Rams: Undersized rookie receiver Atwell makes quick impression
INGLEWOOD >> The first-ever football crowd at SoFi Stadium, not a sellout but big for a preseason game, came eager to see the Rams battle the Chargers for practice and Rams players battle each other for roster spots.
Some of the young Rams played Saturday night as if they’d been anticipating this as long as the fans.
There was Tutu Atwell, the tiny rookie wide receiver, turning a short pass into a long gain and his first crack at a punt return into a peoplepleasing burst. There was running back Raymond Calais taking advantage of his first punt return to top Atwell with a 46-yarder. There were
Bryce Perkins and Trishton Jackson taking advantage of that short field by connecting on a short pass for the Rams’ first touchdown of the exhibition season.
Atwell’s performance might have eased some doubts about the Rams’ decision to use a second-round pick, their first in last April’s draft, on a receiver who says he’s striving to bulk up to 160 pounds.
There’s still concern about what happens the first time a pro-size linebacker blasts him, but they’ll have to find him first.
A crowd like this, announced at 68,791 in the 70,000-seat stadium, might have liked to see Rams starters such as quarterback Matthew Stafford, but at least they were forewarned about what to expect.
Coach Sean McVay never plays starters in the preseason, and in the first of the Rams’ three exhibitions he sat most of his second unit as well.
With the Chargers taking a 13-6 victory, what fans mostly watched was games within the game.
The Rams’ first preseason game since 2019, since 2020 exhibitions were called off because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was a good start for Atwell as he fights Trishton Jackson and others for a position on the roster behind widereceiver regulars Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, DeSean Jackson and Van Jefferson, none of whom played Saturday.
It was a good start for Jacob Harris, a converted wide receiver looking for a roster spot at tight end behind Tyler Higbee and Johnny Mundt, who had four catches for 43 yards in the first three quarters.
It was a good start for Perkins in his effort to hold off Duck Hodges for the third quarterback slot on the roster.
Perkins, the 2019 undrafted free agent from Virginia who had yet to play for the Rams, completed 6 of his first 7 passes for 46 yards. That included the touchdown pass.
Perkins, whose legs are his best weapon, showed the patience to stay in the pocket and wait for Jackson to get open and lobbed the ball where the receiver could go down and get it at the back of the end zone.
Hodges, the former Steelers backup, had led the Rams out for their first and second offensive series and completed 6 of 8 passes for 39 yards. But 20 of those yards coming on a short pass that Atwell turned into a 20-yard gain. The offense drew a delay-of-game penalty before its second snap.
Hodges came back in after halftime and led a drive that ended with a missed field goal, and was 11 for 18 for 85 yards and an interception midway through the fourth quarter.
It was a good night on defense for Justin Lawler, the outside linebacker, who was in Chargers quarterback Chase Daniel’s face often.
There was no early winner in the competition to back up running back Darrell Henderson, and to prove the Rams don’t need to acquire a running back after Cam Akers’ Achilles’ injury.
At the end of three quarters, Xavier Jones had 21 yards on seven carries, the longest going eight yards, and two catches for six yards, and rookie Jake Funk had three carries for 12 yards and one catch for negative yards.
The other early negative for the Rams was the kicking game, which they thought they’d figured out. Kicker Matt Gay missed an extra point after a penalty backed him up five yards, and secondstring kicker hit the right upright with a 40-yard field-goal attempt.
But that probably won’t change coaches minds about that position.
Other performances might at least set the terms for competitions to be continued when the Rams scrimmage against the Raiders twice in the coming week, host the Raiders in a preseason game next Saturday at SoFi Stadium, and face the Broncos in Denver in their last exhibition before the regular-season opener against the Bears at SoFi on Sept. 12.