IRVINE Ben Banogu Jersey , Calif. (AP) —been to the Super Bowl before last February, so they relished every day of the experience in Atlanta.And over the ensuing five months, the Rams have experienced another first: Being constantly asked how they managed to lose like that on football’s biggest stage.“Yeah, there was a lot of talk this summer,” cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman said. “It was the last game of the season, so it’s natural. It’s just more motivation. It just actually lets you know how big that game is, and how important it is for people to win.”The Rams reported to training camp this weekend with that 13-3 loss to New England still sharp in many minds. In particular, the high-powered Los Angeles offense’s largely inept performance still seems baffling in retrospect, both to the fans who watched it and to the players and coaches who lived through it.When Sean McVay appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC talk show earlier this month, the host asked how often the coach still thought about his offense’s three-point, 260-yard effort in the lowest-scoring Super Bowl.“Every minute,” McVay said with a rueful smile.McVay had never coached in a Super Bowl, but he already knows how to use that experience to motivate a team returning with nearly all of the players who came up short in Atlanta.While he shares most coaches’ earnest focus on the future, McVay knows he can draw motivational fuel from the disappointment and embarrassment of the NFC champions’ thumping from the Patriots.“It is certainly something we talk about,” McVay said Saturday. “(But) you wipe the slate clean every year. There are 31 other teams that have the same goals as us, but like last year, the only way you achieve goals in this league is you produce in the present, and you just control what you can control.”The Rams went back to work at UC Irvine this weekend intending to turn their experience into more success. They’ve won 26 total games and two NFC West titles in McVay’s two seasons Parris Campbell Jersey , but that Super Bowl loss serves as a reminder not to lean on past achievements.“Yesterday’s home runs don’t count for today’s games,” punter Johnny Hekker said. “Last year’s wins don’t mean anything right now.”McVay didn’t tear up his inventive offensive schemes after Bill Belichick countered them so comprehensively in the Super Bowl, and Los Angeles didn’t shake up its roster.Instead, nine of the Rams’ 11 offensive starters are returning along with the potentially enormous addition of receiver Cooper Kupp, who missed the second half of last season and the playoffs with a torn knee ligament.Kupp broke out with 62 catches for 869 yards as a rookie in 2017, and he was midway through another outstanding season when he went down. He has been the receiver on some of the biggest throws ever made by quarterback Jared Goff, whose 19-for-38 performance in the Super Bowl quieted none of his critics.Goff appears to be growing nicely from the setback, although the results won’t be clear until the regular season begins in September. He said he feels more mature heading into his fourth training camp, and the Rams hope it shows on the field as they prepare to sign him to a massive contract extension in the near future.“I think (the opening practice of camp) was the first time that truly felt like we picked up where we left off,” Goff said, noting that McVay was new two years ago, while top receiver Brandin Cooks was new last season.“The third year, this is it, is where everyone is coming back collectively as a unit,” Goff added. “It felt like there was no fall-off at all. We know exactly what we we’re doing, and it felt really good. … I think this year is truly the first year where it didn’t feel so big. You’re so used to it at this point.”The Rams’ two biggest offseason additions were Eric Weddle and Clay Matthews, two veteran defensive NFL stars return to their native Los Angeles area to chase a championship. They also added a crop of rookies — most notably Greg Gaines, the current replacement for starting nose tackle Ndamukong Suh — but otherwise will rely on the roster that was so close Bobby Okereke Jersey , but yet so far from a title.The upcoming season will prove whether one major loss shook the confidence of a team that has been among the NFL’s best teams for the past two seasons. The Rams believe they can shake it off.“I think you have to realize,” Goff said, “that you didn’t win the division two years in a row on accident.” SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP)Jimmy Garoppolo could have waited and cashed in even more than he did after other quarterbacks re-set the market.The San Francisco 49ers could have used a franchise tag instead of making a long-term commitment to make sure Garoppolo was worth a hefty investment after only seven NFL starts.But both sides wanted this resolved quickly, and did so with a contract that will pay Garoppolo a record $27.5 million per season over the next five years.”This is where I want to be, honestly,” Garoppolo said at a news conference Friday. ”I wanted to get this deal done as fast as possible. It will only help our team going forward going into free agency. … I wanted to be here. I was excited to be here. I’m happy we got it done as fast as we did.”Garoppolo’s $137.5 million contract has the richest annual value in NFL history, topping the deal Detroit’s Matthew Stafford signed last year by $500,000 a season.The deal includes nearly $49 million that is full guaranteed, more than $74 million guaranteed for injury and more than $86 million that will be paid out over the first three seasons.The franchise tag could have been a safer option for both sides, leading to more money for Garoppolo if he kept playing at the high level he showed this past season and more protection for the 49ers if he didn’t reach that level.But neither side was eager to go that direction.”We became convinced we had that as an option, but we didn’t want to use it,” general manager John Lynch said. ”We wanted to make Jimmy a 49er for a long, long time. Do you have to have some faith for that? Absolutely. But he earned that faith we had for him. I know it wasn’t a super long time but we felt we had a really good grasp on the talent and that was only confirmed when he got here.”San Francisco acquired Garoppolo from New England before the trade deadline for a 2018 second-round pick. As soon as he took the field a few weeks later, he immediately turned around a franchise that started the year with a 1-10 record.Garoppolo took over as starter and led San Francisco to five straight wins to end the season. He completed 67.4 percent of his passes this season, averaging 8.8 yards per attempt with seven TDs, five interceptions and a 96.2 rating.Among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts last season, Garoppolo ranked first in yards per attempt Khari Willis Jersey , fourth in completion percentage. His 308.4 yards passing per game in his five starts also would have led the league had he played a full season.Now he will have a full offseason to completely learn coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense, which could lead to even more production.”Now the rush isn’t quite the same,” Shanahan said. ”He can start from the beginning and start from the first page and not the 50th page. He can get a better foundation. When you have a better foundation of where you’re coming from and learning, it gives you a chance to play at a higher level.”Garoppolo has won all seven starts in his career, including two in New England to start the 2016 season when Brady was suspended for his role in ”Deflategate.” Only four other quarterbacks sincethe 1970 mergerwon their first seven starts, with Ben Roethlisberger the most recent to do it with 15 winsin a row in the regular season for Pittsburgh in 2004-05. Garoppolo’s 2,038 yards passing in his first seven starts are the fourth most among all quarterbacks since 1970.The deal still leaves the 49er with more than $60 million in salary cap room, according to executive vice president Paraag Marathe, with several more holes to fill. The most glaring needs are upgrading the skill position players and interior of the offensive line, and finding a big-time pass rusher and cornerbacks to help the defense.Lynch said he plans to be ”aggressively prudent” with that money but believes this deal will help sell the organization to potential free agents, including some who played for San Francisco this past year.”One of the reasons for the urgency, if there was some for us, was heading into free agency this is a big deal,” Lynch said. ”It’s 75 degrees and sunny outside. We have this guy. Who wouldn’t want to be here? We want to become a destination where everyone wants to be.”—