MEQUON, Wis. (AP) -- St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger was the first to admit that things weren't going the offense's way during the first week of training camp, and he put the blame for those problems all on his shoulders.

The Rams spent most of the week struggling to adapt to a new system and establish some sort of rhythm.

"(It was) probably quarterback play, I know, we were a little rusty at first," Bulger said. "At least I was."

But when the first-team offense got the ball for the first time in Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage, those woes seemed to disappear in front of an estimated crowd of 2,000 at Century Stadium on the campus of Concordia University.

For the top offensive unit, the scrimmage was limited to mostly noncontact drills, and quarterbacks were off-limits. Still, Bulger and the offense were as sharp as they have been at any point so far during camp.

Bulger was on the field for a dozen snaps, most of them running plays. But when he got the opportunity to throw, he completed 5-of-7 passes for 43 yards.

Typically viewed as one of the league's most accurate passers, Bulger struggled in 2007 as he finished with 11 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

After St. Louis Al Saunders as offensive coordinator in the offseason, the new coach spent as much time with Bulger as possible to get him acclimated to the offense.

Bulger said he spent more time at the team's training facility this year than at any point in his career. And though the extra work gave him a better understanding of Saunders' playbook, it didn't necessarily translate to immediate success on the field.

"You start out a little bit slow, but I think we're back to picking our game speed up," Bulger said. "Our reads are quicker; we're starting to get the ball out quicker and that helps the whole offense get going."

The format for the scrimmage didn't allow for much in the way of scoring as the team worked on situations and gave the offense only six snaps per "possession."

The only touchdowns of the day came on a 10-yard touchdown pass from third-string quarterback Bruce Gradkowski to rookie receiver Keenan Burton and a 10-yard burst off right tackle by rookie running back Lance Ball.

Receiver Torry Holt, who played limited snaps in the scrimmage, said things have been coming together for the offense in the past few days.

"The more and more the (first-teamers) go in, including myself, and everybody can continue to go at the same time and on the same clip, play after play after play, I think we will continue to get better and better," Holt said. "But overall the last three or four days, you guys are right, we have been very efficient."

The Rams are off until a Sunday night meeting before resuming practice Monday. They travel to Nashville to scrimmage the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday.

"(We've) got a long ways to go yet, but I'm very encouraged by the approach to this morning, and now we're kind of into the preseason mode," coach Scott Linehan said. "We've got our first game coming up (and) we've got a really challenging week this week."

Notes: Running back Steven Jackson has missed nine days and 13 practices of training camp, bringing his fine total to $135,000. ... The Rams waived/injured linebacker Vince Hall (hamstring) and replaced him with linebacker Marcus Riley. Riley is the cousin of receivers coach Henry Ellard.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)