Fans in Southern California cheer Rams as they practice

Even Rams owner Stan Kroenke was spotted at the Cowboys’ training complex, which encompasses most of a hotel a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.

It was three hours before the St. Louis Rams made their way onto the field for the first of three days of practices, and already hundreds of nostalgic Los Angeles Rams fans had found spots in the bleachers.

If the Rams are headed back to Southern California, their long-suffering local fans are ready to welcome them home.

Rams owner, Stan Kroenke, in fact, has basically done everything within his power short of playing 2015 home games in Los Angeles to get the Rams back to California, 20 years removed. I wasn’t expecting to see that many people.

Inglewood Mayor James Butts echoed that sentiment as he watched from the media area – a tennis court where various radio shows set up shop for the practice under a collection of white tents.

“Actually the utilities and sewer connections have been dug (on the site)”, Butts said.

“The Rams are the team that most of us as children grew up with”, Butts said. That was part of our DNA growing up.

St. Louis Rams quarterback Nick Foles (5) stands on the sideline… “They’re a dang good front in St. Louis”.

Kroenke intends to break ground on an Inglewood stadium in December.

If nothing else, it will provide an interesting subplot to what we thought would be the highlight of this week’s joint practices: An epic battle between the NFL’s best offensive and defensive lines. We don’t want to be an alternative.

Owner Jerry Jones said Bryant wouldn’t return until after the second preseason game Sunday at San Francisco, and said Smith was unlikely to play against the 49ers as well.

As for the rare opportunity to work against another team in practice, that doesn’t matter much to coach Jason Garrett when it comes to minor injuries.

“You are very much welcome back”.

They came with renewed hope and optimism, buoyed by the tantalizing possibility that the very team that kicked them in the gut on the way out of town so many years ago might actually be on their way back to Los Angeles.

“What I do think is (the Rams) have such a traditional visibility and a traditional following here in Southern California”, Jones said. “We have to make sure all of these guys are at their best when the (season-opener and the) Giants roll around”.

“I’ve said this numerous times, we felt like our team was in a position needing some additional experience on the practice field (against another squad)”, Fisher said over the weekend, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.