IRVINE — Matthew Stafford’s highlight throw of Day 4 of Rams training camp was a perfectly placed ball for Cooper Kupp to complete near the left sideline.

The play has become routine for Stafford and Kupp, but there’s nothing mundane about a deep throw in traffic that ends with a toe-tap grab. It’s routine because they have put countless hours into timing, ball placement, learning routes, watching film and many other areas that help build chemistry between a quarterback and receiver.

It took time to harmonize, but it was only a year ago when Stafford and Kupp made mistakes in training camp before delivering dynamic performance en route to a Super Bowl championship.

Stafford is now using that blueprint to create chemistry with newcomer wide receiver Allen Robinson, something that will take time to develop and won’t occur without mistakes in late July. Minutes after his dazzling throw to Kupp, Stafford underthrew Robinson on a jump ball in the left corner of the end zone that forced Robinson to climb over rookie Derion Kendrick before the ball hit the ground.

“It’s a great time to be able to do that,” Rams coach Sean McVay said Wednesday about Stafford’s misfire with Robinson, “because what a better time to have no real consequences if you’re saying, ‘Okay, maybe that wasn’t.’ Or if you find something out that you really like, and where does he like certain throws based on some of those isolation routes that we might activate with him. I think that’s the best part. I don’t get too upset about mistakes because these are the times to really test some of our rules.”

Reaching the type of chemistry that Stafford and Kupp built in a year’s span is rare, but the Rams strongly believe it can be replicated because Robinson has the skill set, and most importantly, the work ethic and the desire to improve.

“He’s not asking the questions about what he has,” Kupp said of Robinson. “It’s the questions of the minute, little details of a route. Yeah, he did it right, but he wants to know how he can do it just a little bit better. How can he do it versus every different look? What are the goals of this play? How does he – if you understand the goals and the intent behind a play, you’re able to, as a football player, kind of understand how you’re supposed to run the little nuances to that route. That to me is the biggest tell.”

Robinson, who turns 29 next month, doesn’t mind the underthrown ball in the middle of training camp. He took notice of what Stafford and Kupp built and that played a role in why he left the Chicago Bears as a free agent to sign with the Rams in March.

“He’s a guy who has a special trait of seeing the entire field,” Robinson said of Stafford. “Whenever you have a quarterback like that, as cliché as it may sound, always having all five eligibles alive on every play, truly makes the game come alive.

“When you look across the league, there’s not many teams that have that ability to where anybody on the field can get the ball any given play. As far as weaknesses and coverages and things like that, he’s able to get the ball to any place on the field.”

MORE PLAYS BY D.K.

Robinson had praise for Kendrick, who broke up two Stafford passes in the end zone that were intended for Robinson on Wednesday. The Rams’ 2022 sixth-round pick has made several plays during the first week of training camp.

“He’s a competitor,” Robinson said. “He’s good, he’s been playing hard. He’s a good competitor and that’s what you want as far as young guys, veterans, whoever. You want that competition in training camp. That’s what gets you ready for the season.”

Rookie CB Derion Kendrick is having an impressive practice with two pass breaks in the end zone versus Allen Robinson #Rams

— Gilbert Manzano (@GManzano24) July 27, 2022

FULLER MAKES PROGRESS

Safety Jordan Fuller saw action in team drills, marking another step in his return from an ankle injury that sidelined him during the Rams’ Super Bowl run.

“We’re being smart,” McVay said. “There’s a specific progression that we have in mind where you don’t want to just have him come out here and take every single repetition. It works itself out really nicely to be able to rotate those three guys when you’re talking about him, (Taylor) Rapp and Nick Scott.”

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The Rams are off Thursday, but return Friday for the first practice with pads and fans in attendance at UC Irvine.

“We don’t have the pads on yet,” McVay said. “That’s when you can really get a good feel for playing real 11-on-11, and that’s what we’re looking forward to doing when we get back. We’ll have the pads on the next time.”

AD at work #Rams pic.twitter.com/oM32EIyF2V

— Gilbert Manzano (@GManzano24) July 27, 2022

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