Rams and Cowboys Show 'Fight' in Joint Practice

The Los Angeles Rams made the trip to Oxnard, Calif. where the Dallas Cowboys hold training camp, and the two teams put together a scripted joint practice.

Here are some notes that transpired on Saturday at the practice:

Matthew Stafford Continues to Build Chemistry

After Sean McVay said earlier this week that Matthew Stafford will not play in preseason games as long as he's the head coach of the Rams, he was however OK with his signal-caller getting live reps in the joint practice on Saturday.

“It was good to see,” McVay said. “That was an unbelievable throw (referencing Stafford) across his body. We want to be efficient and explosive, and that was a great example of creating explosives.”

Stafford launched a couple of deep passes intended for wide receiver DeSean Jackson, and on one, in particular, the two connected for a 60-yard bomb.

“You can see the feel they have for each other, and just the ability for DeSean to track the ball like he has, and Matthew getting the ball up there and putting air under it and letting guys run underneath it,” Cooper Kupp said following practice.

Both are entering a new offense this offseason, so seeing early chemistry between the two suggests how comfortable they're picking up the new system.

“He’s got a great demeanor," Kupp said. "For a guy that’s coming in and having to learn all the terminology in what I think is a pretty intricate offense to be clear and articulate and command the huddle is a pretty impressive thing.”

Tutu Atwell's Scare

The Rams activated second-round pick, Tutu Atwell, off the reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday, and since then, McVay has made it clear, he'll have a relatively slow ramp-up period.

Atwell went through practice on Wednesday, had an off day on Thursday as did the rest of the team, and practice again on Friday. With two practices under his belt, he did get some looks in the joint practice against the Cowboys.

In doing so, a scary moment occurred for Atwell when he ran out of bounds and hit a pad that was covering heavy equipment on the side of the field.

“His pop-up game was nice there,” McVay said. “It didn’t sound good, but he seemed like he was OK.”

McVay's comments point toward him being fine, but that was the last thing the team wanted to see after Atwell was just put on the shelf for the first 10 days of training camp.

Rams Running Back Observations

With uncertainty as to who will pick up the load behind running back Darrell Henderson, showing out in a joint practice and the team's upcoming preseason games, will presumably answer that question for McVay and company.

McVay mentioned Henderson breaking a run around the right end. He also noted Jake Funk's reps in the red zone series.

“We’ll continue to evaluate,” McVay said.

Aaron Donald's Scuffle

A scuffle between teams at joint practices is a common occurrence. The last time the Rams and Cowboys conducted a practice together during training camp, a fairly large skirmish broke out.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told Dallas reporters prior to hosting the Rams, that his team has no interest in fights.

"We have no interest in fights," McCarthy said. "That's a waste of everybody's time. Those days, to me, are over. That's not what I'm looking for. It definitely will penalize your team if it happens in a game, so why the hell would you do it in practice? I think Sean feels the same way. We just want the quality work."

However, a scuffle between defensive tackle Aaron Donald and Cowboys left guard Connor Williams, did occur during the early portion of practice.

Aaron Donald did not like being blocked by Connor Williams and started the first dust up of the practices between the Cowboys and Rams. pic.twitter.com/sGz6KfcukS
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) August 7, 2021

Nobody was injured, but that was one thing both coaches were trying to avoid — having a brawl break out.

Continue Reading: Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce to the scout who doubted him: “How ya like me now?”

Nick Cothrel is the Publisher of Ram Digest. Follow Nick on Twitter @NickCothrel.