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          NFL Nation

          Rams working fundamentals on Wednesday

          • Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff WriterSep 24, 2014, 05:15 PM ET
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              Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL at ESPN since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In his 10 years with the company, Nick has led ESPN's coverage of the Niners' 2019 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick's protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam's subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team's relocation and stadium saga. You can follow Nick via Twitter @nwagoner
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          EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams were technically back on the practice field on Tuesday for the first time since the disappointing 34-31 loss to the Dallas Cowboys when they went through a corrections period.

          On what would normally have been their day off, Rams coach Jeff Fisher offered an amusing description of how the team felt about extending the usual 24-hour cooling off period for a full 48 hours before Wednesday's actual practice.

          "(We) came on the field, worked some things out, they were a little fussy yesterday as you can imagine," Fisher said. "But they’re back, they got back today, we had a really good session."

          Having apparently moved past the fussy part of the week, the Rams turned their attention to working on things like fundamentals and technique in Wednesday's practice. In what is typically known as self-scouting time, Fisher made it a point to offer a longer description of what he wanted to accomplish Wednesday afternoon during this bye week.

          "We are looking at some things we need to do better and we’re also working some of our younger players into practice," Fisher said. "What happens typically is you get going and the backups don’t get the reps so this bye week is a good time to get them some reps. This week basically is about guys that need to rehab get to rehab, guys that need to recover get to recover and then guys that need the reps and technique work get that."

          Of course, the Rams have and will continue to begin taking a look at their next opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, this week. That matchup is scheduled for Oct. 5.

          The Rams were without four players for Wednesday's practice, none of whose absence came as a surprise. Cornerback Trumaine Johnson (knee), center Barrett Jones (back) and cornerback Brandon McGee (foot) did not participate. Jones did do some running on the side, however. Receiver Tavon Austin (knee) did some work in the individual drills.

          Fisher said the Week 4 bye is the earliest one he can remember in his career but said he never minds getting the chance to get back to basics.

          "You make the most of it," Fisher said. "We’ve got an opportunity to get some guys back. Hopefully some of the guys, the Tavons and those guys that we have been without the last week or so will be able to get back on the practice field this week."