[Elvis]

http://www.foxsports.com/midwest/story/ ... ine-101315

Bye week gives Rams chance to shore up offensive line

R.B. Fallstrom

AP

Oct 13, 2015 at 7:16p ET



ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams lost plenty of experience on the offensive line when guard Rodger Saffold injured his shoulder in the first half of Sunday's loss in Green Bay.

They're using the bye week to help figure out what to do.

Left tackle Greg Robinson, in his second year and now a veteran in this group, said part of Tuesday's workout was devoted to dealing with stunts and twists that teams have been throwing at the Rams (2-3). Coaches are stressing that proper technique can foil such tactics.

"We worked on it a lot today, just because it was so obvious that teams have noticed we've struggled with it and if we don't fix it it's going to continue to happen," Robinson said. "Once you stop them, they'll stop gaming us."

Linemen worked on making sure they popped back off the line at the snap to give themselves room to deal with the rushes that are coming from everywhere.

"If we keep everything in front of us, they'll basically be twisting on air," Robinson said. "If we give them our bodies and we don't get back it's easier for them to knock us off-balance."

The line is a collection of diligent workers absorbing the finer points of the game from line coach Paul Boudreau.

"If we don't exaggerate the techniques in practice, we won't really fix the games," Robinson said. "Nine times out of 10 they will give it away, guys will talk or there will be things you notice."

Saffold, a six-year veteran, will be out indefinitely with a right shoulder injury. He also had problems with the shoulder during the preseason. And he has had issues with his left shoulder, and underwent surgery after last season.

On Tuesday, coach Jeff Fisher had no update on the prognosis for Saffold, who had been undergoing testing.

"He was one of the vets in the room and we need that leadership on the field," Robinson said. "I just hope that things go well and he can stick it out."

The Rams signed swingman Garrett Reynolds to a free agent deal in the offseason for just such a situation. He has 27 starts, including four last season at tackle with Detroit and 10 at guard in 2013 with Atlanta.

"Nothing was ever said to me, but that's just the kind of person I've always been," Reynolds said. "Wherever you need me, throw me in there and I'll be ready to roll."

The Rams made it tougher on the opposition when they separated rookies Rob Havenstein and Jamon Brown, who played side by side much of the preseason. Havenstein stayed at right tackle and Brown moved to left guard.

"Breaking us up made it harder to pinpoint, but we've still had our share of twists and stunts," said Brown, a third-round pick. "I think teams are going to keep doing it because it's the hardest thing to pick up."

Even after losing Saffold, the line showed its strength in the run game by opening holes for rookie Todd Gurley. Gurley had 146 yards at Arizona in his first start and topped that with 159 yards last week. He ranks second among rookies with 314 yards to go with a 5.7-yard average.

"Gurley has had two big games," Robinson said. "He's a great player, he's been running hard -- and we've been blocking hard."

[Elvis]

Speaking of Oline news:

[Hacksaw]

Colins would have been nice. the Polks got a good one for next to nada. I/when we are back in LA mithinks these type deals will start happening to us.

[dieterbrock]

That L'ael Collins move will haunt many teams.
But in light of all the crap that happened, the NFL really did a disservice to that kid, and to the league.
They really should have allowed him to go in the supplemental draft, it was clearly the right thing to do

[Elvis]

This won't help:

[bubbaramfan]

Rams OL is progressing. Learning on the fly. I had no doubt this young OL was gonna get schooled, but how else are they going to learn? how else to get continuity? How else do you find out who can hang and who can't? I predict Cody Wichman and Andrew Donnell start seeing playing time now that Saffold is out. Rams better plan on doing without him from here on out. Saffold can't be counted on. Rams need to draft a center next year, Barnes is no the answer.
I have no problem with how they went about the OL this year. They'd been doing the FA vet route and it never panned out. The best FA's out there were Rodney Hudson and Mike Iaputi, but what would that have cost them? And where would they be in cap space the next five years?

[Elvis]

[Hacksaw]

We need more of them. Softfold is toast.