Foles picks up the pieces after career-worst game – STLtoday.com
After playing the role of human piñata Sunday in Lambeau Field, surprisingly, Nick Foles didn’t need help getting out of bed the next day.
“I felt all right,” Foles said with a shrug. “I was able to get out of bed, and get some work in and get the blood flowing again. I felt good. Good Lord protected the body throughout the game, so I feel good.”
Film study of the Rams’ 24-10 loss at Green Bay showed that Foles got hit 12 times (three of which were sacks) on the 33 occasions he dropped back to pass. And most of those dozen hits weren’t love taps. He absorbed some hard shots.
“Yeah, he did,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “He took one to the sternum (from Clay Matthews) that I thought should’ve been a foul. But yeah, he’s a tough guy. He’s gonna get up and he’s gonna play the next play. It’s not going to rattle him.”
Neither is an interception — or four.
“Nick’s tough,” said linebacker James Laurinaitis. “Not just physically; he’s mentally tough. Even when things aren’t going well, you won’t see him on the sidelines pouting. … He really just forgets about it and goes out there the next drive and believes the next drive’s gonna be successful. In the long run that’s gonna help us.
“When you have a QB that’s even-keel like that — the guys around him, it kind of gives them more confidence. He’s not gonna shy away from his mistakes. He’ll go up to the guys and say: ‘It was my bad, next time we’re gonna put points on the board.’ ”
When it comes to forgetting about mistakes, Foles may need to develop a case of amnesia after the Green Bay contest, arguably the worst game of his still-young NFL career. Throwing four interceptions is so out of character for Foles, you have to assume it’s an outlier.
Foles is normally very careful with the football. He had thrown only one interception in the Rams’ first four contests entering the Green Bay game. In fact, prior to Green Bay his 13 interceptions were the second-lowest total among all NFL quarterbacks who had thrown at least 500 passes since the start of the 2013. (Second to Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers.)
On the first two interceptions he threw against the Packers, one of which was returned for a touchdown, Foles was hit while throwing. Should he have taken a sack on those plays? Tried to sidestep the rush? Perhaps.
But his two fourth-quarter interceptions, which both came in the red zone, simply looked like bad throws into double coverage. Both were throws to the right on third down from the Green Bay 7.
On the first, Packers linebacker Joe Thomas basically baited Foles into making the throw. Thomas, playing inside and underneath, quickly pounced on the pass. But instead of getting the interception, the throw bounced off his hands and then off intended receiver tight end Lance Kendricks before being grabbed in the end zone by safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
On the play, Foles had running back Benny Cunningham open in the flat but didn’t look his way. Cunningham might have scored had the pass gone his way.
On the second red zone interception, rookie corner Quinten Rollins made a diving catch. Wide receiver Stedman Bailey broke open over the middle, and might have been a better option, although he may not have scored had the pass gone his way.
As quarterbacks usually do, Foles accepted full blame for all four interceptions. He has spent the bye week practices working on those mistakes and others.
“Developing character you learn from mistakes,” Foles said. “It’s just how do you learn from those things? I look at them critically, and I want to get back on the practice field and improve on the things I didn’t do well. So this time is very valuable.”
He stayed late after Wednesday’s practice working with wide receiver Brian Quick. While that was going on, tight end Jared Cook was on the JUGS machine catching passes.
“How can I get a little bit better this week?” Foles said. “How can I get a little bit better today? You can see guys are doing that, and that’s what we’ve gotta keep doing.”
Part of the purpose of bye week practices is self-scouting; working on things that need to be improved, and tweaking the playbook just a bit. It’s a rare in-season chance to look in the mirror instead of looking at that week’s opponent.
“You have to turn negatives into positives,” Fisher said. “So this works for us right now. Works for (Foles). Again, one of his strengths is to be able to put things behind him, and he’s done that. And he’s looking forward to moving ahead.”
One-third of the way through his first season with the Rams, Foles has had two games where his passer rating exceeded 100. That number equates to winning football at the quarterback position, and not surprisingly those were the two games the Rams won — against Seattle (115.8 rating) and at Arizona (128.9).
But Foles was so-so at best against Washington and Pittsburgh, and then had the clunker against Green Bay. So what do we make of Foles through five games? Obviously it’s been a mixed bag.
“I feel like I progressed,” Foles said. “There’s definitely been some growing pains, and I’m learning. … I want to keep building, keep improving. The big thing is just being consistent every week and putting us in a situation where we can win the game.”
By now the mitigating circumstances surrounding Foles’ debut St. Louis season are well-known. He’s learning a new offensive system, with a first-time NFL coordinator (Frank Cignetti), and a first-time NFL quarterbacks coach (Chris Weinke).
Foles is operating behind the league’s most inexperienced offensive line, and he didn’t have star running back Todd Gurley in the lineup for the first two games. (And had Gurley only in a part-time role in Game 3, against Pittsburgh.)
“He’s gonna continue to get better,” Fisher said of Foles. “He’s just become more and more familiar with our system and our players, and he’ll continue to improve. So by no means has he peaked.”
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