LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams are two training camp practices into a journey they hope can carry them all the way to a final game at SoFi Stadium in February.The work starts on the grass fields at Loyola Marymount University. Here are eight thoughts on what we’ve seen through the first two sessions:1. This was Matthew Stafford’s first time throwing passes in a training camp setting in two years. A year after he missed it all to manage a degenerative back issue that threatened the start of the season, it feels like he and the passing game are now in a different place. The back issue hasn’t gone anywhere, and he’ll still miss every other practice to manage it. But there’s no longer the threat, the wonder or the fear.That was on display Monday, when Stafford threw at will to Davante Adams on crossers and deep dig routes that showcased great timing and spatial awareness, and when he let it rip downfield to Puka Nacua. It took them just a couple snaps to create the highlight of the practice, as Nacua went deep down the left sideline on a fade route and Stafford lofted it for a smooth catch-and-run touchdown that got the crowd roaring.Nacua came back shortly after that on a slant route across the middle. Stafford had to adjust the ball to fit it into a tight window, and Nacua reached up one hand to reel it in without breaking stride before taking it to the house.Adams isn’t new anymore, Stafford isn’t fearing if he can play and Nacua is simply Nacua. It’s arguably the highest-ceiling foundation any unit in the NFL has, and it’s the reason the Rams were willing to get as aggressive as they’ve been on defense to maximize this group.Would a return to Los Angeles Rams diminish Aaron Donald's NFL career?Robert Mays2. If Nacua has been the biggest and flashiest star through two practices, the most under-the-radar star has been the newest receiver on the team.CJ Daniels turned in a terrific practice on Monday as he worked primarily with Stetson Bennett and the second-team offense. The sixth-round rookie out of Miami was Bennett’s go-to option and caught everything that came his way. It’s early, but he’s starting to show glimpses of why the Rams traded up to take him. He’s strong, tough, competitive and confident as both a run blocker and a receiver in traffic. The confidence he attacks the ball at the catch point with is something Sean McVay has long looked for in a receiver.But Daniels is not a burner, and I do wonder how he’ll look in more difficult matchups than against the second-team defense. But that’s where the role should insulate him well as a rookie. Nacua and Adams will draw the top outside cornerbacks, and teams don’t often have three coverage players with a mix of size and speed. Daniels could find matchups where his 6-foot-2 size is enough of an advantage to mitigate the lack of speed.It’s interesting to look across the Rams’ skill positions and see the lack of a true burner with Tutu Atwell gone. In fact, the only player who might truly run away from packs of defenders this year is running back Blake Corum. And yet that’s still the model the Rams carried to the No. 1 scoring offense last season, because that’s just what elite balance can do in a scheme like this.3. The offense does have one new and important element to it, and that’s a new coordinator. Mike LaFleur’s departure to the Arizona Cardinals cleared a lane for Nathan Scheelhaase to get a promotion from passing game coordinator, and it could be a short stint for him as one of the hot head-coaching candidates entering next year’s cycle.Scheelhaase is walking into a great infrastructure. He has McVay’s system and oversight. He has balance in the offense and versatility in the personnel. He has an MVP quarterback and two star receivers.But perhaps what helps a 35-year-old first-time coordinator most is that he has essentially two coaches on the field in Stafford and Adams. The Stafford piece goes without explanation, but perhaps equally as important is Adams because, unlike Stafford, he’s not on a pitch count and maintenance schedule. He’s the consistent rock right now.“He’s a guy that, second to none, cares about his craft and what it looks like to be the best receiver he possibly can be,” Scheelhaase said of Adams. “And you just see over the course of years why he’s been successful. Him coming out here on the first day of a training camp in 10-plus seasons in the league, he’s got the same mentality. He’s trying to figure out small ways to get better, things he can do with his releases, things he can do at the top of his breaks. That’s the type of guy you love being around as a coach.”4. It helps explain why the Rams ultimately did not pull the trigger on trading Adams for A.J. Brown this offseason. The idea was tantalizing, as Brown is the better player at this stage of their respective careers and could offer a cost-controlled No. 1 receiver in the event that the Rams don’t extend Nacua. But as they constantly preach right now, names on paper don’t win football games. It would have been messing with something that is far from broken — and the biggest effects might be in the steady, even-keeled way Adams has taken to a veteran No. 2 role.His story will be a fascinating one to document this season. He can feel the end closing in, but it’s the most unresolved of anyone’s story here. Adams is 0-5 in conference championship games. And so while every player hungers to hoist a Lombardi Trophy, Adams has a little more on the line with his attempt to win one. If he does so and is a major piece, that could be the final argument for the Hall of Fame.“I’ve given it some thought,” Adams said on retirement. “It wasn’t until the past couple of years where, for different reasons, that you start to think about when the end is going to come. Right now, I’m just enjoying it. I can’t tell you if it’s going to be after this year or after next year. I truly don’t know.”5. Nacua did have one fade route he couldn’t win because Trent McDuffie was in good position. The two-time All-Pro cornerback matched him stride-for-stride and beat him to a Stafford deep pass to knock it away.McDuffie will be at his best this season moving across a secondary that will try to live in dime personnel as often as possible. He’s most effective in the slot due to his mix of toughness, tackling, communication and instincts. But reps like that against the NFL’s reigning leader in receptions showcase why he’s such a critical addition. The Rams simply didn’t have anyone who could reliably do it from an outside cornerback spot last season, and it froze the creative juices they wanted to deploy in the playoffs.Two-time All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie is in his first training camp as a Los Angeles Ram. (Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)6. The most impressive play in Sunday’s practice was the diving interception Kam Kinchens made along the sideline off a tipped pass from Cam Lampkin. The ability to see the ball off the ricochet, track it into his arms while falling and stay inbounds shows why I had Kinchens as one of the Rams’ three biggest breakout candidates.Last season, Kinchens was left trying to play eraser at free safety with the mistakes in run defense and the coverage of the outside cornerbacks. That cut into his playing time, as the Rams had to lean on veterans like Quentin Lake and Kam Curl more, which also spoiled a bit of their own versatility and playmaking. Kinchens isn’t the kind of athlete who’s going to cover for someone else as well, but he can be impactful in making plays on the ball, as his four interceptions, forced fumble, fumble recovery and defensive touchdown as a rookie proved.7. Stafford’s maintenance schedule is going to serve two purposes. The obvious is to keep him fresh and ready for Week 1 in Melbourne against the San Francisco 49ers. The second is to open up reps for one of the Rams’ only position battles in camp — the backup spot behind him.With Jimmy Garoppolo gone, that’s fallen on Bennett and No. 13 overall pick Ty Simpson.Bennett is getting the first crack, which shows the lead he has in the playbook and scheme after spending the past three seasons here. He’s so far demonstrated a good command of the offense, but between offseason practices and the two training camp sessions so far, he’s also fallen victim to a couple of greedy mistakes.Simpson also showed solid command in the limited reps he got these first two days. He isn’t going downfield much, but the Rams are working on small steps with him, and he’s displaying some solid accuracy and decision-making.Not only is the risk present with Stafford’s back, but the expectations are so high and the schedule so challenging that the Rams can’t afford to take games off if their MVP does miss time.If Simpson isn’t able to rise to that level just yet, it isn’t an indictment on him long term, as he was a developmental pick by nature. But it could set up a situation where Garoppolo is a phone call away as an emergency option. The Rams viewed him as a starting-caliber quarterback these past two years, and though he doesn’t appear interested in going through a full training camp and backup routine, he did tell NFL Network he’s open to playing again in the right situation.8. It was interesting to ask Byron Young about his offseason and hear most about the knee injury he had to manage throughout it. It’s the same knee he hurt in the playoffs last season, which led him to wear an ice pack and sit out most of the later practices, and he just didn’t look like his normal speedy self in the NFC Championship Game. That, along with a lack of finishing from the rest of the pass rush, exposed the leak in the secondary and set up what this offseason was ultimately about for the Rams — finding weapons like McDuffie and Jaylen Watson and a true closer in the pass rush in two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.Young is healthy again, and he could be primed for a big season in a contract year. The ends opposite Garrett in Cleveland got to feast on one-on-one opportunities, which is what Jared Verse set Young up with last year for his 12-sack breakout. But if Aaron Donald returns — still an if, but a real if — Young could be the third pass rusher opponents plan for.That’s where the versatility of Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske, plus a step from Josaiah Stewart, would help. Young played 76 percent of the snaps for a second straight season last year, but dialing that back just a bit could pay dividends for the Rams’ Super Bowl push — and for his market value as a free agent at such a coveted position.