Inside Rams training camp where connections are key
Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay during organized team activities at Rams Practice Facility. LOS ANGELESSmiles were aplenty from Rams players greeting one another after months without seeing one another.They removed electric bikes that they'll use to navigate around LMU's campus; gaming consoles and snacks they utilize to escape the grind is placed into move-in bins, clothes.The freshly cut grass prepared for the quarter-inch cleats that will propel these hundred-pound giants in the upcoming month.Training camp is here. And with it comes the opportunitythe sacred, fleeting, irreplaceable opportunityof connectivity.Sean McVay stood before the assembled media, his voice carrying the weight of a man who has seen what connection can build and what its absence can destroy."It's about a we then me approach," McVay said. "We want to be present, grateful and courageous. But I want guys to be authentically themselves while living our values with an atmosphere and environment that you feel a sense of urgency, but also a sense of enjoyment."The connection begins in the locker room.It begins with the handshakes, the hugs, the knowing nods exchanged between men who have bled together.Davante Adams, entering his 13th season, stood before reporters with the calm confidence of a man who has seen it all."This team is one of the more connected teams I've been on," Adams said. "As far as spending time together, fellowship and brotherhood, taking trips togetherwe've done all of that."That fellowship extended beyond the facility this offseason."Got Puka into it," Adams said. "It'll be a process for my guy, just like it was for all of us starting, but it's a lot of fun."Connection requires vulnerability.It requires men to lower their guards, to trust that the guy next to them will hold the block, make the catch, fill the gap.Braden Fiske, entering his third season after recording three sacks last year, spoke of losing a brother in Jared Verse and gaining a legend in Myles Garrett with the reflective tone of a poet processing grief."I think you can be happy and sad at the same time for things," Fiske said. "I lose a brother, somebody I was super close to, played together in college, drafted togetherit was a fairy tale type of story. But it's the NFL. It's a business."Steve Avila, the contemplative anchor of the offensive line, understands the connective tissue that holds a team together. Asked about protecting Matthew Staffordwho threw for 4,041 yards and 27 touchdowns last season en route to an MVP awardAvila's answer revealed something deeper than football."I put myself last in almost every situation," Avila said. "To be able to play with Devante, Matthew, played with Aaron Donald, play with MyilesI just want to do my part to help those guys with their career."McVay watches this chemistry develop with the eye of a master craftsman."How can we be inside out more than ever before?" McVay asked. "The last time I checked, none of that stuff means anything. It's what's great about the league. People care. There's a lot of attention, but this is the greatest team sport there is. We got to come together as a team."The veterans lead the way.Jaylen Watson, a two-time Super Bowl champion who arrived from Kansas City, spoke of integrating himself and Trent McDuffie into one cohesive unit."We try to bring in some things that we did there and they teach us things that they do here," Watson said. "Everything is completely different," he admitted, "but that's what OTAs are forget the kinks out, get the mistakes out.""Every year is a reset," Watson said. "Each year you have to prove yourself."Adams, who amassed 1,044 receiving yards last season, echoed that sentiment."You can be the best, but you got to play like it."Donald's specter looms over this camp like a legend waiting to be resurrected. McVay addressed the possibility with the careful diplomacy of a man protecting a friend's sacred space."He's earned the right to be able to do it on his terms," McVay said. "He's a special person. You guys know what he means to me."Avila, who spent his rookie season blocking Donald in practice, allowed himself a moment of admiration."I really didn't honestly my first year here probably blocked him one time correctly," Avila said. "I think it'll be awesome to have him back and just see where I stack up."Fiske, who never played with the legendary defensive tackle, acknowledged the impact Donald would have."Him being the greatest of all time, I'm sure he'd have a pretty good impact."McVay's vision extends beyond X's and O's.He spoke of parenting, of patience, of the connection required to lead men."A lot of the things that make you a good parent at home are what make you a good coach," McVay said. "In terms of the connection, the patience, building and developing relationships and modeling the way."Training camp, in this context, becomes something more than preparation. It becomes transformation. Men who arrive as strangers leave as brothers. Players who enter as individuals emerge as pieces of something larger than themselves."We want to create as many competitive situations," McVay said, "not exclusive to the quarterback, for all of our players because I want us to get comfortable with what does productive failure look like. Push yourself past manageable expectations, courageous enough to attempt some things, and sometimes those outcomes that don't go down the way you want offer the best learning opportunities."Avila, entering the final year of his rookie deal, finds motivation not in contract numbers but in the men beside him."I've been hit with a lot of different thingsinjuries, situations I didn't want to be in," Avila said. "But as long as I stay true to who I am and take those experiences and use them for fuel, it just makes for a great year."Adams, reflecting on the arc of his career, sees the gift of perspective."You see the young guys walking around nervous, looking like it's the first day of school," Adams said. "It reminds meI feel like it was just yesterday that that's how I felt. But I'm grateful to have a lot of experience now. I can come in a lot more confident, freer."McVay's message remains consistent: control what you can."We're not going to allow the outside expectations to change the way that we approach every day with the way that we work, the way that we enjoy it, have the appropriate mindset and energy," McVay said. "And that's something that I think is really important for us to represent."Fiske sees the path forward clearly."Waking up healthy, going to work, taking care of business and being around the guys is number one for me," Fiske said. "I'm excited to get back."The grass at LMU's campus is freshly cut. The electric bikes are charged. The gaming consoles are plugged in.But beneath all the preparation, the logistics, the meticulous planning, lies something more elementalthe opportunity of connectivity. The chance for men to become more than the sum of their parts.The possibility that when they take the field together, they'll move as one."We want to be present, grateful and courageous," McVay said. "I want guys to be able to feel like they're getting better as a result of the people that they're aroundboth as a person and as a player."The Rams have assembled a roster of starsStafford, Adams, Garrett, Watson, Fiske, Avila.But stars only shine brightly when they're part of something larger.A constellation. A team. A brotherhood.Training camp is here. And with it comes the opportunitythe sacred, fleeting, irreplaceable opportunityof connectivity.
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