Klopfensteinn leading TE battle

[mutantseabass]

Rams TE Klopfenstein leading TE Byrd in position battle
Steve Korte
8/5/2006

Linehan said rookie Joe Klopfenstein is currently leading rookie Dominque Byrd in the battle for the starting tight end job.

"I think Joe's been the most consistent," Linehan said. "He's certainly what we were looking for. I think yesterday wasn't his best day, but he wasn't awful. We talked about it this morning. I just told him that you can't have those lulls, you've got to really work for consistency.

"Tight ends are blockers and receivers, but they're blockers first. I have no problem with Joe's ability to be a really good receiving tight end, and he's shown positive signs as a blocker. He just has to be consistent."