Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Postgame Press Conference – October 26, 2020

(Opening Remarks)
“Great job by our team to get the win tonight. I thought our defense was outstanding, from start to finish they did such a great job. Some key turnovers, some key fourth down stops. (OLB) Leonard Floyd came through in a big way against his former team. I thought offensively, we did enough early on in the game to get that lead. We were just really trying to get the clock, kind of just run out that game and make sure when you’re up 24-3, that we closed it out. But, some good, tough hard running. I was really pleased with the way that (TE) Johnny Mundt stepped up in a big way. Missing (TE) Tyler Higbee tonight is a huge loss for our football team, but Johnny Mundt stepped up, did a great job. (P) Johnny Hekker was outstanding tonight. Ultimately, the goal is to get to 5-2. We’ve got a short week getting ready for a good football team in Miami, so that’s where our focus will go right after this.”

(On how much Hekker was able to help out tonight)
“It was huge. I mean, five punts, all of them inside the 20 (yard line). He was able to flip the field – a long of 63 (yards). He was phenomenal tonight, exactly what we expect. We don’t ever take it for granted, but he came through, and I wasn’t surprised, but we’re definitely appreciative of the effort that he had tonight. It was a big-time deal.”

(On what the message and mindset of the team was going into tonight’s game, and why he thinks they were able to execute tonight)
“Yeah, I think it’s the players. The coaches did a great job getting them ready this week, but ultimately the players came out, they performed, and they were ready to go from the jump. I thought it was reflected with the urgency that we had in the week of practice. We jumped out to a lead, we were able to kind of control that. Defense was outstanding all night. They got stop after stop, big time turnovers, fourth down stops and turnovers in the red zone. (CB) Jalen (Ramsey) and (S) Taylor Rapp ended up coming up with interceptions, so you can’t say enough about their effort. The one touchdown they did give was on our offense. So, defense came through in a big way, and I was really pleased with our team’s overall effort. And then we have got to be a little bit better in those four-minute situations when we’re trying to run out the clock offensively. Those are things that I can’t wait to get corrected. But, when we were really just trying to move the football, I thought offensively we did a good job controlling the flow of the game.”

(On what pleased him the most about the defense tonight)
“It’s hard to say one thing. I think I was pleased with everything that they did. I thought they flew around. I thought we were great, really in every area of the game. They held them to three points. That was all that they got. We had some huge stops when they were down in the tight red area, so they just did a great job. I mean, to get us that short field, when we ended up getting them where they had the fourth-down-and-one, they were going to go for it, because of the tackle that Jalen makes on the sideline when we ended up challenging it. So, when you go back and look at the tape, I think there’s going to be a lot of things reflected in a great performance and now let’s see if we can do it again next week against the Dolphins.”

(On a video going around of S Taylor Rapp missing a high five from him)
“I would say I’ll blame myself on that. He did a great job making that. (CB) Troy Hill made the tip and then, I’ve got to be a better athlete, I guess then and go get him.”

(On if that was the type of performance he envisioned when bringing in Defensive Coordinator Brandon Staley)
“What would you say to that question, if you were answering it? The answers yes. It was great. I thought really our defensive staff as a whole, I thought they did a great job, Brandon called a great game, but they put together a great plan and then ultimately the players executed it. So, I thought there was urgency. I thought there was attention to detail throughout the whole week and then I thought it showed up on game day, which is the most important thing. So, really hats off to Brandon, our defensive players, our defensive coaches, so pleased for them and they did an outstanding job tonight.”

(On spreading the ball around on the offense and if he was happy with the overall performance of the offense)
“Yeah. It was painful in that last quarter, where you know you’re just running it and just trying to conserve clock, but it is about winning the football game. I thought up until that point, I thought we did a good job. The red-zone score that (TE) Gerald Everett had, I thought was big, being able to hit (WR) Josh Reynolds earlier in the game was a big deal, so overall was pleased with that. This is a great defense, wanted to try to minimize some of the opportunities for their elite guys to be able to rush and get home and they even found a way to still score defensively, but we knew what a great outfit they were. We knew how responsible they were for a lot of their wins that they had and the way that they got it done, wanted to minimize those chances and I thought those guys did a really good job executing the plan really through the first three quarters and then I’ve got to do a better job for us, but I think we’ve got to execute better in some of those four-minutes situation, even if it starts late in the third and early in the fourth quarter where you’re in the last 20 minutes of the game, kind of just trying to run the clock out and get away with a win.”

(On RB Malcolm Brown’s run near the goal line)
“Yeah, I thought that was reflective of just the entire unit, getting a great push. I thought it would be one of those games where Malcolm would show up in a big way and he ends up having 57 yards on 5.7 (yards) a carry. Great touchdown run and Malcolm has just consistently delivered when his number’s been called and was really pleased with him tonight.”