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Nick Wagoner
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In a year in which incoming rookies didn’t have as much time to acclimate to the NFL as they would normally because of the lockout, the adjustment to all things about the league has been much harsher than usual.
“I mean people talk about that all the time and that rookie wall, really, in this league is back after the eighth game,” coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “That’s 12 games, because you have the four preseason (games) and what not. And they didn’t have the luxury or the added extra offseason program to get them ready, so it is a little bit different. I said this way back, I thought the rookies this year hit two of them. There was one early I thought some of our guys hit then they kind of get the bye week and regain a little bit of juice. And then maybe hit another one. But I haven’t asked anybody that. I don’t know that I see that. I think the whole league’s going through it. It was a different year, certainly, with the lockout.”
Because of that difference, taking stock of how the Rams rookie class or really any rookie class has performed in 2011 is a much more arduous task than usual.
The lockout denied those players the opportunity to come in for Organized Team Activities and minicamps in the spring, it cost them an offseason in NFL weight training and conditioning programs and it condensed a training camp that would allow them to be as sharp as possible for the physical and mental grind of a 16-game season.
“I think that sped up a lot of things for a lot of people,” rookie tight end Lance Kendricks said. “But there was no spring camp or OTAs or anything so we were kind of thrown into everything. It kind of hurt us but at the same time everybody had to adjust to the same thing. It wasn’t just a one way street.”
While all rookies were facing the challenge of adjusting to the league, not all of them came in under the same circumstances.
Kendricks, for one, was asked to come in and be a difference maker in the Rams offense right away. After a training camp and preseason in which Kendricks emerged as one of the team’s most promising young players, the reality of the NFL regular season and the trials and tribulations of a rookie hit all at the same time.
In the season opener, Kendricks had a costly drop of a potential touchdown and that snowballed into a few more miscues. Along the way, Kendricks has dealt with a concussion and a few other bumps and bruises that have slowed him down.
The peaks and valleys that go with being a rookie in the NFL are to be expected, though, and Kendricks has bounced back and continued to battle.
“I think it’s normal for a rookie,” Kendricks said. “A couple of drops for me was just a learning experience. It was a matter of staying focused. Every young player goes through that. For me it wasn’t a stress thing. I wasn’t stressed about it. It was something I knew could easily be fixed in practice. That’s something I looked at that way and try to continue to grow and improve. I know during the offseason what I need to do to prepare for next season.”
Kendricks says he has worn down some as the season goes on and wants to make getting in optimal shape in the offseason a focus as well as working on the little things that can make him better as a blocker and pass catcher.
For the season, Kendricks has 20 catches for 266 yards.
Kendricks is one of four drafted Rams rookies still on the roster in a group that includes first-round end Robert Quinn, third round receiver Austin Pettis and fourth-round wideout Greg Salas, who had a promising season end early because of a knee injury.
Along the way, the Rams have parted ways with four more draft picks, mostly because of injuries either to those players (such as cornerback Mikail Baker) or injuries to current starters that made keeping rookies unable to contribute less palatable (safety Jermale Hines, for example).
Injuries all over the roster have allowed for undrafted rookies to get golden opportunities as well. Rookie free agents like cornerbacks Nate Ness and Chris Smith, long snapper Jake McQuaide, running back Quinn Porter and offensive lineman Kevin Hughes have made their way on to the roster at various stages this season.
Some of those players might have made the roster sooner in a normal year but never had much of a chance in a shortened training camp.
“I think what’s going to happen, with this year I’d venture to guess that a number of free agents were let go from teams that in normal years probably would have made it,” Spagnuolo said. “Some of those guys floating out there right now, you’ve just got to kind of identify and get them back on your team. Hopefully, help your football team going forward.”
Although the Rams’ draft class has been depleted some by the aforementioned injuries and required changes those have led to, Spagnuolo has been pleased with the progress of the remaining players from the 2011 rookie class.
“Without going through each one of them one-for-one, I know the top four draft picks have done a nice job, contributed for us,” Spagnuolo said. “I know we’ve had some injuries and some other guys that we’ve had to let go, but some of the free agents we had came in.”
For someone like Quinn, the adjustment would seem to have been even more difficult considering he hadn’t played in an organized football game in more than a year.
On the bright side, Quinn says his body is as fresh as can be at this point in the season and he feels like he is improving week to week.
Used mostly in pass rushing situations, Quinn is third on the team with five sacks and tied with Chris Long for most quarterback hits on the team with 13, all of that coming on less than 500 snaps from scrimmage.
Still, Quinn doesn’t believe he’s even scratched the surface on what he will be able to do eventually.
“Personally, I think it’s been OK,” Quinn said. “I like to set my bar high. I would like to be a little better but we still have three more games left and hopefully I can be even better by then and finish strong.”
Quinn says his focus in the offseason will be to brush up on the details and technique such as hand placement and footwork. He learned right away that there is no taking plays off at the NFL level.
“I definitely learned you have to bring you’re A game every week,” Quinn said. “For me, especially on the right side, facing those left tackles, those are the stallions so I have to get better with my overall game, the run and pass so it’s been a lot of work. But it’s a fun process learning the league and how it works.”
Pettis is the other drafted rookie still contributing with three games to go. Perhaps more than any of the other rookies, Pettis was placed in the most difficult position to contribute right away.
Aside from the competition he had from other wideouts and fellow rookie Salas, Pettis was asked to learn all of the wideout positions and the responsibilities of each in a very complicated offensive scheme.
Used to being the “man” at Boise State, Pettis said he had to make the mental adjustment right away that he was going to have to work his way up the ladder.
“You know that now,” Pettis said. “Coming into this, you have high expectations to come out and do the same things you did in college but it’s a real quick reality check. You have got to earn your dues out here and try to continue to get better and keep grinding and hopefully one day I will be at that point where it seems like college and it’s real easy and you are kind of the go to guy.”
Pettis found himself on the bottom of the depth chart at the beginning of the season and watched as Salas emerged as a top target with 27 catches for 264 yards before suffering a season-ending knee injury on Nov. 6 at Arizona.
The attrition at receiver eventually gave Pettis his chance to work as the primary slot receiver, a role in which he’s flashed considerable promise by being reliable catching the ball on his way to 23 grabs for 218 yards.
Getting acclimated to the NFL game has been even more difficult with injuries to quarterback Sam Bradford making it hard to find a rhythm and chemistry with the quarterback.
“It’s a whole different ball game right now,” Pettis said. “It’s not too different because early on in my career at Boise, this was kind of my role right now just being that guy that knows a decent amount of the offense where I can get moved around a little bit here and there. But it’s definitely been an adjustment.”
For his part, Pettis wants to spend the offseason working on explosion drills that will make him quicker while adding some lean muscle that will allow him to withstand more punishment to break tackles and get more yards after the catch.
Like all of his fellow rookies, Pettis knows there is much to be learned and much to be done before he can become the type of consistent performer he and his fellow rookies were at every previous stop in their football careers.
Getting an entire offseason to do those things will not only provide the chance to do that work but also allow everyone to have a true gauge of what types of players these youngsters can eventually become.
“We are making do with what we have and it’s a real good learning process for us to have,” Pettis said. “We will go into next year and feel like we’ve had years of playing in the NFL with all of that time with our team. I think that will be a much better transition.”
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Rookies-Look-to-Finish-Strong/6976a061-86d9-4fdd-a411-764df1030d0e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-eve ... 4df1030d0e</a>
In a year in which incoming rookies didn’t have as much time to acclimate to the NFL as they would normally because of the lockout, the adjustment to all things about the league has been much harsher than usual.
“I mean people talk about that all the time and that rookie wall, really, in this league is back after the eighth game,” coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “That’s 12 games, because you have the four preseason (games) and what not. And they didn’t have the luxury or the added extra offseason program to get them ready, so it is a little bit different. I said this way back, I thought the rookies this year hit two of them. There was one early I thought some of our guys hit then they kind of get the bye week and regain a little bit of juice. And then maybe hit another one. But I haven’t asked anybody that. I don’t know that I see that. I think the whole league’s going through it. It was a different year, certainly, with the lockout.”
Because of that difference, taking stock of how the Rams rookie class or really any rookie class has performed in 2011 is a much more arduous task than usual.
The lockout denied those players the opportunity to come in for Organized Team Activities and minicamps in the spring, it cost them an offseason in NFL weight training and conditioning programs and it condensed a training camp that would allow them to be as sharp as possible for the physical and mental grind of a 16-game season.
“I think that sped up a lot of things for a lot of people,” rookie tight end Lance Kendricks said. “But there was no spring camp or OTAs or anything so we were kind of thrown into everything. It kind of hurt us but at the same time everybody had to adjust to the same thing. It wasn’t just a one way street.”
While all rookies were facing the challenge of adjusting to the league, not all of them came in under the same circumstances.
Kendricks, for one, was asked to come in and be a difference maker in the Rams offense right away. After a training camp and preseason in which Kendricks emerged as one of the team’s most promising young players, the reality of the NFL regular season and the trials and tribulations of a rookie hit all at the same time.
In the season opener, Kendricks had a costly drop of a potential touchdown and that snowballed into a few more miscues. Along the way, Kendricks has dealt with a concussion and a few other bumps and bruises that have slowed him down.
The peaks and valleys that go with being a rookie in the NFL are to be expected, though, and Kendricks has bounced back and continued to battle.
“I think it’s normal for a rookie,” Kendricks said. “A couple of drops for me was just a learning experience. It was a matter of staying focused. Every young player goes through that. For me it wasn’t a stress thing. I wasn’t stressed about it. It was something I knew could easily be fixed in practice. That’s something I looked at that way and try to continue to grow and improve. I know during the offseason what I need to do to prepare for next season.”
Kendricks says he has worn down some as the season goes on and wants to make getting in optimal shape in the offseason a focus as well as working on the little things that can make him better as a blocker and pass catcher.
For the season, Kendricks has 20 catches for 266 yards.
Kendricks is one of four drafted Rams rookies still on the roster in a group that includes first-round end Robert Quinn, third round receiver Austin Pettis and fourth-round wideout Greg Salas, who had a promising season end early because of a knee injury.
Along the way, the Rams have parted ways with four more draft picks, mostly because of injuries either to those players (such as cornerback Mikail Baker) or injuries to current starters that made keeping rookies unable to contribute less palatable (safety Jermale Hines, for example).
Injuries all over the roster have allowed for undrafted rookies to get golden opportunities as well. Rookie free agents like cornerbacks Nate Ness and Chris Smith, long snapper Jake McQuaide, running back Quinn Porter and offensive lineman Kevin Hughes have made their way on to the roster at various stages this season.
Some of those players might have made the roster sooner in a normal year but never had much of a chance in a shortened training camp.
“I think what’s going to happen, with this year I’d venture to guess that a number of free agents were let go from teams that in normal years probably would have made it,” Spagnuolo said. “Some of those guys floating out there right now, you’ve just got to kind of identify and get them back on your team. Hopefully, help your football team going forward.”
Although the Rams’ draft class has been depleted some by the aforementioned injuries and required changes those have led to, Spagnuolo has been pleased with the progress of the remaining players from the 2011 rookie class.
“Without going through each one of them one-for-one, I know the top four draft picks have done a nice job, contributed for us,” Spagnuolo said. “I know we’ve had some injuries and some other guys that we’ve had to let go, but some of the free agents we had came in.”
For someone like Quinn, the adjustment would seem to have been even more difficult considering he hadn’t played in an organized football game in more than a year.
On the bright side, Quinn says his body is as fresh as can be at this point in the season and he feels like he is improving week to week.
Used mostly in pass rushing situations, Quinn is third on the team with five sacks and tied with Chris Long for most quarterback hits on the team with 13, all of that coming on less than 500 snaps from scrimmage.
Still, Quinn doesn’t believe he’s even scratched the surface on what he will be able to do eventually.
“Personally, I think it’s been OK,” Quinn said. “I like to set my bar high. I would like to be a little better but we still have three more games left and hopefully I can be even better by then and finish strong.”
Quinn says his focus in the offseason will be to brush up on the details and technique such as hand placement and footwork. He learned right away that there is no taking plays off at the NFL level.
“I definitely learned you have to bring you’re A game every week,” Quinn said. “For me, especially on the right side, facing those left tackles, those are the stallions so I have to get better with my overall game, the run and pass so it’s been a lot of work. But it’s a fun process learning the league and how it works.”
Pettis is the other drafted rookie still contributing with three games to go. Perhaps more than any of the other rookies, Pettis was placed in the most difficult position to contribute right away.
Aside from the competition he had from other wideouts and fellow rookie Salas, Pettis was asked to learn all of the wideout positions and the responsibilities of each in a very complicated offensive scheme.
Used to being the “man” at Boise State, Pettis said he had to make the mental adjustment right away that he was going to have to work his way up the ladder.
“You know that now,” Pettis said. “Coming into this, you have high expectations to come out and do the same things you did in college but it’s a real quick reality check. You have got to earn your dues out here and try to continue to get better and keep grinding and hopefully one day I will be at that point where it seems like college and it’s real easy and you are kind of the go to guy.”
Pettis found himself on the bottom of the depth chart at the beginning of the season and watched as Salas emerged as a top target with 27 catches for 264 yards before suffering a season-ending knee injury on Nov. 6 at Arizona.
The attrition at receiver eventually gave Pettis his chance to work as the primary slot receiver, a role in which he’s flashed considerable promise by being reliable catching the ball on his way to 23 grabs for 218 yards.
Getting acclimated to the NFL game has been even more difficult with injuries to quarterback Sam Bradford making it hard to find a rhythm and chemistry with the quarterback.
“It’s a whole different ball game right now,” Pettis said. “It’s not too different because early on in my career at Boise, this was kind of my role right now just being that guy that knows a decent amount of the offense where I can get moved around a little bit here and there. But it’s definitely been an adjustment.”
For his part, Pettis wants to spend the offseason working on explosion drills that will make him quicker while adding some lean muscle that will allow him to withstand more punishment to break tackles and get more yards after the catch.
Like all of his fellow rookies, Pettis knows there is much to be learned and much to be done before he can become the type of consistent performer he and his fellow rookies were at every previous stop in their football careers.
Getting an entire offseason to do those things will not only provide the chance to do that work but also allow everyone to have a true gauge of what types of players these youngsters can eventually become.
“We are making do with what we have and it’s a real good learning process for us to have,” Pettis said. “We will go into next year and feel like we’ve had years of playing in the NFL with all of that time with our team. I think that will be a much better transition.”
