In a normal offseason, the Los Angeles Rams would be gearing up to start OTAs next week, which would finally include on-field work and practices. This is not a typical offseason, of course, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the many changes it’s caused in everyday life.
Instead, the Rams and every other team are working through virtual offseason programs, which include Zoom meetings for classroom work and players staying in shape on their own. The Rams are still giving players workouts to do at home, and using GPS technology, they’re also tracking those workouts.
Jordan Rodrigue of The Athletic wrote a piece detailing how the Rams are going through the virtual offseason program, in which new strength and conditioning coach Justin Lovett said the team is using GPS to monitor players’ workouts.
“One of our weapons (in-person coaching) was taken away, so how can we get that back and then some, using technology and being innovative, thinking outside the box?” Lovett said. “We have interactive features with our online applications where they can push their weights to us. They can push their technique videos. There are GPS components. … We can figure out if the player, for his workouts, hit his top speed or a certain percentage of his top speed (and) how many times he did it. We can find out where the field was where he did it. We can also find out, if he forgot to turn his GPS off, if he did laps in the parking lot around a Steak ‘n Shake to cool down!”
One of the primary focuses of the Rams’ training and coaching staffs is preventing soft-tissue injuries, as well as injuries to the Achilles – which they noticed were a common trend in 2011 after the lockout.
Players can work out all they want, but getting in “football shape” will be difficult without on-field work and practices. That’s an adjustment players will have to make this summer until minicamp or training camp begins, whenever that is.
