Rams News

Rams aim to improve during 3 days with Colts

07/29/98

By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Rams are about to get up close and personal with the Indianapolis Colts. But no matter what happens over the next three days, the Rams will return to Macomb unbeaten on Saturday night.
``Like I told the team, the only reason we're going there is to try to get better,'' Dick Vermeil said Wednesday afternoon, before his team boarded buses for the ride to Champaign. ``It doesn't count in our won-loss record, though if we do a good job it could help us improve our won-loss record (down the road). But we're not going over there to fight, or win a game, or anything like that.''
The Rams will practice with the Colts at 9 a.m. and 3:20 p.m. today and Friday on the fields near Memorial Stadium on the University of Illinois campus. At noon Saturday, they'll be in the stadium for a controlled scrimmage.
Scrimmage tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for students, with proceeds benefiting the University of Illinois athletic department. There is no charge for the practices today and Friday.
It will be a homecoming for Rams rookie running back Robert Holcombe, the Illini's career rushing leader. On the sidelines, Vermeil will renew acquaintances with his longtime friend and coaching associate -- Jim Mora of the Colts.
As a topper, the No. 1 draft picks from the 1997 and '98 drafts will be on display, in quarterback Peyton Manning of Indy and offensive tackle Orlando Pace of the Rams.
All of which is secondary to Vermeil, who is eager to see how his Rams stack up against another team -- even if under controlled circumstances.
``Sooner or later, you've got to hit somebody else for a while,'' Vermeil said. ``I think it'll regenerate the enthusiasm a little bit. . . . Sometimes you get lulled to sleep blocking your own guys, or throwing passes against your own defense.
``You see certain things going real well and you think, `Oh my gosh, we're there.' All of sudden, you go against another football team, and they kick you around a little bit. It makes you realize you've still got a long ways to go.''
Injury update: Only three players sat out Wednesday's workouts. Starting middle linebacker Eric Hill continued to rest his sore back, as did backup cornerback Joe Rowe, who returned to camp after undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging exam (MRI) in St. Louis. Rowe's back checked out OK.
Cornerback Derrick Frazier made it through only one day of training camp unscathed after signing with the Rams. He sat out Wednesday with a sore hamstring.
Linebacker Muadianvita Kazadi (knee), cornerback back Tony Stargell (dehydration) and offensive guard Ethan Brooks (back) returned to practice after sitting out Tuesday. Brooks had been out since the team's first full-squad practice, on July 24.
Ticket update: The Rams' Oct. 25 home game against San Francisco is a sellout, the team announced. Tickets remain for the seven other regular-season home games, as well as exhibition contests with Denver on Aug. 8 and Dallas on Aug. 22.
Tickets can be purchased by calling 989-8000 or (800) 771-3666.

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