Growing up in Detroit, Allen Robinson watched as an exhibition of Lion sheets came and went.
In 2009, when Robinson was in St. Louis.
Robinson said, “In my presence watching Detroit Lions football, there was no one to throw the ball almost as it did in Detroit.”
Thirteen years later, Robinson will move from Stafford to a Rams team that prepares to run for the second consecutive Super Bowl title.
But it will have to wait a while. The Rams, who have been conducting off-season volunteer classes since April, began organizing team activities Monday at Thousand Oaks.
Stafford filmed but he did not pass, and he may not leave until the training camp opens in July.
Stafford, 34, confirmed that after the season he got a needle in his right arm for a problem he was dealing with during the season.
On Monday he was asked if he would drop passes during the OTA or mini-camp, or wait for the training camp in July.
“I don’t know yet,” he said, “still working on it.”
Coach Sean McVay noted that it is not possible for Stafford to take team lessons before the training camp.
“The goal, and the thought process was that it would start when we get close to the training camp,” McVay said.
Robinson is the top addition to the receiving body that has changed since the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl LVI at the SoFi Stadium. In March, Rams signed Robinson and veteran Robert Woods traded with the Tennessee Titans. The Rams have offered Odell Beckham Jr. a new contract, but he remains a free agent.
Cooper Kupp, the NFL attacking player of the year, returns to lead a team that includes Robinson, third-year pro Van Jefferson, sophomores Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek and Jacob Harris, and backs Brandon Powell.
The Rams wide celebrate receiver Cooper Kupp (left) and quarterback Matthew Stafford after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 at the Super Bowl LVI at the SoFi Stadium.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Kupp aims to build one of the most historic performances in NFL history. In his fifth NFL season, Kupp won the league title with 145 appearances for 1,947 yards and 16 assists, leading the league.
According to overthecap.com, Kupp will receive a salary of $ 18.7 million this season. Despite the fact that the salaries of the winners have been increasing a lot in the last few months, Kupp is in the process of extending his contract which could make him one of the most paid players in his position.
Robinson joins the Rams after four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars and four with the Chicago Bears. He has won 1,000 yards three times, having won Pro Bowl recognition in 2015.
“Working with A-Rob was incredible,” Kupp said Monday. “It was really fun just to have his mental ability that he could already comprehend, and just to have a dialogue with him and how he sees the game.”
The versatile 6-foot-2 Robinson is regarded as the recipient of an elite, struggling-catching run. Robinson is expected to acquire weapons across the field, and especially within the 20-yard line, with coach Sean McVay, attack coordinator Liam Coen and Stafford.
“He has a chance to take our crime to another level,” Tyler Higbee recently said about Robinson’s addition.
Robinson used off-season lessons to familiarize himself with the Rams system. He builds chemistry with Stafford – in the meeting room and in between, if not at the end of transitions.
Robinson told Stafford, “He is a super fit man, despite everything he has achieved in the league.” “He’s a standing friend, man, and when you play with guys like that, he really makes your job a little easier.”
Said Stafford: “His professionalism, attention to detail, all of that, he’s right with the group we have and is looking forward to watching him do his job.”
Because he was “intoxicated” while learning a new system, Robinson said he had not yet experienced LA. He is attentively aware of the sports and entertainment scene in the area.
“My main goal is just to make sure I’m caught up in what is now in my hands,” he said. “Some of those experiences will come on the line.”
Jefferson, a third-year specialist, met Robinson: They attended the same middle school for two years, even though they were not teammates.
He welcomes Robinson’s arrival.
“He has tough tracks, the way he catches the ball, the way he runs after the catch – I think he will get it right,” Jefferson said. “There are things in his game that I will try to implement in my own.”
Jefferson made an impact in 2020 as an experience, and increased his production last season, scoring 50 passes for 802 yards and six defeats.
Wide boxer Rams Van Jefferson tries to catch the ball while being defended by Bengali Eli Apple during the Super Bowl LVI at the SoFi Stadium.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
After closing four passes in the Super Bowl, Jefferson was informed by a Rams manager on the field that Jefferson’s wife, Samaria, had been hired during the game.
“I had my other two kids there with me, so they were too young to want to have more celebration in the confetti,” Jefferson said. “But hey, we have to go.”
Jefferson said he got in touch with his wife on FaceTime when she gave birth to their son, Champ.
“It was a crazy experience, but it turned out perfectly,” he said. “My wife always said, ‘I know the baby will come to the Super Bowl,’ and I used to say, ‘Ah, I do not think so.’
“That was right.”
Although Kupp, Robinson and Jefferson were selected as the top three winners, there will be competition for other roles.
Atwell, a second-round pick in 2021, seemed to be relaxing as the season began. He then suffered a late-season injury to the Houston Texans.
Skowronek, in his seventh round of 2021 selection, made an impact on special teams and also emerged as a receiver, taking 11 passes for 133 yards.
Harris 6-5 was shown as a tight end, but he was out of the role when he suffered a knee-end injury during a defeat by the Tennessee Titans.
Kick back Brandon Powell is also a recipient.
But the obvious question is whether Beckham will sign with the Rams again.
The three-time Pro Bowl player joined the Rams in the middle of the 2021 season and starred during their Super Bowl career. He took two passes for 52 yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl before suffering a knee injury that required surgery. Beckham is expected to be unprepared to play until mid-season.
The Rams have offered Beckham a deal, but he is expected to investigate the NFL temple before deciding his final move.
Despite this, the Rams receivers and their allies are preparing for another Super Bowl run. No team from the New England Patriots has re-emerged as a Super Bowl champion in the 2004 season.
“You want to try that feeling again – as many times as you can,” Jefferson said. “So I think everyone has that drive to go back to that moment and try again then.”
RECEIVERS RAMS
A look at the top Rams receivers when they start organizing team action staff.
Name, Age, Ht., Wt., Salary Number *
Cooper Kupp, 28, 6-2, 208, $ 18.7 million
May be the first to receive the triple crown two years in a row.
Allen Robinson, 28, 6-2, 210, $ 4.3 million
Holds multiple manager and 50-50 elite balls.
Van Jefferson, 25, 6-1, 200, $ 1.5 million
The third pro in 2021 is the team’s best 16 yards per 2021 average for each catch.
Tutu Atwell, 22, 5-9, 165, $ 1.3 million
Opportunity to show that he has overcome modern struggles and wounds.
Ben Skowronek, 24, 6-3, 224, $ 846,000
As news proved it could be more than just a special team.
Brandon Powell, 26, 5-8, 181, $ 895,000
Provided that special teams need to hit as many as punches and kicks.
Jacob Harris, 25, 6-5, 211, $ 950,000
The second pro-year, which is shown as the narrow end, comes out of knee surgery.
* On overthecap.com