Sunday, June 24, 2007

Team Releases Three to Trim Roster to 86

By Bill Coats

The Rams pared their roster to 86 players Friday when they released undrafted rookies Stanley Daniels, a guard from Washington; Terrance Reaves, a cornerback from Villanova; and David Thompson, a guard from Massachusetts.

The team also no longer is listing running back Marshall Faulk on its roster, although his retirement still isn't official, according to Jay Zygmunt, the team's president of football operations.

Faulk announced his intention to retire three months ago at the NFL owners' meeting in Phoenix, but the paperwork with the league hasn't been filed. Zygmunt said he expected it to be completed next month.

NFL teams must be down to 75 players by Aug. 28 and 53 by Sept. 1.

Parquet picked

The Rams' Jeremy Parquet has been selected to the All-NFL Europe team. Parquet, 6 feet 6 and 321 pounds, started all 10 games at right tackle for the Hamburg Sea Devils. Hamburg meets the Frankfurt Galaxy today in the World Bowl, the championship game of the six-team developmental league.

Parquet, 25, is a third-year pro from Southern Mississippi. Kansas City drafted him in the seventh round in 2005; he suited up for two games that season but didn't play. KC released him at the end of training camp last year, and the Rams signed him in November. He was inactive for the season's last five games.

Others named to the All-NFL Europe squad include linebacker Matt Sinclair (St. Louis University High, Illinois) and cornerback Shirdonya Mitchell (Missouri). Sinclair is a free agent; Mitchell is with the Miami Dolphins.

Hill improves

Cornerback Tye Hill reports that the staph infection on his leg that kept him out of minicamp earlier this month is improving and that he'll be ready to go when training camp opens. "I feel pretty good," Hill said Friday. "It's clearing up; it's almost gone."

Camp schedule

The Rams will hold training camp at Rams Park for the third year in a row, and Scott Linehan is planning to use the same schedule as last summer when he was a rookie head coach.

The players report July 26 and will practice for the first time the next day. Linehan again will alternate two-practice days (morning and evening) with one-practice days (afternoon).

"It's really conducive to veteran players being able to recover and not miss any time; they're able to take in all the snaps," he said. "Plus, you're able to get some heat relief by having that night practice on the two-a-day, but get the heat work on the one-a-day by working in the heat of the day."

The team plans to open the morning and afternoon practices to the public. Night practices will be closed.

A quick study

Rookie defensive tackle Clifton Ryan, a fifth-round pick from Michigan State, said he's intent on learning as much as he can as quickly as he can from defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, line coach Brian Baker and 12-year veteran La'Roi Glover. "I'm just a white sheet of paper," Ryan quipped, "and I'm taking notes."

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