Rams to unveil new offense against Colts

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Rams promise a more unpredictable offense under new coordinator Josh McDaniels. The first glimpse comes Saturday night in the preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts.

Running back Steven Jackson noted all teams are playing catch-up after the lockout, but felt good about the team's progress in the new system. Jackson often had to slog for yards in last year's conservative attack that eased quarterback Sam Bradford into the NFL, but there's anticipation he'll be more of a receiving threat this year.

"I think coach McDaniels is going to allow for myself to be displayed in places that we've all seen before," Jackson said. "It may be a refresher to some, but nothing different, nothing new. Just help me be a better player overall."

Danny Amendola and free-agent pickup Mike Sims-Walker were Bradford's top targets in a scrimmage last Saturday and lead a much deeper wide receiver corps than the Rams had in coach Steve Spagnuolo's first two seasons. Guard Harvey Dahl adds another well-regarded big body to the line, and rookie Lance Kendricks looks like an upgrade at tight end.

Jackson has two capable backups in free agent pickups Cadillac Williams and Jerious Norwood for the first time in his career.

"The sky's the limit for us," Sims-Walker said. "I think we've got all the tools to be great."

Spagnuolo has been impressed with Bradford's command of the offense, although he said Bradford struggled in practice Wednesday.

"I think he's picking up a lot of the mental stuff pretty well and he seems to be running that huddle extremely well," Spagnuolo said. "I look at the whole picture, how are they meshing?

"Maybe I assume that Sam's going to do well, so I don't look at that part."

Sims-Walker said he'd rather be catching passes from Bradford than any other quarterback in the NFL. He's been playing at all three receiving spots.

"I'm not going to learn all this overnight," Sims-Walker said. "I've been studying my butt off, working, trying to get it down, and I think I've caught on pretty good."

Sims-Walker caught 43 passes with a 13.1-yard average and seven touchdowns for the Jacksonville Jaguars last year. That was a falloff from 2009, when he had 63 catches, so he has something to prove.

"I just call it Chapter 2," Sims-Walker said. "This is part two of my story."

Spagnuolo estimated Thursday night that "Sam's crew" probably would get 12 to 15 plays. The Rams practiced in shoulder pads only the last two days, a lighter load physically heading into the game, and today's practice will be shortened.

"It'll be good to hit somebody else, I know that," Spagnuolo said. "I'm just hoping the fact that you're playing another team juices them up for an evening. We can have a good go at it."

About a dozen players will miss the Colts game due to injuries, or in outside linebacker Ben Leber's case because he signed a free agent deal Thursday. Middle linebacker James Laurinaitis (pectoral) did not practice for the second straight day and Spagnuolo didn't think he would play.

Veteran cornerback Al Harris (knee) was restricted to conditioning drills.