Read Wednesday’s Super Bowl practice reports for the Patriots and Rams
Both teams were able to ease back into a practice routine on Wednesday as the Super Bowl looms closer and closer.
In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, two “pool’’ reporters, one for each team designated by the Pro Football Writers Association, are allowed to observe practice and share a report with all media.
On Wednesday, Jenny Ventras of Sports Illustrated reported on Patriots practice and Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk had the Rams assignment. Here are their reports:
Patriots practice report
ATLANTA — The Patriots held their first practice in Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon, wearing helmets and shells for an 88-minute session in Georgia Tech’s indoor practice facility, just over a mile from the team’s downtown hotel.
There was one addition to the injury report: Defensive tackle Malcom Brown was limited today with a calf injury, head coach Bill Belichick said. Brown was at practice wearing his helmet but spent most of the session on the sideline. Everyone else was a full participant, Belichick said.
“He did some stuff early in practice today,’’ Belichick said of Brown. “Everybody else was good to go.’’
The Patriots began practice at 12:30 p.m., starting with some walk-through plays and a special teams period. The starting offense and defense then alternated driving the length of the 80-yard turf field, running 11-on-11 plays against the scout team mimicking the Rams personnel.
Quarterback Tom Brady looked sharp, starting off with a few up-tempo plays as the team piped in Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine,’’ raising the music’s volume before the offense was preparing to snap the ball. Brady celebrated one successful play by raising his arms to make the touchdown signal. He continued encouraging his teammates through practice, at one point offering a thumbs-up and later patting his offensive linemen and receiver Phillip Dorsett on the helmet. Brady ended the final period of practice with two touchdown passes against the scout-team defense. Afterward, players did some extra individual work on the field, and Brady stayed with center David Andrews and a few offensive teammates to practice exchanges and handoffs.
“We are way ahead of where we normally are on Wednesday, but we are trying to keep it as a Wednesday-Thursday-Friday and get into our normal routine, which has worked pretty well for us this year,’’ Belichick said.
The Patriots held one padded practice in Foxborough last week and opted to work in just upper shells today.
“We were in pads last week,’’ Belichick said. “I think we will be ready to go.’’
The Patriots practiced at Georgia Tech on Wednesday.
Belichick seemed pleased with the Patriots’ set-up in Atlanta, noting “there is not a lot of travel time’’ between their hotel and Georgia Tech’s campus. The Patriots practiced indoors all last week while they were still in Foxborough, and will conduct all their work indoors this week as well. “There are 20-story skyscrapers surrounding the field,’’ Belichick said. “I don’t think we can have a public practice out there.’’
The CBS broadcast team that will be calling Super Bowl LIII, including play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz, color commentator Tony Romo and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson, was in attendance. Before the Patriots headed to shower and make the approximately 10-minute bus ride back to the hotel, Belichick gathered his players at the middle of the field for a brief message with a few reminders.
“What our schedule is, what we need to do between now and tomorrow in terms of preparation, physical and mental,’’ Belichick said. “We are getting there. We’ve still got four days, really. But we are getting there.’’
Patriots injury report
Defensive tackle Malcom Brown was a limited participant as he deals with a calf injury.
Rams practice report
Rams running back Todd Gurley, right and defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh shared a laugh at Wednesday’s practice.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Georgia – The Rams got back into their routine Wednesday afternoon with a one-hour, 33-minute practice at the Falcons’ team facility in Flowery Branch.
“It was great,’’ Rams coach Sean McVay said, “and it was good really for players and coaches. You almost get away from it a couple of days. It’s good just to sharpen yourself up, making sure we’re tightening all the screws on the game plan. I thought the players did a nice job just getting a little bit of a lather. It was really a big emphasis on above the neck, and then tomorrow and Friday will be good to kind of finalize the week.’’
The Rams’ routine is a walk-through on Wednesdays. They got back to work with no helmets – other than those with the coach-to-player communication system – and no hitting while going at half speed.
Since Week 4, the Rams have held lighter practices on Wednesdays.
“Really where I got it from was just learning from our training staff as far as a sports-science approach, just being smart with our players,’’ McVay said. “Earlier in the year, we end up practicing on Wednesdays and then depending upon where we are injury-wise or how our team is feeling, for us this year was after Week 4, we ended up tailoring our Wednesdays back. Guys have handled it really well. I think it’s been good from a performance standpoint. We’re able to get a lot of reps, but we don’t get as much physical work as you’d like, but that’s why the Thursdays and the Fridays are so important to us.’’
Even though it wasn’t full speed, the Rams were all business as the offense worked against the offense and the defense against the defense for two periods with a special teams period in between.
“I think really it’s good for me to go back and kind of clean some things up and make sure the players feel as comfortable and as confident as possible going into tomorrow and most importantly Sunday,’’ McVay said.
Safety Blake Countess (foot) remained out while kicker Greg Zuerlein (left foot) was limited. Those were the only two players listed on the team’s injury report.
“Greg Zuerlein kicked a little bit, and he’s on track,’’ McVay said. “And I believe Blake will be good, but we want to be smart with him earlier this week.’’
Countess, who was listed as questionable on the team’s status report Friday, did some work with the trainer on the side at the start of practice.
“Feel good, feel really good [injury-wise],’’ McVay said. “I think Blake will be OK with his foot and same thing with Greg. Really that’s all you can ask for this time of year to be as healthy as we are.’’
The Falcons have made the Rams feel as at home as possible with Rams’ signage throughout the facility.
“They’ve done a great job,’’ “I really just think it’s been a first-class operation since we got here in Atlanta. They’ve made us feel very welcome. They’ve done an outstanding job of being great hosts. The facility was set up, and we really can’t ask for much more than that.’’
Rams injury report
Safety Blake Countess (foot) did not participate.
Kicker Greg Zuerlein (left foot) was a limited participant.
