Rams-Raiders Joint Practice: Top Takeaways

Top takeaways from the Rams-Raiders joint practice on Wednesday.

The Rams hosted the Raiders for a two-day joint practice on Wednesday, and they'll pick up right where they left off on Thursday. Following the practice sessions, the two teams will square off on Saturday for their second preseason game of the season. 

While there's always a lot to unpack following a joint practice, here are the top takeaways:

Matthew Stafford's Day

It's still training camp and this is the period of the year where teams will install new things, but Stafford was intercepted three times by the Raiders defense on Wednesday.

Cory Littleton, who was in a zone, jumped a pass and picked off Stafford, who's thrown three interceptions today. Arnette probably would've had the pick, too, if Littleton wasn't there.

— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) August 18, 2021

“I made a couple poor decisions I wish I had back," Stafford said following practice.

Stafford stated they introduced some new things to the offense, but acknowledged the interceptions are on him and he'll work to fix them. When teams are working out the kinks of new plays, this is the time to do it. Stafford said he's glad this occurred in practice versus doing it in a game. 

However, it wasn't all bad for Stafford as he had his moments of letting it loose as well. 

Stafford and Rams ones had a nice RZ 7on7 period (pretty sideline ball to Jefferson; TDs to Kupp and Higbee). Struggled in full field 11on11 and had a tipped ball meant for Woods picked.

Rochell dove to pick Mariota, and Carr hit Remfrow on a slick out and up explosive.

— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) August 18, 2021

Jalen Ramsey's Outing

Just as he did throughout the joint practice with the Cowboys, Ramsey lined up from the slot alignment. 

Rams CB Jalen Ramsey is playing heavily in the slot today and has been burned by Raiders WR Hunter Renfrow multiple times.

— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) August 18, 2021

Ramsey is regarded as one of the best cover cornerbacks in the NFL, but receiver Hunter Renfrow gave him all he could handle. 

Another thing to note: players were not to tackle their opposition to the ground in this joint practice. However, Ramsey was going full force and players didn’t take that too lightly. 

Jalen Ramsey isn’t treating this like practice. He’s hitting full force. Foster Moreau just got in his face about it.

— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) August 18, 2021

Tempers Flare

Tensions were raised once again between players at a joint practice. Nobody should be surprised as this is now a common theme for joint practices in which they reach a level of intensity where things get chippy and this was nothing shy of that. 

#Raiders & #LARams mixing it up after Jalen Ramsey gave Josh Jacobs a hard shot that made Jacobs’ helmet pop off pic.twitter.com/ikZBXTdn2Y

— Omar Ruiz (@OmarDRuiz) August 18, 2021

Richie Incognito & Sebastian Joseph-Day in the center of this action between the #Raiders & #LARams. One of the more spirited joint practices I’ve seen. pic.twitter.com/Et8hJ3gZJP

— Omar Ruiz (@OmarDRuiz) August 18, 2021

Sean McVay's Assessment

“I didn’t like how sloppy it felt overall," McVay said in regards to the extracurricular activities that transpired between the two teams. 

McVay later reiterated he doesn’t want it to seem like they didn’t get anything out of today’s joint practice — they did — but he’d like a better structure for tomorrow.

Sean McVay seemed frustrated with the “sloppy” feel of practice due to the starts and stops in action based on after-whistle extracurriculars. He and Gruden and some other coaches spoke about it for awhile after practice because both teams want to get some quality work in.

— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) August 18, 2021

"I'm not concerned," McVay said regarding the outing from the Rams offense. "We don't do any sort of game-planning for these practices. This is a great opportunity to test a lot of our rules. That's what I like about Matthew — he's aggressive trying things out so you can be smart with that decision-making thought process."

McVay remained level-headed regarding his offense. With new things being implemented, he feels confident that things will get cleaned up for the better as they move forward. 

Other Standouts

- Linebacker Travin Howard picked off Raiders backup quarterback Marcus Mariota

Looked like Travin Howard nearly came away with it https://t.co/In5S1Lx3h5

— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) August 18, 2021

- Cornerback Robert Rochell also intercepted Mariota

Marcus Mariota picked off...by Robert Rochell.

— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 18, 2021

- Wide receiver DeSean Jackson flashed his deep threat ability once again as him and Stafford continue to build their chemistry

Stafford attempted a deep shot to Desean Jackson, who was matched up with Johnathan Abram. Abram got his head turned around late and was able to force the incompletion even though Jackson had a step on him. There was some contact, but there was no flag thrown.

— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) August 18, 2021

Continue Reading: SoFi Stadium Updates Mask Policy, Game Day Guidelines 

Nick Cothrel is the Publisher of Ram Digest. Follow Nick on Twitter @NickCothrel.