ST. LOUIS -- It's no secret that the St. Louis Rams want to run the ball this season, but their renovated starting offensive line has yet to come together through their first two preseason games.
The Rams' starting unit has produced just three points in their six series of work in preseason losses to the Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans. They will go into this Saturday night's game against the visiting Indianapolis Colts looking to show improvement.
"We want to do well and we want to clean up a lot of mistakes we've made," Barrett Jones said. "We feel like we've shot ourselves in the foot too many times -- too many penalties and mental errors. But at the same time we're not putting too much pressure on it. We know we've still got time to fix everything that we've done wrong, so we're excited about it. We're looking forward to hopefully getting out there and putting up a good showing."
Jones, Tim Barnes and Demetrius Rhaney are all competing for the starting center spot and taking turns anchoring the Rams' top line.
Barnes started at center for the preseason opener, while Rhaney started at center against the Titans. Rams coach Jeff Fisher hasn't indicated who will start at center against the Colts, but it will likely be either Jones or Barnes because Rhaney has been working at left guard in place of the injured Rodger Saffold.
"We're moving people around, so guys are getting a lot of valuable experience, especially Garrett (Reynolds)," Fisher said. "Garrett's playing guard and playing tackle. Same with Demetrius (Rhaney) playing guard and center. So that's really valuable experience for him."
Fisher said earlier in the week that he wasn't concerned about the lack of offense for the starting unit through the first two preseason games.
"We'll be doing a little bit more offensively, so I would expect us to be able to score some points," Fisher said. "We're protecting the ball for the most part, with the exception of the interception (against the Titans). ... From a point-scoring standpoint, it'd be good to put some points on the board offensively."
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The Rams' starting offense gained 67 yards on six plays on the opening drive against the Oakland Raiders, culminating in a field goal, but then gained just six yards on six plays in its second series after being pushed back by a sack.
The first-team offense saw more time against the Titans with four possessions of work, but couldn't produce any points.
Through the first two preseason games, the Rams have 40 yards rushing on 14 carries -- an average of 2.9 yards per carry -- and quarterback Nick Foles is 6 for 12 for 87 yards passing, with one interception and a quarterback rating of 39.2.
Those aren't promising numbers for a team that finished 21st in the NFL in scoring a year ago (20.3 points per game) and ranked 28th in total offense (314.7 yards per game).
"I think there's time to jell," Jones said. "Certainly no one's panicking about anything. We all feel good about our potential and what we can be as an offense."
The Rams return two starters on the offensive line in Saffold and second-year left tackle Greg Robinson. Those two will be joined by whoever wins the job at center and then a pair of rookies in second-rounder Rob Havenstein at right tackle and third-rounder Jamon Brown at right guard.
Fisher said Havenstein and Brown will get some extra work Saturday.
"We need to get them some more live reps," Fisher said. "I keep going back to the Dallas experience, those were extra reps. But I think you'll probably see them play most of the first half this week."
Four of the players who started on the Rams' line at the start of the 2014 season -- Robinson was a reserve for the first four games before starting the final 12 -- are no longer with the team.
Left tackle Jake Long and center Scott Wells were both released in salary cap-savings moves, while right guard Davin Joseph and right tackle Joe Barksdale were not re-signed as unrestricted free agents.
Of those four players, only Barksdale is currently playing in the NFL. He signed a one-year deal with the San Diego Chargers and is lining up as their starting right tackle after holding that position the past two seasons in St. Louis.
The Rams' line will look much different this season. They are hoping that it turns out looking better than a year ago, when they went 6-10.
NOTES: Hall of Famer Aeneas Williams stopped by practice Thursday. ... Defensive tackles Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers and Nick Fairley didn't participate in the team drills during practice.
