Rams are finding balance as Training Camp wraps at LMU

Blake Corum #24 of the Los Angeles Rams pushing to the end zone during Rams training camp at Loyola Marymount University on Wednesday, August 5th in Westchester, CA.

LOS ANGELES––The sun hung low over Loyola Marymount on the final day of training camp, that particular California gold that makes everything look like a painting.

The air smelled like sunscreen and ambition.

The grass soccer pitch tarnished from weeks of planting and cutting and sprinting.

In the end, Thanos was right. Not about the snap — never about the snap. But about the balance.

"Perfectly balanced," the Mad Titan said, "as all things should be."

He was talking about the universe. He could have been talking about the Los Angeles Rams on this August afternoon, where every force found its counterforce, every push found its pull, every question found its answer and every player found his place.

Sean McVay stood at the podium with the look of a man who had just finished a marathon and was being asked to run another one.

His voice was hoarse from three weeks of barking at quarterbacks and cajoling cornerbacks.

He had been asked about Aaron Donald so many times over the past two weeks that he could have recited the answer in his sleep.

But he didn't. He answered every question anyway. Because that's what leaders do

And in the balance of it all — the balance between answering the questions and protecting the team, between looking forward and staying present, between the pressure of expectation and the reality of preparation — McVay found his footing.

Balancing Questions and Answers

"If Aaron comes back," a reporter asked. "Is there a challenge to saying, 'Okay, this is where you're going to play'? Or because he's Aaron Donald, you don't worry about it?"

McVay smiled. The smile of a man who had been asked this question 47 times and knew he was about to be asked it 47 more.

"Well, I think the best part is," McVay said, "you focus on the guys that we do have. And if that means that he wants to be able to come back in, I think the cool thing is — and you know, you guys know Aaron, that have covered him — I mean, he wants to earn everything he gets. And he has tremendous respect for the guys that are in that defensive line room."

McVay paused. The reporters leaned in.

He knew what they wanted: a timeline, a benchmark, a guarantee. He wasn't going to give it to them.

"You know, those are things that you have to be able to figure out on the fly," McVay continued. "But what we are focusing on is the guys that are here. And then if Aaron is a part of it, it's obviously going to add value to our group, which is a positive."

Another reporter asked about benchmarks.

Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams in an interview during Rams training camp at Loyola Marymount University on Wednesday, August 5th in Westchester, CA.

Jessica Cryderman - The Sporting Tribune

Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams in an interview during Rams training camp at Loyola Marymount University on Wednesday, August 5th in Westchester, CA.

Is there a specific measure Donald had told him? A number of reps? A time in the 40? A certain feeling in the knee?

"Oh, yeah," McVay said. "There's things that he has. You know, I don't know that it would be anything that I could specifically articulate, but he kind of knows. I think, you know, when you understand yourself in a certain domain as well as he does, he's earned the right to be able to know what he feels like physically, mentally and emotionally to be able to go through the rigors of what an NFL season entails."

He shrugged. The reporter kept pressing. McVay gave him the same answer, wrapped in different words. It was a masterclass in saying everything without saying anything at all.

"His standards are different than others," McVay said. "And he's earned the right for that."

It is balance — the balance between honoring a legend and building a team, between looking back and looking forward, between the ghost of what was and the promise of what could be.

Defensive Balance

On the field, the defense was having its day. The secondary, in particular, had been a problem for the offense all afternoon.

Perfectly balanced.

Emmanuel Forbes Jr. was using his length to his advantage all day. He broke up a corner route intended for Davante Adams that would have been a touchdown against any other cornerback. He jumped a Matthew Stafford launch down the left sideline and forced an incompletion that made the crowd gasp.

Trent McDuffie was doing what McDuffie does — shutting down his side of the field like a steel door.

Quentin Lake was everywhere, breaking up passes, reading Stafford's eyes, making the quarterback second-guess every throw.

But it was the young guys who really turned heads.

Cam Lampkin continued to shine, forcing an incompletion over the middle that bookended what had been a brilliant camp. He had been a standout on the second-team defense all three weeks — a huge pass breakup here, an interception there, a series of nice plays that made you wonder why he wasn't getting more attention.

Tru Edwards #16 of the Los Angeles Rams covered during a drill during Rams training camp at Loyola Marymount University on Wednesday, August 5th in Westchester, CA.

Jessica Cryderman - The Sporting Tribune

Tru Edwards #16 of the Los Angeles Rams covered during a drill during Rams training camp at Loyola Marymount University on Wednesday, August 5th in Westchester, CA.

The secondary as a whole was preventing any deep completions. Outside of the standout reps from Forbes, the Rams' first-team secondary had multiple forced incompletions on deep balls from Stafford.

One was by Lake on a pass down the left sideline. Another was by McDuffie along the right sideline.

It was...

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