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LA Rams news: Aaron Rodgers, joint practice and more stories for Cardinals fans to know

LA Rams news: Aaron Rodgers, joint practice and more stories for Cardinals fans to know

USA Today7 hours ago

LA Rams news: Aaron Rodgers, joint practice and more stories for Cardinals fans to know Checking in on the NFC West with a few stories from the last week for Cardinals fans to know about the division rival Rams.
We have made it through another week of the offseason, now 12 weeks from Week 1. It is time to check in with the rest of the NFC West and see what is happening with the Arizona Cardinals' division rivals — the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
What has been going on with the Rams?
Below are some stories from the last week about them that Cardinals fans should know.
Rams considered getting Aaron Rodgers
The Rams got Matthew Stafford to agree to a new contract, but because there was the possibility that he left, the Rams considered other options. Had he gone elsewhere, they were prepared to pursue Rodgers, who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Joint practice scheduled
The Cardinals have a joint practice with the Denver Broncos in the second week of the preseason. The Rams will hold a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys in Oxnard, CA leading up to their preseason opener at home.
Starting LT has health issues
The Rams signed former Cardinals first-round pick D.J. Humphries this week and it was for a good reason. Starting left tackle Alaric Jackson is dealing with blood clots for the second time in his career. His status for this season is a little in the air now.
OTAs takeaways
The Rams concluded voluntary OTAs last week. Among the takeaways from their voluntary work, CB Emmanuel Forbes is bigger, DL LBraden Fiske's knee is fine and RB Kyren Williams is working on a new contract with the team.
Rams save millions in cap-saving move
The Rams cut ties with cornerback Derion Kendrick. He missed all last season with a torn ACL. The move saves the Rams more than $3 million in cap space.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Shells. 'Quarters.' Attacks from all angles. Cooper Kupp talks defenses
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  • USA Today

Shells. 'Quarters.' Attacks from all angles. Cooper Kupp talks defenses

Shells. 'Quarters.' Attacks from all angles. Cooper Kupp talks defenses Show Caption Hide Caption Cooper Kupp recieves high praise from new Seattle QB Sam Darnold Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has nothing but praise for his new teammate and offensive weapon, Cooper Kupp. Sports Seriously Editor's note: This story is a part of a series by USA TODAY Sports called Project: June. We will publish at least one NFL-themed story every day throughout the month because fans know the league truly never sleeps. If you follow the NFL, it's likely you've heard (or seen with your own eyes) how defenses have caught up to offenses. It wasn't always this way. Just a short time ago, anywhere from five to seven years or so, offenses dominated the league. They morphed and shifted and defenses were often (though not always) helpless to stop them. That has changed. The reasons why vary and what's always been interesting is how few people have fully, and easily (that's the key), publicly explained why. Until now. Behold former Rams and current Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp. He was part of the Rams' offense, led by Sean McVay, when in 2021 he won a rare NFL receiving triple crown, leading the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. What Kupp does on the "Bump & Stacy" show is give one of the best breakdowns of recent defensive evolution you will ever hear. It's remarkable stuff. His explanation starts by taking us back in time to almost a decade ago. 'So, in 2017 and 2018, Sean McVay's offense is ahead of the game,' Kupp said. 'There were times we were running plays and (defenses) have no idea what was going on. 'And we were just manipulating them (defenses), moving them…manipulating them to where we wanted to go…It was just, it was stupid.' It's difficult to overstate how advanced McVay's schemes were. McVay's rep as an offensive genius started with those years. And Kupp is right. It was stupid. Defenses had an incredibly hard time stopping them. McVay was named coach of the year in 2017. Then, as Kupp notes, ever so slowly, defensive coaches, who don't like to be on the other end of stupid, began to adapt. It took some time, years actually, but it happened. '2019, defenses start catching on, and there's a little bit of a Vic Fangio thing that comes on.' Los Angeles Rams are 'right place' for wide receiver Davante Adams Fangio started using more Cover 4 or 'quarters' where four defenders split up the field into fourths and focus on deep coverage. This didn't stop offenses' explosive deep games, but it slowed them. Fangio mixed in other coverages as well. Then something else happened. '2020 comes. Brandon Staley gets hired to LA. Brandon Staley was with Fangio. Staley in one year puts together the No. 1 defense in the league,' Kupp said. Staley transformed the Rams' defense overnight to where they were first in almost every major statistical category. 'Now Staley's thing is all about concept recognition, concept match,' explained Kupp. 'Being able to cancel routes and move in to new things.' This is a sophisticated way of saying Staley taught how to quickly recognize what the offense was doing and get it, before it got you. 'So now you have defenses not just dropping to spots, but now they're playing the offenses,' he said. See the education you're getting here? Kupp is explaining some high level, and historical things, in easy-to-understand bites. He sounds like a really good college professor explaining how aluminum tariffs work. But doing it with pizazz and energy. All of these defensive techniques and philosophies from the past eight years or so are now in modern defenses which feature a mash of concepts, aggression, and trickery. They have officially caught up to the offenses that just a short time ago used to overwhelm them. 'Now more and more of this has shifted and molded into defenses now that are holding these shells and being able to say, 'You're not going to see what we're doing pre-snap. We're going to show you late. We're going to bring pressures from all different directions,'' Kupp said. One of the interviewers then says to Kupp: 'You should be an analyst.' Oh, he will be. If he wants to. But he's not done on the field just yet. All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter.

Shells. 'Quarters.' Attacks from all angles. Cooper Kupp talks defenses
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Shells. 'Quarters.' Attacks from all angles. Cooper Kupp talks defenses

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Cardinals' June skid continues after series loss to Brewers: ‘We're keeping our heads up'
Cardinals' June skid continues after series loss to Brewers: ‘We're keeping our heads up'

New York Times

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  • New York Times

Cardinals' June skid continues after series loss to Brewers: ‘We're keeping our heads up'

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