2012-2016- The Fisher Era

Hard Knocks Ep. 11.3: Football is a business; a team is a family

Aug 20, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff (16) throws the ball during the second quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The third episode this season’s Hard Knocks took on a much more serious approach. As training camp entered its critical stages when the first roster cuts are about to take place, the focus on the Los Angeles Rams players competing in practice became much more apparent.

The episode starts on a somber note as rookie WR Paul McRoberts is in head coach Jeff Fisher’s office after learning of his brother’s death through a Facebook post. Fisher allowed an emotionally shaken McRoberts to grieve as necessary, but the young receiver understood that he still has a roster spot to earn and went back to practice.

The underlying theme of this episode was family. Fisher talked about his son and defensive backs coach Brandon and shared a unique memory between the two of them. When Brandon was a teenager and Coach Fisher was coaching the Titans in an AFC Wild Card game against the Buffalo Bills, Brandon ran alongside Kevin Dyson scoring the winning touchdown as time expired. Fisher reprimanded his son initially, but then digging back into his fatherly instincts, he told him to not to worry because they would have been penalized on the kickoff if he had run into the ref. Even then, Fisher was trying to make his then teenage son feel better about the whole situation.

The families of Austin Hill, Eric Kush, William Hayes, and Alec Ogletree were prominently featured in their own segments showing how they balance life in and out of the football field with their families. Hill had his daughter visit him in camp running around the practice field, while Kush’s wife talked about the struggles of bouncing around from city to city trying to make an NFL roster. William Hayes and his family went to Disneyland on his day off to explore the defensive end’s love for marine life (and mermaids). Ogletree recently became a father and often uses FaceTime to talk to his wife and newborn son between practice and film sessions.

Hard Knocks finally put the spotlight on an NFL legend new to the Rams coaching staff. Mike Singletary returns to the league as a defensive assistant with the Rams, mostly coaching linebackers. The no nonsense coach believes in the Ogletree’s potential if he puts the work in. Singletary installed an intense practice routine with his linebackers and became a mentor to Ogletree, believing he has the tools to be an “off the chart player.”

If Ogletree is vital on defense, running back Todd Gurley is untouchable on offense; at least that’s what Coach Fisher believes his coaches should treat him during camp. Fisher made it clear to his other coaches that Gurley is not to be touched at all in camp. “We need to treat him like a freakin’ quarterback,” Fisher instructed his coaches. The 2015 offensive rookie of the year made his preseason debut playing the opening series with the first team.

Fisher spoke with his offensive staff about Goff beginning to take first team reps in practice and to play some with the first team during their game against the Kansas City Chiefs. While Goff still had lapses, including a fumble in his second preseason game, the rookie made some improvements and threw his first touchdown. The coaches liked his gradual improvement, showing more comfort in practice and during the game. Quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke noted in a coaches meeting that, “We see flashes of, obviously, why we took him No.1, and you also see rookie lapses throughout the course of each practice.”

Martin Cruz is a staff writer for Rams Talk. You can follow him on Twitter with the username @MCruz1988.

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