Warner anxious for return to the field

MACOMB, Ill. -- Two-a-day practices start today for the Rams, and two-time MVP Kurt Warner can't wait.

Coming off an injury-plagued season will do that to a player. The quarterback was happy to make the three-plus hour drive to the team's remote training camp site.

"I'm just excited to be here," Warner said. "I think I'm just rejuvenated from the fact that I didn't play very much last year and it seems like it's been so long since I've been out there."

The days will be long, but you can't wipe the smile off Warner's face. He had only three touchdown passes and 11 interceptions last season while missing time with a broken pinky and hand, and was 0-6 as the starter.

"I'm looking forward to getting into the meetings. I'm looking forward to getting up early and getting out there and throwing," Warner said. "I'm looking forward to all of it.

"This is probably the most excited I've been and I think it's just because it was such a big layoff for me."

Coach Mike Martz compared Warner's attitude and optimism pre-camp to every year other than last year.

"Last year I put an awful lot of pressure on Kurt and I think there were a lot of things around Kurt that started to deteriorate somewhat," Martz said. "There's nothing wrong with Kurt.

"What I saw in him in the spring is worth really getting excited about."

Running back Marshall Faulk, also coming off an injury-filled season, also was looking forward to better times. He's expecting camp to be tough, even after a rigorous offseason workout program.

"It's an excuse for supposed to being in shape, but understanding you're still going to get your butt kicked when you get out there," Faulk said. "Just like you go through this whole camp and you get in the first game and you're still sucking wind regardless of how much you work at it."

The Rams, 7-9 last year, began camp without All-Pro offensive tackle Orlando Pace. Pace is holding out after being designated as the team's franchise player during the offseason.

"We all want him here because we know what he means to this team," Warner said. "There's not much you can say, you just hope that it happens very quickly and we can get him in here so he's hitting his stride at the same time everybody else is."

The only other players not expected to participate in the first workout are the team's top two draft picks, defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy and linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa. Martz said the team expects to sign both players, soon.

"I think we're pretty close with both of them, actually, so we'll see," Martz said. "When they get here, they get here. It's not an issue, really."

The Rams enter camp with only 10 players remaining from the 2000 Super Bowl championship team, and with question marks in the secondary in particular. The offensive line has been rebuilt, several new starters are being plugged in, and the health of Warner and Faulk are always a concern.

"That's why this camp is probably more important than any camp I've been in since I've been with the Rams," Martz said. "We've got so many new faces that we're counting on and I feel very confident all those things will work out, but that's what camp is for."

Defensive end Grant Wistrom will not participate in workouts for perhaps the first week because he has swelling in both feet after working out with a personal trainer that emphasized bounding moves. Martz said Wistrom also sprained an ankle.

"It's really not an issue, other than the fact that he's going to miss a few days of camp," Martz said.

Tight end Dan Curley, a fifth-round pick, will miss two to three weeks with a torn calf muscle.