By Jeff Gordon
STLTODAY.COM SPORTS COLUMNIST
05/22/2008
Rams guard Richie Incognito must become less conspicuous to NFL officials. He has repeatedly hurt his team by earning untimely personal foul penalties.
“It’s just a growing and maturation process,” Incognito said Thursday afternoon at Rams Park, after the team’s last OTA session of the week. “You just have to know when to choke it back. Some of the stuff is real close. Some of the stuff, the whistle blew . . . I’m playing hard, sometimes I don’t hear the whistle.
“A lot of the stuff is stupid, ticky-tack on my end that I need to cut out of my game to be a better football player.”
But the key to the Rams ’08 offensive success isn’t calming Incognito down. The key will be to get the whole offensive line to go as hard as he goes.
This unit has to protect Marc Bulger, open holes for Steven Jackson and provide the foundation for an offensive revival.
As you will recall (while wincing), the injury-riddled line collapsed last season during the 3-13 fiasco. The ever-changing cast of blockers became overwhelmed as the losses mounted.
“It was a challenge for everybody to stay upbeat with the way the injuries happened to this team,” said Mark Setterstrom, who suffered a season-ending knee injury. “It’s part of the game, I guess. Just unfortunate events last year.”
Now Setterstrom, Incognito, Orlando Pace, Brett Romberg and Adam Goldberg are coming back from various injuries.
Free agent Jacob Bell and rookies John Greco and Roy Schuening are trying to reinforce the battered unit. New offensive line coach Steve Loney and new offensive coordinator Al Saunders are fostering a new atmosphere.
“It’s going to be great competition going into camp,” Setterstrom said. “Everybody is going to be fighting for a job.”
There is much to accomplish between now and Week One of the regular season. Right tackle Alex Barron needs to crank it up. He has the tools to become a great NFL lineman, but he hasn’t played at a consistently high level since coming into the league.
Bell must become a tempo-setter at left guard. Setterstrom, a physical run blocker at guard, must learn to play center to give the offensive line added depth.
“It’s a learning experience,” Setterstrom said. “Minicamp was just kind of an adjustment period. Now with the OTAs, I feel like I’m settling down and getting into it. I’m getting some extra snaps after practice. Since minicamp, the snaps have been a lot better. We haven’t had any on the ground in a week or two.”
Greco, a tackle, and Schuening, a guard, must translate collegiate intensity to the pro level. “They have a lot of work to do,” Incognito said. “They never had this volume of offense and they never played against people this big and fast.”
Goldberg must establish himself as a reliable back-up at tackle and guard. And Pace, well, he just has to stay healthy and play like Orlando Pace again.
If all that happens, maybe the crazed Incognito won’t stick out so much to NFL officials.
“A lot of the stuff is just playing the whole game through and playing real physical,” Incognito said. “We have five guys doing it. That’s our M.O. If they see we play hard, we play physical all through the end of the play . . . there is a lot more leniency when a whole unit is doing it instead of just one guy.”
Incognito smiled when asked about Schuening, a highly productive player at Oregon State.
He needs to “get it going a little bit,” Richie said. “That comes down from Coach Saunders. We’re going to be a tough, physical offensive front and we’re going to get after people. They’re going to know they played against the Rams.
“That’s what I’m looking forward to, getting physical, running the football, mixing up with those deep passes and scoring a lot of points.”
STLTODAY.COM SPORTS COLUMNIST
05/22/2008
Rams guard Richie Incognito must become less conspicuous to NFL officials. He has repeatedly hurt his team by earning untimely personal foul penalties.
“It’s just a growing and maturation process,” Incognito said Thursday afternoon at Rams Park, after the team’s last OTA session of the week. “You just have to know when to choke it back. Some of the stuff is real close. Some of the stuff, the whistle blew . . . I’m playing hard, sometimes I don’t hear the whistle.
“A lot of the stuff is stupid, ticky-tack on my end that I need to cut out of my game to be a better football player.”
But the key to the Rams ’08 offensive success isn’t calming Incognito down. The key will be to get the whole offensive line to go as hard as he goes.
This unit has to protect Marc Bulger, open holes for Steven Jackson and provide the foundation for an offensive revival.
As you will recall (while wincing), the injury-riddled line collapsed last season during the 3-13 fiasco. The ever-changing cast of blockers became overwhelmed as the losses mounted.
“It was a challenge for everybody to stay upbeat with the way the injuries happened to this team,” said Mark Setterstrom, who suffered a season-ending knee injury. “It’s part of the game, I guess. Just unfortunate events last year.”
Now Setterstrom, Incognito, Orlando Pace, Brett Romberg and Adam Goldberg are coming back from various injuries.
Free agent Jacob Bell and rookies John Greco and Roy Schuening are trying to reinforce the battered unit. New offensive line coach Steve Loney and new offensive coordinator Al Saunders are fostering a new atmosphere.
“It’s going to be great competition going into camp,” Setterstrom said. “Everybody is going to be fighting for a job.”
There is much to accomplish between now and Week One of the regular season. Right tackle Alex Barron needs to crank it up. He has the tools to become a great NFL lineman, but he hasn’t played at a consistently high level since coming into the league.
Bell must become a tempo-setter at left guard. Setterstrom, a physical run blocker at guard, must learn to play center to give the offensive line added depth.
“It’s a learning experience,” Setterstrom said. “Minicamp was just kind of an adjustment period. Now with the OTAs, I feel like I’m settling down and getting into it. I’m getting some extra snaps after practice. Since minicamp, the snaps have been a lot better. We haven’t had any on the ground in a week or two.”
Greco, a tackle, and Schuening, a guard, must translate collegiate intensity to the pro level. “They have a lot of work to do,” Incognito said. “They never had this volume of offense and they never played against people this big and fast.”
Goldberg must establish himself as a reliable back-up at tackle and guard. And Pace, well, he just has to stay healthy and play like Orlando Pace again.
If all that happens, maybe the crazed Incognito won’t stick out so much to NFL officials.
“A lot of the stuff is just playing the whole game through and playing real physical,” Incognito said. “We have five guys doing it. That’s our M.O. If they see we play hard, we play physical all through the end of the play . . . there is a lot more leniency when a whole unit is doing it instead of just one guy.”
Incognito smiled when asked about Schuening, a highly productive player at Oregon State.
He needs to “get it going a little bit,” Richie said. “That comes down from Coach Saunders. We’re going to be a tough, physical offensive front and we’re going to get after people. They’re going to know they played against the Rams.
“That’s what I’m looking forward to, getting physical, running the football, mixing up with those deep passes and scoring a lot of points.”