Nick’s Notes:August 8, 2008

NASHVILLE , Tenn. –

Notes from Friday's Walk through

-         The Rams went through a long, tedious walk through Friday afternoon as the final tune up before Saturday’s preseason opener.

-         There’s not much to report from the walk through but there’s plenty of tidbits to get to.

-         First, the Rams top offense will play about a quarter tomorrow night according to coach Scott Linehan.

-         Left tackle Orlando Pace will play though he will probably be limited to fewer snaps than the rest of the line.

-         Brett Romberg’s hand is better and he practiced Friday. He will start at center. Romberg will be in the middle of a line that will have Pace at left tackle, Jacob Bell at left guard, Richie Incognito at right guard and Alex Barron at right tackle.

-         It’s possible that Trent Green won’t play as the Rams might not be able to get all four quarterbacks in. Linehan wants to see Marc Bulger and the Rams offense get off to a hot start before getting a closer look at Brock Berlin and Bruce Gradkowski.

-         The list of injured players who will NOT play: Oshiomogho Atogwe, Anthony Becht, Fakhir Brown, Victor Adeyanju and Donnie Avery.

-         Will Witherspoon (shoulder) and Julius Wilson (thigh) are questionable and likely to be game time decisions.

-         Antonio Pittman (thigh) will play and probably start despite the injury.

-         A few logistical items to get to. Linehan said the middle linebackers will have the speakers in their helmets with the green dots indicating they are the guys in communication with the box. Rams Vice President of Public Relations Rick Smith will be monitoring that for the team.

-         Offensive coordinator Al Saunders will be sitting in the box calling the plays with quarterbacks coach Terry Shea passing along the calls to the quarterbacks.

-         That’s all for today but we’ll have complete coverage of the opener as well as some things to watch tomorrow afternoon.

Notes from Thursday's Afternoon practice

-         Hallelujah, the Brett Favre situation has come to an end. I think everyone is happy this ridiculous soap opera is finally over. It’s even better knowing we can go back to Wisconsin after this weekend and Favremania will have settled down some.

-         The only better news is that the king sized bed in my room at the team hotel in Nashville is absolutely glorious. Coming off those twin beds at Concordia University , this bed is one of the best things ever.

-         The Rams and Titans had a special teams workout Thursday morning. Those players not participating in that session worked on conditioning and got some weightlifting in.

-         In addition, those not participating in the special teams session were allowed to go into the indoor facility and participate in a yoga session with the Titans. You have to love the contrast of constant fighting and squawking one day followed by a peaceful and serene yoga session the following morning. You won’t find that in the NFL too often.

-         Apparently, the Rams packed the nice Wisconsin weather and brought it with them to Tennessee , though they didn’t unpack until today. A nice, overcast day provided plenty of cloud cover and made for a very cool afternoon practice.

-         I spent a good portion of the afternoon session watching the defense since most of the action kept me on the offensive side of the field most of Wednesday.

-         During team drills, the Rams created constant pressure on Tennessee quarterback Vince Young. Early in practice Young completed a long pass to Paul Williams for a touchdown but he didn’t get much after that. On one play, Young was pressured by rookie end Chris Long and forced a deep ball intended for Brandon Jones. Safety Todd Johnson, filling in for Oshiomogho Atogwe, made up the gap and hauled in a nice interception.

-         On the next two plays, the Rams would have had sacks had the quarterbacks been in play. Will Witherspoon had one and the other would have gone to Leonard Little.

-         The one on one pass rush drills weren’t quite as successful. Adam Carriker dominated inside but the rest of the Rams defensive linemen struggled to gain traction. Willie Williams had his moments but was inconsistent.

-         Pisa Tinoisamoa made a number of nice pass breakups in seven on seven drills as did Ron Bartell. Bartell also got beat on the pass to Williams as he continues to search for consistency.

-         On the other side of the ball, there were plenty of interesting developments though not skirmishes broke out today.

-         For the second day in a row, tackle Adam Goldberg controlled Kyle Vanden Bosch in pass rush drills as well as the team portion of practice.

-         Lance Ball continues to show no fear running the ball up the middle. He has been perhaps the most pleasant surprise in this camp. Should be fun to watch him in the preseason opener Saturday night.

-         Keenan Burton made the play of the day late in the practice. Trent Green lofted a deep ball into double coverage down the middle of the field as Burton rose up over the defenders and hauled it in for a gain of about 30 yards. The play drew loud roars from his teammates and Torry Holt ran down the field to congratulate the rookie.

-         Speaking of Holt, he proved he’s human Thursday with a couple of drops on balls he normally hauls in. Drew Bennett also had a trio of drops on catchable passes.

-         That’s all for today. Check in tomorrow for some more on Bennett and some game previews to get you ready for the preseason opener.