Got an empty nest? Feather it with these documents

• July 30, 2023

As summer wraps up and the kids head back to school or off to start their adult lives, many parents may be facing the proverbial “empty nest.”

For some, this is an exciting time. That bedroom now can be a library, an actual guest room or even a craft room!

For others, it’s a sad time. Your “babies” are grown, and your house feels empty. Or maybe it’s an ambivalent mix of both emotions.

Either way, have no fear; your work is not done. Now, you’ve got some legal documents to consider.

When your child turns 18

When your child turns 18, they are, for better or for worse, a legal adult. That means you no longer have the right to make decisions for them, nor can you obtain information about them from third parties (schools, hospitals, banks).

This can come as a shock to parents, especially in an emergency. There is a way to avoid this outcome by putting specific documents in place.

Healthcare directives

First, have your adult children fill out and execute an advance health care directive (also known as a health care power of attorney) and HIPAA form.

The AHCD allows someone to designate the person who will make healthcare decisions for them in the event they are unable to do so. They can also list an alternate in case their first choice is unavailable. The document also provides some guidance for the decisions they’d like made.

If your child lives in California, use the state’s statutory form (last updated in 2019). The form needs either two witnesses who are not named in the document (and at least one of whom is not related) or a notary. If your child lives in another state (temporarily — while attending school, for example — or permanently), consider using that state’s form.

A HIPAA form allows your adult child to designate third parties with whom medical personnel can communicate. Your adult child can list parents, friends, siblings, or others. Note that the authorization is for information and communication only—it does not give any decision-making powers (that’s what the healthcare directive is for). If your child is hospitalized in an emergency, you’ll be able to get the information you need with a HIPAA form.

Power of attorney

In addition to the health care directive, consider having your adult child sign a durable power of attorney authorizing you to make decisions and act on their behalf in the event of their incapacity or by their choice.

With a properly executed and activated power of attorney, you’ll be able to access bank accounts, pay bills, and handle insurance claims and legal matters, among other things on behalf of your adult child. The power of attorney does not take any rights away from your adult child; it merely allows you to act on their behalf as well. If your adult child travels out of the country for any extended time, this may be particularly useful.

Review documents

When children grow up and leave the home, it’s a good idea for you to review your own estate planning documents.

We often see clients who dutifully executed wills, a trust, powers of attorney, health care directives and nomination of guardians for minor children when their children were young and then never looked at those documents again. Estate planning documents are not “one and done.”

They need to be reviewed as laws and life changes. Children growing up and leaving the nest is one of those changes that should motivate you to review your documents.

Did you name other people (your own parents, perhaps) as successor trustees of your trust or power of attorney for you? Does that still make sense? Are your own children now old enough (and responsible enough!) to name instead?

What does your trust provide for your children?

You may have implemented a trust when your children were young, and your net worth was less. At the time, it may have made sense to provide that in the event of your death, the child or children get their inheritance outright when they’re eighteen or twenty-one.

Now that the kids are that age and your net worth is larger, does this still make sense (the answer is likely no!)? Perhaps the reverse is true—you left the inheritance in trust until the child turned thirty-five or even forty. Now that you see how your child turned out, does this still make sense? Have you loaned one child money that you expect to be paid back? If so, does your estate plan deal with that?

If you haven’t updated your own estate planning documents since your children were young, let the empty nest serve as a reminder that time has passed, and things have changed. While you’re dusting out their bedroom, dust off those legal documents as well.

The baby birds may have flown the coop, but you’ve still got to feather their nest—this time, it’s with legal documents. Every adult—kids over eighteen, mom, and dad—should have an Advance Health Care Directive, HIPAA form, and durable power of attorney in place.

An adult with assets of any kind should have a will and likely a trust. Those documents should all be reviewed and updated on a regular basis–and hey, now you’ve got that empty room to use as an office in which you can review and organize paperwork.

Teresa J. Rhyne is an attorney practicing in estate planning and trust administration in Riverside and Paso Robles, CA. She is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of “The Dog Lived (and So Will I)” and “Poppy in The Wild.”  Reach her via email at [email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

Rich Archbold: Long Beach Pride parade, festival –and the P-T — have come a long way

• July 30, 2023

More than 100,000 people have gathered in Long Beach in recent years to celebrate Pride with a weekend parade and festival, and a similar number is expected next week.

That makes Pride one of the largest events in the city, second only to the three-day Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

But it hasn’t always been that way.

When the founders of the Long Beach Pride nonprofit, which is now 40 years old, proposed throwing a parade and festival in 1984, public officials and residents resisted — often with open hostility.

Vanessa Romain, a longtime LGBTQ community leader, said a man with a loudspeaker would drive by her house in a small truck, yelling, “Vanessa, you’re going to die.”

One member of the City Council member used rude language to express his opposition to the LGBTQ celebration.

Before the second-annual event in 1985, Judi Doyle, one of Long Beach Pride’s founders, received a death threat and was asked by public officials to wear a bulletproof vest if she marched in the parade. Doyle, then president of the organization, said the threat was chilling.

She donned a bulletproof vest — but no bullets were fired.

Some people, though, threw eggs at parade participants, she said.

After the first parade, religious fundamentalists routinely attended City Council meetings to oppose the parade and festival.

There were demands to make gay/lesbian leaders pay for police supervision and other city services during theevent. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of the organizers, saying that the same services had been provided at less or no cost to promoters of other events. The ACLU won its case in court.

During those early years, meanwhile, the Press-Telegram was also hearing from readers who were unhappy with our coverage of the parade and LGBTQ issues in general.

I was managing editor at the time. Larry Allison was executive editor.

Together, and with the staff, we had discussions about covering the LGBTQ community and how it had to be fair and as complete as possible.

We also wanted to refrain from photos showing participants dressed in too-revealing attire, being a family newspaper and all. There was, however, a bit of disagreement on this with some editors, who felt that since this was a public parade, we should show whatever was going on — no matter what.

Three years earlier, in 1981, we produced an in-depth, special report on the gay community in Long Beach. Written and researched by reporter Candy Cooper over a four-month period, her stories talked about how the gay community was growing in numbers and influence in Long Beach and was “beginning to change the fabric of this city.”

But the report also said that a large percentage of the gay population was still “largely closeted and quite discreet.”

In that series of stories, gay and lesbian people talked about harassment from police, who denied the accusations. Some police officers even denied that there was a gay community in Long Beach then.

Other gay issues and voting blocs were also discussed. Some politicians said they didn’t know whether gay support was an asset or a liability.

Cooper’s reporting also dealt with gay and lesbian lifestyles being as diverse as the community at large.

Our coverage of the first parade in 1984 consisted of a main story and two photos on the front page of our then Local News section. The headlines read: “Gay Pride event — a first for LB; Organizers call it ‘historic.’”

One photo showed marchers displaying posters of famous Americans who were considered gay. The other showed gay fathers forming a marching contingent. Participants marched down Ocean Boulevard in a parade that lasted about 30 minutes, with most of the 2,500 or so lining the parade route during a drizzle, cheering marchers as they paraded by.

A man bearing a Bible taunted parade watchers with the admonition, “God hates homosexuals.”

The story ended with Judi Doyle telling people entering the festival grounds to hold on to the other half of their torn ticket.

“This is history,” she said.

Our coverage of the second parade in 1985 consisted of a main story with two photos, again on the front of the Local News section but with a teaser box on Page 1 referring readers to the story inside.

The headline read: “Pride, prejudice displayed at parade.” The photos showed pom-pom boys leading the Great American Yankees Freedom Band, and another showed two men on a motorcycle, one of them bare-chested.

The second parade drew an estimated 5,000 spectators, and anticipated confrontations between pro- and anti-gay factions didn’t materialize. At one intersection, marchers were put to the test by a group of angry, placard-wielding protesters, with one banner reading, “Perverts on Parade, What next?”

One parade participant told foes of the activities: “We aren’t here to confront anyone. We’re just here to stand up and say, ‘we’re Christians. We’re just human beings like you. And we’re proud of ourselves.’”

The third parade in 1986, was the one that made the front page.

The headline read: “7,000 line route of march to cheer Gay Pride Parade.” The main photo showed “Emperor Boom Boom,” a fabulously dressed man with an entourage and balloons. A second photo showed spectators on an Ocean Boulevard balcony razzing anti-gay demonstrators.

Despite what we thought was fair and thoughtful coverage in those first three years, we still offended some readers. More than 200, in fact, were so offended that they canceled their subscriptions.

Some members of the gay and lesbian community were offended, too — but for different reasons. They complained to us that our coverage was one dimensional and didn’t get at the real issues facing them. They also said we were not portraying them as real people with feelings, hopes and dreams like everyone else.

Our daily coverage started to change.

We did more stories on issues affecting the LGBTQ community. We did human interest stories more often and not just in special reports. In 2003, the Press-Telegram had a story on that year’s Pride festival with the headline, “Gay Pride Parade Has Come a Long Way.”

I thought then that the headline could just as easily have read, “Press-Telegram Comes a Long Way.”

​ Orange County Register 

UFC 291: Gaethje knocks out Poirier in second round to win lightweight bout

• July 30, 2023

By JOHN COON Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — Justin Gaethje knocked out Dustin Poirier with a head kick one minute into the second round to win the main event lightweight bout at UFC 291 on Saturday night.

The third-ranked Gaethje (26-4) celebrated his victory by climbing to the top of the Octagon fence and doing a backflip off it. His perfectly timed headshot helped him avenge a loss to Poirier in 2018 when he suffered a fourth-round technical knockout via strikes.

It was Gaethje’s 20th win by knockout or TKO and his seventh victory in his last nine fights.

Second-ranked Poirier (29-8) entered the rematch between the two former interim lightweight champions as a minus-152 favorite according to FanDuel. He matched Gaethje blow for blow in the first round before being quickly dispatched in the second. With the victory, Gaethje claimed a BMF belt – the second UFC fighter to be awarded that belt.

Beating Poirier opens the door for Gaethje to have a potential title bout against the winner of Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira, who are set to square off at UFC 294 in October.

Gaethje’s BMF win over Poirier headlined five main card bouts.

Alex Pereira defeated Jan Blachowicz by split decision in a light heavyweight bout billed as the co-main event for his eighth win in his last nine fights.

Pereira (8-2), ranked second as a middleweight, made his debut in the light heavyweight division at UFC 291 after losing the middleweight title belt via knockout to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 in April. Blachowicz (29-10-1) did not make the transition in weight class a smooth one for the former champion.

Derrick Lewis earned a record 14th knockout win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima just 33 seconds into the first round of the heavyweight bout. The No.10-ranked Lewis (27-11) scored an immediate takedown with a flying knee and pummeled 15th-ranked Rogerio de Lima (21-10-1) with repeated punches to score the early finish. He celebrated snapping a three-fight slide by stripping off his shorts and dancing around the Octagon.

Bobby Green beat Tony Ferguson by submission via choke with six seconds left in the third round of the lightweight bout. Green (30-14-1) dominated the final two rounds to earn his second career submission, scoring takedowns in both rounds while raining repeated blows that left his opponent battered. He denied Ferguson (26-9) a shot at earning his first UFC victory since 2019, sending the 39-year-old fighter home with his sixth straight loss.

Kevin Holland made quick work of Michael Chisea to win the welterweight bout. Holland (25-9) beat the 12th-ranked Chisea — fighting for the first time following a two-year hiatus — by submission at 2:39 in the first round. He used his length and striking abilities to trap Chisea (18-7) in a D’arce choke, forcing a quick tap out.

Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, Jazz coach Will Hardy, and former Jazz stars Deron Williams and Karl Malone were among those in attendance at the second UFC pay-per-view event in 11 months in the Beehive State.

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Terence Crawford unifies welterweight division with TKO in dominant win over Errol Spence

• July 30, 2023

By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer

LAS VEGAS — Terence Crawford knocked down Errol Spence Jr. three times Saturday night before finally ending the fight at 2:32 of the ninth round on a technical knockout to cement himself as one of the greatest welterweights in history.

The fight, the most-anticipated boxing match in several years, unified the division for the first time in the four-belt era that began in 2004.

Crawford (40-0, 31 knockouts) already owned the WBO belt, and took the WBC, WBA and IBF titles from Spence (28-1). Crawford also ran his KO streak to 11 matches, the second-longest active stretch.

Crawford, 35, has won titles in super lightweight and lightweight in addition to welterweight, capturing the latter after moving up in 2018. The Omaha, Nebraska, fighter became the first male boxer to become the undisputed champion in two divisions.

A big fight night on the Strip still brings out the stars, with recording artists Cardi B and Andre 3000 of Outkast, actor and Las Vegas resident Mark Walhberg, NBA star Damian Lillard and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at T-Mobile Arena. They were among the celebrities that also included former boxing champions such as Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

Eminem introduced Crawford and his song “Lose Yourself” played as he walked into the ring.

Spence was the aggressor early on, but Crawford sent him to the floor with a right hand with 20 seconds left in the second round. Then Crawford went after Spence, but time ran out before he could finish him off.

Crawford, a minus-154 favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, then took control of the fight, landing several major blows, often on counters. But Crawford also picked his spots to go after Spence, his punching power taking a heavy toll.

In the seventh round, Crawford knocked down Spence twice — with a short right at 1:02 and with another right with just a second left.

The 33-year-old Spence who lives in DeSoto, Texas, won the IBF title in 2017, claimed the WBC championship in 2019 and took the WBA championship last year.

In the co-main event, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (25-2-1) of Mexico beat Chicago resident Giovanni Cabrera (21-1) by split decision in a WBC and WBA lightweight match. Judges Benoit Roussel (114-113) and Don Trella (115-112) scored the fight in favor of Cruz, and Glenn Feldman gave Cabrera the fight by a 114-113 score. Cruz had a point deducted because of a head butt.

Also, Alexandro Santiago (28-3-5) of Mexico won the vacant WBC bantamweight title with a 115-113, 116-112, 116-12 decision over Nonito Donaire (42-8), who lives in Las Vegas.

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Angel City FC rookie goalkeeper Angelina Anderson helps lead way to Challenge Cup win

• July 30, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Angelina Anderson made her Angel City Football Club debut Saturday and it ended up being a winning one.

Anderson, who was a third-round draft pick out of Cal in the NWSL Draft, came up with her best two saves late in the second half to preserve Angel City’s 2-1 NWSL Challenge Cup win in front of 13,154 at BMO Stadium.

First, she saved an Olivia Moultrie penalty kick in the 84th minute and one minute later, she came with a one-handed save on another shot by Moultrie that was headed toward the near post.

“Saving the PK was obviously awesome, Anderson said. “It was one of those moments I was locked in and in the zone.”

Anderson said she was told she was starting two days ago. She is the third goalkeeper behind starter DiDi Haračić and Brittany Isenhour.

“I had to change my mindset about what it would really look like and feel like to play in a game,” she said. “I personally do a lot of visualization, getting in my own head space and that really helped me out for this game.”

Even as she came out for warmups, Anderson said it still didn’t feel real.

“I was still kind of shocked,” she said. “I was overjoyed to be out there …surreal is the world I would use.

“My defense came up big time tonight. Their positioning on the field makes it really predictable sometimes for me to make a big save. That was major and helped me out.”

Angel City had to endure a 10 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the 90 minutes before finally celebrating. The win moves Angel City into second place in the West Division standings with seven points. Angel City also improves its unbeaten streak under interim coach Becki Tweed to six consecutive games.

This was the third meeting of the season between the teams and the second and last in the Challenge Cup. The first match (April 29) ended in a 3-3 draw. Portland won the first Challenge Cup contest 3-2 (May 31).

McCaskill provided the winning goal on a free kick in the 47th minute.

“I made it a goal of mind to put myself in situations to score more goals,” McCaskill said. “At the end of the day, I just want to help us win.”

Angel City opened the scoring in the ninth minute as McCaskill headed in a cross from Jasmyne Spencer.

Portland’s Morgan Weaver scored the equalizer in the 44th minute with a piece of individual excellence, curling a shot from 20 yards out by the outstretched arms of Anderson.

Angel City will wrap up Challenge Cup play next Saturday on the road at San Diego Wave FC.

Tweed credited goalkeeping coach Dan Ball for his work with Anderson.

“When we drafted her, we knew she was an incredible talent,” Tweed said. “We thought she needed to be in a professional environment. Credit to Dan Ball for his work with all three of our goalkeepers.

“Giving her the first minutes of her professional career was a choice we had to make because as a goalkeeper you get to the stage where you have to know if she’s ready or not.”

​ Orange County Register 

Max Muncy’s two home runs lift Dodgers to victory

• July 30, 2023

LOS ANGELES ― The Dodgers mustered only two hits against a pitcher who awoke Saturday with an ERA above 7.00. They failed to collect a hit with a runner in scoring position because they never had a runner in scoring position to begin with.

The Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds anyway, 3-2. Their two hits added up to 771 feet of home runs for Max Muncy – a two-run shot in the first inning and a go-ahead solo shot in the sixth, the only hits allowed by right-hander Luke Weaver.

Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan threw five scoreless innings himself, but the game nearly turned in the sixth. The Reds rallied for a pair of runs against reliever Caleb Ferguson, tying the score at 2-all.

Joe Kelly, in his first appearance since the Dodgers acquired him a day earlier from the Chicago White Sox, halted the rally in its tracks when he struck out Will Benson to end the inning.

Then in the bottom of the sixth, Muncy swung away at a 3-and-0 pitch and hit his second two-out home run of the game into the Reds’ bullpen, giving the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips divvied up the final three innings without allowing a run, and the victory was secure.

The win allowed the Dodgers (59-44) to maintain their three-game lead on the second-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West.

“Max is a big cog in what we’re trying to do, and it was pretty much Max Muncy and Emmet versus the Reds tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We couldn’t figure out Weaver, clearly, but we scored enough runs to win a ball game.”

Muncy’s fifth multi-homer game of 2023 gave him 27 home runs for the season, matching Mookie Betts for the team lead and giving him more homers than all but four major league hitters.

David Peralta was a late addition to the lineup replacing Mookie Betts, who has a sore right foot. He began the first inning by reaching on a fielding error by Reds third baseman Spencer Steer, then was forced out at second after a ground ball by Freddie Freeman.

With two outs in the inning, Muncy blasted a 400-foot homer halfway up the bleachers in right-center field to give the Dodgers a quick 2-0 lead.

Sheehan appeared determined to make that lead hold up. The rookie twirled five shutout innings in what might have been his final major league start of 2023. With the Dodgers set to welcome Lance Lynn to their starting rotation Tuesday or Wednesday, and welcome back Clayton Kershaw a short time after that, the 23-year-old rookie figures to continue his development in the minor leagues after Tuesday’s trade deadline.

Saturday’s start was not Sheehan’s best, but only because he threw six no-hit innings against the Giants in his major league debut. Sheehan looked progressively more hittable in each of his next five starts. In his sixth major league start, the Texas Rangers erupted for eight runs against Sheehan last weekend in Arlington.

Sheehan’s fastball was consistently registering 94-95 mph on the radar gun in that game, but he was up to 98 mph for the first inning Saturday. He began the night by striking out rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz on three pitches and allowed only three baserunners (two hits, one walk) while facing the Reds two times through the batting order.

After his disastrous outing in Texas, Sheehan made some adjustments to his delivery. More than that, he said, his mental approach made the difference against Cincinnati.

“Just being on the attack and trusting my stuff in the zone,” he explained. “I think before I was a little on the defensive and that’s not the way I like to pitch.”

Sheehan lowered his ERA to 5.77 but ended his seven-start debut on a high note.

“He’s not a finished product,” Roberts said of Sheehan. “He would be the first to say that. He was thrust into this position because of injuries, and his performance, to his credit. To go from Double-A to here, there’s a lot of things – game management, sequencing, third time through (the batting order), better hitters – all this stuff that we’ve had to throw him into the fire. Overall it’s been a really good thing.”

The Reds had a much easier time with Ferguson than with Sheehan. De La Cruz roped a double to center field to begin the sixth inning. TJ Freidl legged out a weakly hit infield single, sending De La Cruz to third. Ferguson struck out Jake Fraley, but pinch hitter Kevin Newman lofted a fly ball to right field.

Jason Heyward caught the ball with his momentum carrying him toward home plate, but his throw airmailed the cutoff man and the Dodgers’ catcher, Will Smith. That allowed Freidl to tag up and go to second base. When the next batter, Steer, singled to center field, Freidl was able to score easily. The score was tied 2-2.

Ferguson walked Joey Votto before Roberts called on Kelly to put out the fire. After jogging out to a thunderous ovation from the announced crowd of 51,015, the former Dodger (2019-21) walked Christian Encarnacion-Strand to load the bases.

Kelly got behind Benson 1-and-0 before throwing three consecutive strikes – the last two a pair of fastballs at 100 and 99 mph, respectively – to notch the strikeout.

“The crowd, it was awesome,” Kelly said. “It helped with the four hours of sleep I got last night. I was a little bit groggy, but when it comes time to pitch it’s always an adrenaline rush.”

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Del Mar horse racing consensus picks Sunday, July 30, 2023

• July 30, 2023

The consensus box of Del Mar horse racing picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Art Wilson, Terry Turrell and Eddie Wilson. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Sunday, July 30, 2023.

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Rams’ defense finding new energy, leaders from youth movement

• July 30, 2023

IRVINE — It started first as a trickle, with linebacker and captain Bobby Wagner agreeing with the Rams to part ways. It picked up steam when the Rams began taking phone calls on cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Then it turned to a flood as Leonard Floyd, Troy Hill, Nick Scott, Taylor Rapp and A’Shawn Robinson departed Los Angeles.

By the time it was done, the veteran Rams defense was all but gone, taking with them 49 years of NFL experience. In their place, as the Rams began training camp this week, were 19 rookies and four second-year players competing for playing time and roster spots.

“It’s different, man. I ain’t gonna lie, it’s really different,” three-time defensive player of the year Aaron Donald said. “You miss them guys definitely when you had so much success with them and you been working with them so long. But now obviously is a new chapter.”

This new chapter has had a certain youthful exuberance to it through the first four days of camp.

Any pass break up of a pass intended for star receiver Cooper Kupp leads to the defense pouring off the sidelines onto the field in celebration. An interception by rookie safety Rashad Torrence led to his unit following him down the field into the opposite end zone. The defense fell to its knees after corner Timarcus Davis dropped an interception.

“We’re just a young energetic group, man,” linebacker Ernest Jones said. “We all care about each other and we’re excited to prove a lot of people wrong and go out there and be dominant like we know we can be.”

“These young guys bring a lot of juice,” Kupp added. “I don’t know a bunch of their references, but they bring some juice.”

If energy is not an issue, then the question becomes, what happens to this defense when it encounters its first level of adversity?

Whether that be in the form of a preseason or regular season game or an injury to an expected contributor, how do these young Rams weather the storm? Who steps up to provide some level of comfort when eyes go wide or coverages get broken?

That will be one the challenges the Rams face this year, finding leaders in a group that is largely trying to find its way in the league. Players in their fourth seasons, like safety Jordan Fuller and outside linebacker Michael Hoecht, or their third, like linebacker Ernest Jones, will have to fill roles vacated by the likes of Wagner and Ramsey.

“I think a lot of those guys do have natural leadership traits and characteristics,” head coach Sean McVay said. “You’re not going to replace a Jalen Ramsey and what a special player that he was for us. Nobody’s going to be Bobby Wagner. But I want them to be the best versions of themself, and if they do that, I am confident that good things can happen.”

Jones has the most responsibility fall onto shoulders just by the nature of his position. As middle linebacker, he receives play calls from defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and relays them to his teammates.

He’s also the only one of the Rams’ seven leading tacklers from a year ago still with the team.

Jones has lofty ambitions for this season, stating that he wants to make himself into “a household name”. But he’s also staying active during his rest periods at practice, calling out encouragement and dapping teammates up during specials team drills.

He says he took aspects of former teammates’ leadership, but is trying not to stray too far away from his own methods.

“These are my brothers, once you’re on this team, I love you and I care about you like I care about myself and always get the job done. That attracts people, I’ve always kind of had that trait or whatnot,” Jones said. “So just having fun around the guys, having fun with them, making sure they’re never too down on themselves.”

“Ernest is a real leader,” Cobie Durant said. “He sets the tone.”

Durant will have a lot thrust on him during his third season. With the departure of Ramsey, the cornerback is moving inside to the star cornerback role.

The position requires that he move around to either side of the field, and he will try to take what Ramsey taught him about communicating to help his teammates settle in prior to the snap.

“When I’m communicating in the change of the strength, star right, star left, go ahead and saying that early on and letting everybody else know where I’m lining up at because it kind of runs through me,” Durant said. “I don’t think it’s no pressure. Football is football at the end of the day. I learned a lot from him, I learned a lot from Troy. Attacking it every day.”

Some position groups find themselves without a player on their second NFL contract. The outside linebackers room has a total of eight years of pro experience across seven players.

But Hoecht, the old man of that unit entering his fourth year, says the group has seen that as an opportunity.

“We all have a lot of ownership over it,” Hoecht said. “We’re all really young, this is [OLBs coach Joe Coniglio’s] first year. There’s not a ton of experience there so we get to make the room exactly how we want it, we get to set the culture, do the things we want to do.”

The lack of experience has led to some dour media projections about the Rams’ defense, ones that Ramsey is sure to send teasing texts to Morris about.

But Morris tries to keep his unit insulated from such press, and he is trying to simplify the verbiage of his defense to allow younger players to thrive. But as a challenge, it’s one that Morris is embracing.

“It’s so funny that I’m becoming this old coach that’s got to be this nice soul in the classroom when I’m talking to them that it’s a formidable way to go about your day. I really enjoy those moments,” Morris, 46, said. “But that energy is what you really love. I enjoy it just so much because I get a chance to watch the guys go out there and have fun.”

Michel to retire

Running back Sony Michel met with McVay on Saturday to inform him of his decision to retire following a five-year career.

Michel, 28, was a member of the Rams’ 2021 Super Bowl team and rejoined the team this training camp after spending 2022 with the Chargers.

“I thought he was a hugely instrumental piece for our Super Bowl team a couple years ago. The epitome of a pro and a great competitor,” McVay said. “His body’s feeling like it’s talking to him and I have nothing but respect and appreciation for the competitor that he is.”

McVay said the Rams will look to add one or two players to the running back room, currently headlined by fourth-year back Cam Akers and complemented by Kyren Williams and Zach Evans. The coach said he wasn’t sure if the Rams would opt for a veteran complement for the group.

Briefly

Cornerback Akhello Witherspoon will be limited moving forward in camp as he adjusts to a cast after having surgery to insert two pins into an injured thumb. Tight end Davis Allen injured his hamstring and McVay said the team will be cautious about returning the rookie to practice.

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