Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009

Pleased Spagnuolo finds plenty of room for improvement by Rams

Pass protection was shaky; defense gave up some big plays

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams might have passed their first test under new coach Steve Spagnuolo, but they didn't ace it.

Spagnuolo said he saw plenty of room for improvement after watching the game film of the Rams' 23-20 preseason win over the New York Jets at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Friday night.

"We have to do work in all different areas,'' Spagnuolo said. "It's like I said, 'It's a beginning, not an end.' This wasn't a final exam. This was just a ... I'm not going to say a pop quiz because we knew it was coming.

"We'll take whatever we can out of it, good and bad, and hopefully get better at it.''

Spagnuolo pointed to pass protection -- starting quarterback Marc Bulger was sacked three times in three offensive series -- and the defense giving up big plays -- Jets wide receiver David Clowney caught a 48-yard pass from rookie Mark Sanchez and a 50-yard touchdown pass from Erik Ainge -- as areas that need to be fixed.

"Certainly we have got to clean some things up,'' Spagnuolo said. "There were some big plays we gave up defensively, the sacks on offense, but that's what these preseason games are for. After having watched it, we'll piece it all together and get back to work tomorrow."

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, formerly the Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator, used some blitzes that you normally don't see in the preseason, but Spagnuolo said that was no excuse for the sacks.

"We were obviously preparing for the Baltimore defense, so we had seen things,'' Spagnuolo said. "But, you don't have a feel for how Rex was going to use his personnel. So there were some things we had to work on, but they were all manageable. We make a block here or there, we get the center to turn the protection a certain way, maybe the quarterback gets the ball out a little quicker.

"(Offensive coordinator) Pat (Shurmur) and the offensive staff will get that ironed out.''

As preseason openers go, the Rams were fairly sharp as they committed only five penalties and no turnovers.

"You say, 'only five,''' Spagnuolo said. "I am saying, "I can't believe we had those five'. The real encouraging thing was the no turnovers, and the number one stat in the NFL that relates directly to winning and losing is the turnover ratio.

"If we can keep doing that, that will be a good thing."

Fourth-year running back Samkon Gado helped his bid to make the Rams' roster with a 77-yard touchdown run early in the second half.

Gado played fullback in the first half before switching to halfback in the second half.

If Gado shows he can play both positions, it will give him a better chance of making the team.

"I mean anybody that can play two positions I think is valuable,'' Spagnuolo said. "When you go to 53 (players), and it is 45 on game day, versatility is big.''

Spagnuolo said he was pleased with the performance of Jason Smith and James Laurinaitis, the team's top two picks in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Laurinaitis started at middle linebacker, while Smith played right tackle with the second-string offense. Adam Goldberg played right tackle with the starting offense.

"Actually, both I thought played pretty good,'' Spagnuolo said. "James for being tossed in there as a starter at Mike (middle) linebacker for his first preseason game of his rookie year, I thought he did a nice job.

"Now both Will (Witherspoon) and Chris Draft, they help out. It's nice to have some veterans there, but he did some good things. And Jason, he played physical and aggressive, which is what we saw when we drafted him. So in that regard, they showed us what they had shown when they were in college."

On the injury front, Spagnuolo said left guard Jacob Bell has a mild concussion and Brock Berlin has a mild MCL sprain in his knee. Both players are day-to-day.

Spagnuolo said wide receivers Tim Carter (groin) and Brooks Foster (ankle) will be getting MRIs.