So, what does Sam Bradford do as a follow-up to his strong performance against New England?? Do it against Baltimore.

“I think we all agree he had a pretty good game last week, but in the NFL you’ve got to do it week in, week out, so we’ll be looking for him to pick right up where he left off last Thursday,” said St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo.

Bradford agrees. “Any time you step on the field, you want to play well, you want to help your team win” said Sam. “I felt like I did that last week. Going into this game, it’s no different.  I want to do the same thing. When I’m out there with this offense, I want to do everything I can to get the ball in the end zone and help this team win.”

Besides gaining confidence in himself, Bradford is also gaining the confidence of his teammates.

“I think a little bit.  I know after last week I had a couple guys come up to me and say a couple things about how I handled the situation, the way I acted in the huddle, the way I carried myself on the field.  They were all positive. I think that’s something that I can take away from that game and continue to get better at, but anytime I hear things like that from vets, it’s really encouraging.”

With the exception of Steven Jackson, Bradford and the 1s are expected to be on the field for about fifteen plays against Baltimore—which should give Sam enough opportunity to work on a few things.

“Footwork,” began Bradford. “Footwork in the run game. I can get better on play fakes. I can always make quicker decisions.  The list really goes on and on.  There are so many things I can get better at.  I’m just going to try to go out there Thursday, try to have fun and have a good game.”

RAMdom Notes:

-Tonight’s game is the last chance for many to impress and win a spot on the 53-man roster. As many six spots could still be open on the Rams. “Yeah, I would say that” said Spags. “I tell you what, I worry about…every time I sit down and do that, we have an injury and it throws everything out of whack so I’m very careful when I do it, but I would say that’s true.”

As for what bubble players will be evaluated on, Spagnuolo offered four key things to watch. “Guys are evaluated on their productivity, their character, their ability to learn, and their durability.  So, you’ve got to be a durable guy, you’ve got to produce out on the field, you’ve got to be a character guy, and you’ve got to learn the system. 

“At this point, we cut the volume down in the games, so when you go out there you’re hoping the mistakes are going to be limited.  When you have a guy making the same mistakes over and over, that tells you something, so that hurts them a little bit.”

-One veteran hoping to return against Baltimore, and secure his roster spot, is John Greco. Sidelined by a bruised pectoral muscle, Greco has missed most all of training camp but has slowly worked back into practice this week.

Despite the time off, Greco believes he can catch up quickly.

“I was here for the rookie camp with select veterans—so I’ve been in there. I know the snap counts. I know the plays and everything” explained Greco.

“Just getting a little bit of work here in a day or two of practice will get me right back up to speed and I should be well-adjusted after that.”

Greco’s versatility could be a huge benefit for the Rams. Drafted as a tackle, Greco can play either of the guard spots and has also practiced taking reps at center.

-Speaking yesterday 101 ESPN’s “The Fast Lane”, free agent running back Derrick Ward shared that he is still fully committed to football and is at 235lbs, his normal playing weight. Ward didn’t know where the rumors of his lack of desire or conditioning came from.

Ward also shared that he would have no issue backing up Steven Jackson or any other back, and would be happy to reunite with Steve Spagnuolo—whom he was with in New York.

Not since Stephen Davis was on the Rams in 2006 has the team started the season with a backup running back who had reached at least 1000 yards rushing in a season. Ward reached that mark in 2008, rushing for 1,025 yards with the Giants.

The Rams reached the mandated 75-man roster limit this afternoon by waiving offensive lineman Phil Trautwein.

Trautwein was waived injured, so the Rams will have the opportunity to bring him back six weeks after the length of the their injury settlement. Or, Trautwein could eventually move to reserve/injured and stay there all year.

Other teams also have the option of signing Trautwein, who played in three games as a rookie last year with the Rams.

Trautwein was signed by St. Louis as an undrafted free agent out of Florida, was waived, and spent time on the Cleveland practice squad before being picked back up by the Rams.

The next roster cut for NFL teams is September 4th, when teams must get down from 75 to 53 players.

If it were up to Steven Jackson, he won’t be playing this Thursday night as the Rams close the preseason against Baltimore. “No,” laughed Jackson. “But if Coach wants me to go out there, I’m fully prepared to go in there and play however long as the ones are going to be out there. But me personally, no I don’t want to play.”

Jackson is also aware that being on the field would provide valuable experience for Sam Bradford.

“It’d definitely be beneficial in letting us to grow more chemistry, yes,” agreed Steven.  “But the gentlemen asked me if I want to play. (laughs) I understand, yes, the chemistry for us to play another game before the thing really counts.”

“I do think it’s probably something that Coach probably would want and I’m ready for it if it happens. I’m not going to go out there and grope (gripe) about it. You know it’s something that I would like.”

“Not sure on that one yet,” answered Steve Spagnuolo. “ We’ll decide that tomorrow, see how he feels.  There’s a chance he could go out there, but I don’t know.  Fifty-fifty on that one.”

On nine carries, Steven has 42 yards in the preseason—plenty of work to be ready for the regular season. “Yes, I’m really excited. I’m ready for September 12. The more days and the more, as the days go by I’m getting more anxious by the week. So, a few more short weeks and we’ll be here.”

RAMdom Notes:

The Rams announced a pair of trades with Washington on Monday—the first sending defensive end Hall Davis to the Redskins in exchange for an undisclosed conditional draft pick.

Davis, a fifth round pick this year, had three tackles and two sacks for the Rams in the preseason. At Louisiana-Lafayette, Davis totaled 60 tackles (34 solo), 6.5 sacks, one pass defensed and two forced fumbles. During his senior season, Davis started all 12 games, making 22 tackles and three sacks while earning honorable mention All-Sun Belt honors.

In the second move, the Rams received fullback/tight end Dennis Morris in exchange for an undisclosed draft pick.

-Davis becomes only the second draft pick of the Spagnuolo era to be traded or released. Brooks Foster was cut from the team August 22^nd when the Rams signed Danario Alexander.

“He’s a guy that we had looked at coming out of the draft, a guy that we had a chance to take a look at now, so we made the move.  Worked out pretty good,” said Spagnuolo.

Morris (6’2, 265lbs) was selected by Washington in the sixth round of the 2010 draft.

As a senior at Louisiana Tech, Morris had 38 receptions for 623 yards and 12 touchdowns. After the season, Morris was named the best tight end in the nation by the College Football Performance Awards.

The Rams made a pair of trades with Washington late last night--sending defensive end Hall Davis to the Redskins in exchange for an undisclosed conditional draft pick.

Davis had three tackles and two sacks with the Rams thus far in the preseason. At Louisiana-Lafayette, Davis totaled 60 tackles (34 solo), 6.5 sacks, one pass defensed and two forced fumbles. During his senior season, Davis started all 12 games, making 22 tackles (12 solo) and three sacks while earning honorable mention All-Sun Belt honors.

St. Louis also traded an undisclosed pick for fullback/tight end Dennis Morris, who was selected by the Redskins in the sixth round of the 2010 draft.

Wearing #49, Morris was on the practice field today--working mainly as a fullback/h-back.

"He's a guy that we had looked at coming out of the draft, a guy that we had a chance to take a look at now, so we made the move.  Worked out pretty good." said head coach Steve Spagnuolo.

One of the many things to like about Sam Bradford is the big arm. At Oklahoma, the quarterback regularly had plays of 40 or more yards en route to winning the Heisman Trophy in 2008.

While it hasn’t shown up yet in the Rams preseason, no one is questioning the arm of the rookie. In particular, Danny Amendola — who had his hand split open from catching a Bradford pass against New England.

“Yeah, yeah he can wing it” shared Amendola. “I think it was the first one. I just looked down and my glove was all bloody. At the time, I didn’t feel it but at halftime, I took my glove off and it was sliced pretty good so I got some stitches.”

Despite the stitches, Amendola continued to play against the Patriots and was full go in practice on Sunday. His refusal to take anytime off did not go unnoticed. “I tell you, he’s a competitor,” said Steve Spagnuolo.

“You’ve got to kind of keep him from hurting himself, he just wants to go go go, which is a good problem to have.  I love the way he plays and competes.  I think it’s huge.  I think it’s great for our team, and the other guys see it too.  I think they feed off of it.”

Amendola, along with Keenan Burton and Mardy Gilyard, may be stepping in to try and fill the void left by the loss of Donnie Avery.

Gilyard had the first opportunity, but Spagnuolo cautioned that the rookie still has a ways to go before winning the job.

“I think he’s behind,” explained Spags. “In the volume of the scheme, I do think he’s behind.  Some of the things that kind of should be smoothed out by now are still not, and that’s his… he’s a pro now and he’s got to iron that out.  We’re coming up here on 14 days before we play a regular season game, so that’s something he’s got to work on.”

Gilyard agrees with the assessment.

“My thought process is a little bit slower than everybody else’s just because I’m still trying to figure out stuff on the run,” volunteered Gilyard. “I’m getting better. I’m way better than I know I was week one. Again, I know I made tremendous strides as I did prior to week 2. On my end, I feel like I’m coming along, but I need to grow up fast in all honesty.”

RAMdom Notes:

-The Rams released three players prior to Monday’s practice: running back Jamie McCoy, cornerback Marcus Brown, and offensive guard Joe Gibbs.

As expected, Steve Spagnuolo stated that Donnie Avery will be placed on Injured Reserve (IR) prior to Thursday’s deadline of trimming the roster to 75 players.

That means the Rams will need to make one other move to get under the limit. One likely candidate is Phil Trautwein, who is expected to be out at least another six weeks recovering from a third-degree MCL injury.

-Don’t expect wide receiver Laverneous Coles to wind up in St. Louis. While recently released by the New York Jets, the veteran is leaning towards retirement.

"I think I'm done,'' Coles, 32, told The Newark Star-Ledger."I don't want to become one of those journeyman football players. I don't need the money. Coach (Rex Ryan) said I was doing well and they want to bring me back after the first game but I don't know. I don't think that's something I want to do.”