INGLEWOOD — There are a lot of mouths to feed in the Rams’ receivers room, but Jordan Whittington made a strong case during Sunday’s 13-12 preseason win over the Dallas Cowboys that he deserves his spot at the table.
Whittington made the first catch of the gain, a 13-yard gain for a first down. Later in the opening drive, he made a catch on a crossing route and the defender trying to tackle him bounced off Whittington’s body. He took the intermediate pass and turned it into a 30-yard gain.
He continued to make plays through the first half. On one reception, he crossed behind the offensive line after the snap for an opening in the flat. He made another catch through a big hit, then a few plays later caught a button hook and fought through contact to pick up a first down.
Whittington’s run blocking always seemed like the safest bet to get him on the field as a rookie, but a six-catch, 74-yard performance is a good preseason statement about what he might be capable of.
Here are more takeaways from Sunday’s preseason opener.
Sixth sense
Whittington wasn’t the only sixth-round pick to have an impressive NFL debut.
Defensive tackle Tyler Davis had several big plays. He beat a back block by the Cowboys center to get a tackle for loss in the run game. Then he broke past his blocker with a bull rush to hurry quarterback Trey Lance into an incompletion.
Kicker Joshua Karty made both of his field goal attempts, from 28 and 39 yards out respectively, a fact that would feel entirely insignificant if not for all the Rams’ kicker woes a year ago.
Beaux Limmer started at center and played every snap in the first half after injuring his thumb in practice Friday. But he was tended to by a trainer during the first drive of the third quarter.
Knocking off the rust
It was an up-and-down return to competitive football for Stetson Bennett IV. Bennett, who missed his rookie season while being away from the team for what he described as mental health reasons, looked good in certain circumstances, like on play actions in which he could roll out to his right and throw on the move. But he also threw four interceptions when asked to stay in the pocket.
The first pick came on an overthrow of Whittington. It was unclear what exactly happened on the play, however, given that tight end Hunter Long appeared to jump early but no false start was called, which may have flustered Bennett.
The second and third interceptions, however, were bad reads by Bennett as he tried to fit the ball in to receivers surrounded by navy Cowboys jerseys. The fourth, linebacker Brock Mogensen was sitting in front of the receiver as Bennett wound up to throw.
Still, Bennett was able to lead the Rams to the comeback win with a 70-yard touchdown drive. Bennett completed seven of eight passes on the drive, including a six-yard TD pass to Miller Forristall with four seconds left as Bennett rolled left and threw across his body.
It was an exclamation mark on his 24-for-38, 224-yard performance.
Related Articles
Rams eager to see how new ‘foreign-looking’ kickoff goes
Rams playing it careful again with preseason decisions
Rams notebook: Young pass rush makes waves in joint practice with Cowboys
Rams DB Quentin Lake standing out during training camp
Swanson: David Crain’s 1st-and-10 line measures up as his ‘best idea’
Walled off
Right tackle Warren McClendon Jr. and left guard Zach Thomas have both gotten a lot of first-team reps the past two weeks following injuries to Rob Havenstein and Jonah Jackson, respectively. But both still started and played extensively on Sunday. Neither allowed a sack and helped Boston Scott average 4.6 yards across his nine first-half carries.
Standing out
The Rams could use some extra linebacker depth, especially with Ernest Jones IV still nursing a knee injury that limited him during the spring. Jacob Hummel made a good impression in his run on Sunday, with a strong tackle on third down in space in the red zone and a pass breakup in plus territory.
Cards to the chest
The Rams opted to kick off through the end zone rather than put their coverage plans for the new kickoff rule on film on Sunday.
Coming on strong
Star cornerback Russ Yeast had a shaky start to camp after struggling during spring workouts, but he continued to build upon a solid week on Sunday with a tackle for loss that helped lead to a turnover on downs in the red zone.
Rookie watch
The Rams opted to keep their first three picks from April’s draft — OLB Jared Verse, DT Braden Fiske and RB Blake Corum — in street clothes and out of the preseason opener to preserve them for the regular season. Verse and Fiske have gotten regular first-team snaps this training camp and Corum is the clear second-string running back behind Kyren Williams.
Leave a Reply