ST. LOUIS - Former St. Louis coach Dick Vermeil said his Rams would not have won the Super Bowl back in 1999 under the new, limited practice rules of the NFL.
Vermeil, who visited the Rams on Thursday, was famous for his tough training camps.
Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the mandatory veteran reporting date is no earlier than 15 days before the first preseason game. The first day is limited to physicals and meetings, and the second and third day workouts have no pads or contact. Teams can have only one padded practice per day in camp.
"I don't like the restrictions they gave to practice time," Vermeil said of the new rules. "It's going to be hard to get better. The fortunate thing is everybody is operating within the same rules. You just have to do a better job within them. I think it's going to hurt the quarterbacks, especially the young ones. It's going to hurt the medium player, the average guy. How does he get better and hang on the roster next year? How are young kids coming up going to make it when you don't give them any reps?"