--The offseason conditioning program began March 16, and coach Steve Spagnuolo was eager to actually begin coaching and communicating his message. Spagnuolo talked to the team as a group for the first time since he was hired in mid-January.
"It feels like the job I signed up to take," Spagnuolo said. "You finally have a team in there. It was great, and everybody was there. I try not to make the meetings real long, so I just hit them with some things we needed to go forward - bang, bang, bang. I think they appreciated that."
Well, not everyone was there. Running back Steven Jackson was absent because of a family issue in his Las Vegas home.
Said Spagnuolo, "I talked to Steven Jackson last night (Sunday); he was all set to come. He's dealing with some family things in Las Vegas, and I told him to stay and take care of that. Otherwise, he was going to get on a plane and then turn around and go back."
Spagnuolo's main message was about building team chemistry as well as working hard in the weight room.
"To me, the foundation's big," Spagnuolo said. "The bottom layer of that foundation is all about working together. Being loyal. Trusting each other. Mutual respect. You don't build those kinds of things unless you're around each other.
"So to me, the more we can be around each other, the better chance we get to that bottom layer. The foundation falls apart if that bottom layer's not strong. So we kind of hit them with that this morning. I think they got the message."
--The Rams were expected to make a contract offer to Billy Bajema, who would replace Anthony Becht as a blocking tight end. Becht, 32, was released by the Rams after just one season with the team.
Every player the Rams have released in the offseason - tackle Orlando Pace, wide receivers Torry Holt and Drew Bennett, quarterback Trent Green and Becht - is more than 30 years old.
The Rams are negotiating with Gus Frerotte to be the backup to Marc Bulger.
Bajema was originally a seventh-round choice by San Francisco in 2005, and has played 61 games with 26 starts.
"We're still talking with both of those guys, and we hope to get something done," general manager Billy Devaney said of Frerotte and Bajema.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's falling into place. There's a lot more work to be done and just because it's a certain way today doesn't mean it's going to be like that three months from now. It's an ongoing process and we just keep chipping away at it." - Coach Steve Spagnuolo on what the Rams have accomplished in the first three weeks of the league year.
