6 takeaways from Rams' joint practice with Saints

The Los Angeles Rams are doing their best to get ready for the start of the season despite being without Matthew Stafford for the last several weeks. They continued their prep on Thursday with a joint practice against the New Orleans Saints, their second such practice of the summer; the first was with the Dallas Cowboys.

The defense continues to be a major bright spot leading up to the season and though the offense is loaded with playmakers, it isn’t going to operate as well as it would with Stafford under center.

Overall, it appeared to be a good day for both teams, with some up-and-down performances from each. Here’s what we learned about the Rams on Thursday.

Offense did not look sharp

Sean McVay admitted after practice that the offense was “up and down,” with some sloppy mistakes throughout the practice. Puka Nacua had a drop in the flat, Stetson Bennett and Jimmy Garoppolo each threw interceptions and there simply didn’t appear to be many big plays early in practice.

Things got moving in the right direction during the two-minute session but prior to that, the Rams seemed to have trouble moving the ball through the air.

Defensive front was dominant (again)

Both Saints and Rams reporters raved about Los Angeles’ defensive front, which has been outstanding since the start of camp. It was great against the Cowboys and it was a force once again on Thursday.

Jared Verse and Byron Young did a good job generating pressure off the edge, while well-timed blitzes by the inside linebackers led to sacks, too. Adam Grosbard of the LA Daily News specifically pointed out Tyler Davis as a player who “just keeps making plays.”

David Quessenberry was the starting left tackle

Interestingly, Quessenberry was the first-team left tackle in practice against the Saints, a job that D.J. Humphries had been holding down. There was no report of Humphries being out of practice but it’s possible he was either getting a vet rest day or is banged up because he wasn’t working with the second-team offense, either.

Regardless of the reason for Humphries’ absence, Quessenberry might’ve moved ahead of Warren McClendon Jr. in that competition to be the swing tackle/fourth tackle, depending on Alaric Jackson’s health.

Jackson was not on the field at all during team drills, for what it’s worth.

Nate Landman keeps making plays

Landman has been a stud for the Rams on defense in his first camp with the team, continuing to make plays on Thursday. He forced a fumble on Alvin Kamara, punching the ball out to create a turnover during team drills.

He’s locked down a starting spot in the middle and will likely be the signal caller on defense, too.

Emmanuel Forbes Jr. gets run with first-team defense

The Rams were rotating their cornerbacks fairly often throughout practice, giving Ahkello Witherspoon, Cobie Durant, Darious Williams and Forbes all opportunities with the starting defense. Forbes seemed to be on the field with the starters often early in practice, a good sign as he returns from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for a couple of weeks.

Forbes is inching closer to being a lock for the 53-man roster as a key contributor in the secondary.

Rushing attack is trending up

The Rams should have a lot of success on the ground this season with their three-headed monster of Kyren Williams, Blake Corum and Jarquez Hunter. Williams and Corum both had some good runs during practice, as seen on the Saints’ livestream, but Hunter really flashes in this practice.

The rookie broke off a long run up the middle where he cut back to his right and housed it for a touchdown, showing off his breakaway speed. He’s going to be difficult to keep off the field this season.

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This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams-Saints joint practice: 6 takeaways from Thursday

6 takeaways from Rams’ joint practice with Saints

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