THOUSAND OAKS — Prior to Sunday’s preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys, Rams running backs coach Ron Gould had a job for Blake Corum.
Corum wasn’t suiting up for the game, despite being a rookie. He was taken in the third round to back up and complement starter Kyren Williams, and with that job secured, the Rams weren’t going to risk any preseason injury. But Gould asked Corum if he would write down play calls for him.
Happy to do it, Corum took Gould’s clipboard. When the coach got the play call in his headset, he’d relay it to Corum, who would start scribbling.
“It was good for me at the same time, hearing the plays,” Corum said. “In my head while I’m writing them down, I’m thinking about, ‘Alright, if it’s Jacks, this is what I got.’ This is what I’m running, this is what I’m looking for. So it was really kinda like I was out there. Hearing those play calls, the more I hear them, the better I get, the faster I can play.”
That was Gould’s plan, to keep Corum up to speed with mental reps as the regular season approaches.
Physically, Corum is feeling as good as he has in two years. He’s 20 months removed from surgery to repair a torn meniscus. He was able to return for the start of his senior season at Michigan, but he was still recovering from the injury and procedure.
“I feel way better. I feel way better. Last year, first game of the season was the first time I hit someone. It was tough. I was back, but I wasn’t back to ’22 Blake Corum,” he explained. “Right now, I feel great. I feel like I’m back to ’22 and even better with my cuts, my mobility. Everything just feels great, I feel like I’m back to myself. I’m excited for Year 2 coming off that meniscus.”
So the focus this summer has been the mental jump that every rookie has to make coming from college to the NFL. And Corum describes this crash course as the most football he’s ever learned.
It’s no longer enough to know a running back’s job on each play. Gould is pushing him to learn offensive line assignments, to know not just where he’s running but where his blocks are coming from. To learn the game, not just a position.
“He takes copious notes, he’s extremely bright, and so he’s caught on really well,” Gould said. “I can give him more information because he was able to grasp it, and not only grasp it but able to go out there and he can articulate it and then he can go out and do it. That’s the biggest thing is you can go out and see how fast his play speed is.”
Corum feels like he has the playbook down now. There is still the occasional mental error, but that’s part of the game. There’s still learning to do, but he’s leaning on Gould for that with less than month until the regular season.
“Coach G, phenomenal running back coach,” Corum said. “His attention to detail, his love for the game, he knows so much, he has so much knowledge, I just try to learn as much as I can, whether it be run schemes, pass pro, I’ve learned a lot since being here the last couple months and it’s already elevated my game.”
INJURY REPORT
Linebacker Ernest Jones IV is expected to participate in Wednesday’s joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys, head coach Sean McVay said. Jones has missed a couple of days with the same knee injury that kept him out of OTAs, but McVay said the Rams “got good news” on that injury.
Receiver Puka Nacua (knee) and offensive linemen Rob Havenstein (ankle), Alaric Jackson (ankle) and Jonah Jackson (shoulder) are not expected to practice Wednesday, per McVay, and their status for Thursday is unclear. All four have been deemed “week to week” with their injuries.