in large part because the movements are often abrupt and players routinely start moving forward just before the snap. Joe Rose of WQAM in Miami, who works on radio call of Dolphins games, said Friday that other teams (including the Patriots and former head coach Bill Belichick) complained about Dolphins players moving forward before the snap.
While the rules aren’t changing, the teams that use “cheat motion” (mainly, the Rams, Dolphins, and 49ers) are on notice. Also on notice are officials, who’ll have to spot the player moving forward just before the snap and send a signal from brain to hand to pull the flag while also sending a signal from brain to mouth to blow the whistle and kill a play that has already started — with linemen colliding at full speed.
If officials fail to call it, it will keep happening. And teams will keep doing it. And other teams will complain about it. Just like last year.
Which is why it’s actually smart for coaches who use it to downplay it. Unless and until the officials are willing and able to consistently call it, the teams that have perfected it should keep doing it.
The NFL recently posted its 2024 rule book. As we usually do (unless we forget), we scrolled through it searching for new language.
The league helps that process by changing the text of the new language from black to red. And one new sentence in red caught my eye: “Any eligible backfield player who changes his stance does not have to come to a complete stop prior to the snap, as long as his actions are not abrupt (false start) or forward (illegal motion).”
The sentence was added to the existing language regarding pre-snap action of eligible receivers. It prompted me to ask someone who would know the reason for the addition. And the message was clear — it’s a reaction to the “speed motion” (also known as “cheat motion”) by teams like the Dolphins, 49ers, and Rams.
So we wrote it up and posted it. And it created a bit of a stir.
Both referee Shawn Hochuli (who was working with the Rams on Thursday) and Rams coach Sean McVay downplayed the new language.
“Nothing has changed with how we are going to officiate that,” Hochuli said, via Jordan Rodrique of TheAthletic.com. “If you start to move forward before the snap, then it’s gonna be an illegal motion. Nothing has changed.”
Said McVay: “As far as the ways the motions pre-snap will be officiated, it’ll be same-as.”
As Dolphins radio analyst Joe Rose explained on Friday while he and I discussed the new language on his WQAM weekday show, coaches regularly complained to officials last year before Miami games about the perception (reality) that Dolphins players were making abrupt movements and/or moving forward, just before the ball is snapped. Rose said that former Patriots coach Bill Belichick was among those who complained that the rules were being broken but that flags weren’t being thrown.
The extra language is intended to ensure that violations are penalized. Last year, they often weren’t.
Don’t expect Hochuli to admit that his colleagues failed to kill plays and throw flags when a sudden and abrupt shift forward happened a whisker before the pigskin moved. And don’t expect one of the coaches who use it to treat it as forbidden. Both Shawn and Sean have every reason to downplay the new language.
It’s there as a reminder regarding the limits of the technique. But what makes it so effective is the abrupt motion (false start) and/or the forward turn (illegal motion).
This year, the message from the league office (which wasn’t quoted in the article that quoted Hochuli and McVay) is that when “cheat motion” happens in a way that really is cheating, the officials are expected to blow the whistle (even after the play has started) and throw the flag.
Teams that faced “cheat motion” often believed that the officials were failing to do that, giving offenses that perfected it an unfair edge.
Last year, a new pre-snap technique began to spread throughout the NFL. This year, the NFL is trying to end it.
Some call it “speed motion.” Some (like 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan) call it “cheat motion, because it’s cheating.”
Officially, it now is cheating.
Here’s the key sentence, added by the NFL this year to Rule 7, Article 4, Section 2 of the official playing rules: “Any eligible backfield player who changes his stance does not have to come to a complete stop prior to the snap, as long as his actions are not abrupt (false start) or forward (illegal motion).”
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, that’s directly aimed at the split-second forward movement by players in motion. The Dolphins, the 49ers, and the Rams used it last year.
“It looks hard to stop people like [Dolphins receiver] Tyreek [Hill] and [49ers receiver] Deebo [Samuel] and stuff with a running start,” Shanahan said in October 2023. “That’s usually only in the CFL. So it’s cool to get them running sideways and still find a way to hit it vertically.”
“It definitely allows us to catch the defense off guard in many ways,” Hill told reporters last September. “It definitely gives us an advantage.”
That advantage is now gone, in theory. The challenge becomes officiating it. When executed properly, it happens a split-second before the snap. Officials have to spot it and act on it before the nanosecond of a moment passes.
The officials presumably will be told to watch for it. They’ll presumably warn the teams about it. It’s frankly surprising that the first sign of the change is coming from the official rule book, and not from coaches and players either complaining about the new language — or celebrating the fact that they’ll no longer have to defend against it.
The Rams have an injury concern along their offensive line, but it may be resolved by the time the regular season begins.
According to multiple reports, guard Jonah Jackson suffered a bruised scapula and will be out for the rest of the preseason, about six weeks. But he could return in time to play in Los Angeles’ Week 1 matchup with Detroit.
While Jackson will miss practice time, the Rams traditionally have not played starters in preseason games under head coach Sean McVay.
Adam Grosbard of the Southern California News Group reported on Wednesday that Jackson was wearing a sling on his left arm during the day’s practice. The Rams termed him day-to-day with a shoulder injury.
Jackson, 27, signed a three-year deal with the Rams in March after playing out his rookie contract with the Lions. A third-round pick in 2020, Jackson started 57 games over the last four years, including 12 in 2023.
Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp ended the 2022 season on injured reserve and then started the 2023 season the same way, which has helped make it feel like it’s been even longer since he was the NFL’s offensive player of the year.
This offseason has been a lot smoother for Kupp, though. He returned from a hamstring injury to play 13 games last year and he’s been able to work without any health concerns since the Rams’ season ended against the Lions in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
During an appearance on NFL Network Monday, Kupp said that his good health and the chance to work out with quarterback Matthew Stafford has him feeling primed for a return to his desired form.
“I feel good. We got a lot of good work in this offseason,” Kupp said. “The best thing about this last year was just being able to feel healthy and have a full offseason of work, not just for myself in terms of working out and building my body back up but also having that time with Matthew, being able to get on the field and work through things together. Obviously, getting out here has been great. First few days of camp have been awesome, things have been clicking and looking forward to continue to build on that this year.”
Kupp’s absence early last year allowed space for Puka Nacua to develop and the prospect of having both of them firing on all cylinders along with Stafford is reason for optimism about what the Rams can do this fall.
After a rookie season lost to the non-football injury/illness list, Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett has been back in the fold. With starter Matthew Stafford getting a day off on the first day of padded practices, Bennett and primary backup Jimmy Garoppolo got more work.
Following Monday’s practice, Rams coach Sean McVay praised one specific aspect of Bennett’s game — his ability to run with the ball when things break down.
"[H[e had some really good reps [and] some things where we can be a little bit cleaner, but what you do see from Stetson is the athleticism,” McVay told reporters. “If we lose contain up front, he can break it and make plays with his legs and I think that’s good for whether it’s our first group or our second group to understand because there’s going to be some guys like that on the schedule that we can’t get lulled to sleep and just thinking they’re always going to be in that spot if we lose the integrity of our rush lanes.”
That makes Bennett perfectly suited to playing the role of scout-team quarterback in the practices preceding those games.
McVay’s praise for Garoppolo was more conventional.
“I thought Jimmy did a really good job,” McVay said. “He has great command. You can see he’s played a lot of football. He got through some progressions. I thought he made some really good decisions based on some different things that they had covered. [I] thought we got in and out of the huddle.”
Bennett needs to be ready to go, at least during the first two weeks of the regular season, because Garoppolo will serve a two-game suspension for violating the league’s PED policy. The only other quarterback currently on the roster is Dresser Winn.
The Rams open the season with a return to Detroit for a rematch of last year’s wild-card playoff game.