Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher – Post-OTA – June 1, 2016
"Yesterday, we started our OTAs with a team meeting and you go through the administrative stuff, and I talked to them about the three players that were not here in yesterday's meeting and wouldn't be there.
One is (RB) Tre Mason who has been excused for personal reasons, we're in contact with Tre. Second is (S) T.J. McDonald, and that's also the case – he's been excused for personal reasons and we've been in touch with T.J. And lastly it was (QB) Nick (Foles).
"I explained to the players, as it was correctly reported this morning, that he has not been here and participating in the offseason program since the draft. I've had conversations with Nick and we're on the same page.
We're trying to work things out and that's pretty much all I can say. These are voluntary. We have three quarterbacks on the field right now, it's hard enough to get reps for all three of them. We're in the process of sorting things out with Nick.
It has nothing to do with him not wanting to come in and compete at all. He's very, very competitive. We appreciate everything he did for us, and his leadership, his teammates miss him. But, I don't have any more information other than we're just trying to work things out.
"The big picture of the OTAs, we are going to have all of our offense in, all of our defense in for second time by the end of the OTAs, same thing with our special teams and then we'll take a break. We have one more this week and then we have three the next couple weeks.
(On how he gauges when to give more reps to a young quarterback like Goff and/or get him reps with the 2s and 1s)
"Our plan is to continue to increase the reps through the OTAs. By the time the OTAs are done, he's going to have reps with the 1s. That's how you develop a young quarterback is give him reps with the 1s.
Now, we had a period out here, we call it a 4-on-3 period, where it's passing only and there's four defenders defending three interior receivers, and he was working against our starting defense and they made a couple plays and there's no receivers outside to throw to and he's never done that before – it was his first time in a 4-on-3 drill, so nothing to be alarmed about."
(On what his number one priority is during OTAs considering they have a limited time period)
"Well, it's to get through the entire offensive playbook with all the players. We got through it the first time in Phase I and Phase II and now we're re-installing again, and that's really what everybody does.
Then you come back and you install a third time in camp. As we move into next week and the following week we'll be doing a lot of situation things – the two-minute and the four-minute and all those other things that come up – but right now we're kind of in that base offense and defense and third-down phase.
From a competitive standpoint, you have to be careful. The closer you get to the goal line the more competitive it gets and we don't have pads. So we have to do our best to avoid contact and it's been a good learning experience for the young guys learning how to practice without pads.
If you're familiar college football they put pads on in the spring practice. This is our equivalent of spring practice without pads."
(On how Goff has progressed since he was first handed a playbook to now in terms of how quickly he's been able to pick up on everything)
"He's done a great job. There's a lot involved and it takes time, but he's way ahead of where he was even a week ago and that's only going to get better as we move through the next couple of weeks."
(On how he can measure Goff's progression with the playbook and if he has any specific examples)
"Yes, it's the time that he's spent in the classroom with the coaching staff, with (Quarterbacks) Coach (Chris) Weinke, and then what's translating over on the field. We give him more and more offense. As I said, he's going to get more and more reps.
There may be a day when he gets all the No. 1 reps before we're done with camp. That certainly doesn't mean to say that he's won the job, but it means to say he's developing in the offense and you want to give him that opportunity.
It's different when you're under center and you're working with the starting tight ends and the starting receivers as opposed to an undrafted receiver who doesn't have the complete understanding of the offense and breaks a route off short and he ends up throwing an interception, and then you go, 'Oh, it's the quarterback's fault.' So, it's a progression. That's the best way to describe it."
(On how pleased he is with Goff's progression and comfort being under center compared to when he was in college)
"Yeah, he's coming on. It's not an issue. There was one issue today, but every quarterback occasionally has an issue. Again, you've got an offensive guard playing center so when you have an exchange issue it's not always the quarterback, it's a combination."
(On how much it helps RB Todd Gurley physically and mentally to be participating in OTAs and a full offseason)
"Well, he's not missed a day and he's running extra after practice. He looked pretty good running a straight line a year ago at this time. He's doing everything to the point where you almost say, 'Let's back down a little bit.' He's had an impressive offseason."
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