By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

It was an exhausting day both physically and emotionally for Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo. But when it was over, it was the turnout of two crowds that helped him get through it.

After hopping on a flight to attend the funeral of his friend and mentor Jim Johnson in Philadelphia this morning, Spagnuolo hustled back to St. Louis to run the show at the team’s scrimmage Friday night at Lindenwood University.

It was the type of day that would take a lot out of anyone but Spagnuolo couldn’t help but have his spirits lifted by the overwhelming show of love and support he saw in both places.

“It will be one of those days I know I will go back and remember for a long time,” Spagnuolo said. “I think I did the right thing. I am glad I went to see Jim. It was very soothing for me to see all of the people that showed up. I can’t tell you the overwhelming display of love for Jim Johnson in Philadelphia today. There were more people coming back there that hadn’t been there in a long time. It was one of those days where everybody gets together and you mourn a friend and a family member. It went really well and luckily for me all the flights went right.”

Spagnuolo spent his formative NFL coaching years learning the game under the late Johnson, picking up on the cues that made Johnson a coaching legend and the things that made him synonymous with the term “exotic blitz.”

Off the field, Spagnuolo considered Johnson a close friend so when the time came to decide whether or not to attend the funeral, it ultimately was a no-brainer no matter how difficult the scheduling of it might be.

People like Baltimore coach John Harbaugh, Minnesota defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and countless former players came out in droves to remember Johnson. Ultimately, it was just what Spagnuolo needed.

“It was emotionally tiring and there is something to be said for having the memorial and having wakes,” Spagnuolo said. “People need to be around each other to put it to rest. It was lingering with me and I am glad I went and I feel good about it. I know Jim is in a better place.”

Spagnuolo arrived back in St. Louis at around 5 p.m. Central time (squeezing in a short nap on the airplane), about an hour and a half before the start of the scheduled full squad scrimmage.

With a little time to spare, Spagnuolo arrived at Lindenwood and joined the team in time to put it through the paces.

What Spagnuolo found was another overwhelming turnout in the stands. The capacity of Harlen C. Hunter Stadium is around 6,500 people but when all was said and done, Lindenwood officials estimated the turnout to be around 7,000.

Even the most optimistic of prognosticators wouldn’t have guessed the crowd would have reached more than maximum capacity.

“I want to be sure I publicly thank all of the fans here,” Spagnuolo said. “I thought the turnout was great. That means a lot. It means a lot to the players, it means a lot to the coaches, to the organization. Hopefully we can give just as much back with our play.”

What those fans were treated to was a pleasant evening of football in which plenty of positives could come. Spagnuolo wanted to give his team the chance to go live in the scrimmage but also to work on specific situations and on some of the details.

Spagnuolo kept a close eye on how things went in the pre-game warm ups and wanted to implement his method of doing things in the pre-game.  In addition, Spagnuolo wanted to get in as many situations as possible.

Throughout the course of the night, the Rams worked on short yardage situations, fourth down conversions, backing up the offense on the goal line and red zone.

“I think they got after it pretty good,” Spagnuolo said. “There’s a lot of the little organizational things I believe we need to clean up but that’s what this scrimmage was for. We have four preseason games to do the same thing.”

Spagnuolo put a particular emphasis on the fourth and short situations as well as the opportunity to back them up on the goal line.

Along the way, a few familiar faces stood out along with some less heralded players. Defensive ends Chris Long, Leonard Little and James Hall were relentless in the pass rush though they were not allowed to actually bring down the quarterback.

Receivers Keenan Burton and Laurent Robinson each made some impressive catches down the field. Cornerback Quincy Butler, safety Todd Johnson, safety David Roach and linebacker K.C. Asiodu came up with interceptions.

“It was a good scrimmage all around,” Spagnuolo said. “I think we got what we wanted out of it. We will move forward.”

Perhaps the only negative news out of the scrimmage was a couple of injuries that though minor, will need some re-evaluation in the morning.

Defensive tackle Adam Carriker suffered a sprained left ankle and safety Eric Bassey has a sprained right knee. Both players were on crutches and will be checked again in the morning.

Safety Craig Dahl tweaked a hamstring and tight end Daniel Fells had trouble breathing, something Spagnuolo believed was caused by an illness from earlier in the day.

Overall, though, the Rams came out of the scrimmage relatively healthy and accomplished most of what Spagnuolo wanted. 

And with that, Spagnuolo threw the team its first bone of his first training camp.

“I have canceled practice for tomorrow so there will be no practice in the afternoon,” Spagnuolo said. “They will get a lift in; they will watch this tape which we need to do to get some things going.”

And though he didn’t give himself a day off, there’s no doubting that it can’t hurt to have a little time to regroup after a day he’ll never forget.