Head Coach Sean McVay – Postgame Press Conference – December 6, 2020

(Opening statement)
“Great job today by the team. Loved the way the defense played. They continue to do an excellent job. I think some of those points are not reflective of the way they played. There was really the one little miss-coverage that we had early on but then they settled in and they made it really difficult on them, which we know is an explosive offense. Offensively, was really pleased with Jared (Goff) today. He did exactly what we expected him to do. Took great care of the football, distributed, got a lot of guys involved, we were efficient on third-down. It’s tough-sledding running the football, but we did end up getting enough and making them commit to that. Darrell Henderson (had the long touchdown run. Got to clean some things up on special teams, clearly. Don’t have much time to enjoy this. I kind of peaked up and saw the score so the Patriots must have been unbelievable against the Chargers today. That’s going to be a great challenge. I’m excited to be able to move on to them as soon as I get done talking about this one.”

(On how QB Jared Goff responded after his turnovers last week, the team’s response to the special teams turnover today and the long third-down completion late in the game)
“That was huge. That was a big play right there. I thought Jared did a great job all day getting us in and out of some of the right things that we wanted to. We knew they were a really aggressive defense where there was a lot of pressures and you can really have some bad plays if you’re not careful. He did an outstanding job managing, making plays. I thought he did a great job in our keeper game, got some screens off. The third-down-and-one screen that he got off to Cam Akers was outstanding because he got strung out a little bit. But that response was big. We didn’t really start out, we called a stupid screen to Gerald (Everett), we lost yardage. To get that 22 yards to Gerald Everett on the third-and-long we went fast, he (Goff) did a great job of recognizing it, finding Gerald underneath on a high-low concept to the boundary and that was really the big deal to be able to get points. And then Darrell (Henderson) obviously was able to finish that drive with the long touchdown run. Jared was great all day. I thought he had great command, great composure, I thought the offensive line did an outstanding job keeping him clean. Anytime that you’re able to play like that with the quarterback position you’re usually going to be pretty efficient offensively, but it is a reflection of the other 10 as well.”

(On RB Cam Akers’ play today)
“I thought he had some really tough, hard-earned yards. You’re looking at it, he had 18 carries for around 65 yards, and that was really not including the two minutes. He had probably about 80 but they were really tough, hard-earned yards. I think you’re seeing a really physical player that’s got explosion. This guy is going to only get better and you can see why we were so excited about him. I think this guy’s got a really bright future. I think Thomas Brown is doing a great job. I thought Darrell (Henderson) did a nice job. And then a big third-down conversion to Malcolm Brown for about 30 yards catching a check-down when they kind of dropped him in coverage. So all three of those backs did a great job contributing today and I’ve been very pleased with them.”

(On if the team is setting up training tables in the Arizona locker rooms like a normal Thursday schedule during the week)
“No, we’re not going to be able to do that so we can get back. We’ll have to modify the way that we were able to do it because really all of our Thursday night games kind of coincided with a home game in previous years. So unless we want to wait three hours to get home – which I think everybody would be pretty pissed at me. So we’ll start that treatment, we’ll have the availability to get that done a little bit later on. If they are trying to do it I’ll definitely nix that.”

(On how important it was for QB Jared Goff’s confidence not turning over the ball)
“I think it was important for our team to come back and find a way to get our eighth win. I really wasn’t worried about Jared. This guy’s responded from different adversities, if you go back to just looking at the trajectory of his career at Cal. The one thing I wasn’t worried about was him being overwhelmed by having a tough outing and then being able to respond. That was the least of my concern. I was mostly – not concerned – but I was mostly excited to see the response from this football team and they did exactly what I would have hoped and what I expect based on the caliber of players and the character in that football locker room that I’m going to get back to soon. We know we got a great challenge. I can’t wait to put this film on to see how well the Patriots played against the Chargers. I know the Chargers have been playing everybody really well, they’re tough in all three phases and for the Patriots to do what they did we know it’s time to get ready for them right away.”

(On how he feels about the team heading into the final stretch of the season being first in the division)
“That means absolutely nothing because we’ve got four games left. What happened today means nothing. We have four games left, it’s great to be able to see that but if you don’t handle your business this Thursday and then the following games after that it’s all for nothing. Unless you can tell me that they’re going to end the season with four games to go, we don’t really care. I’m interested in playing really well on Thursday night now.”