Head Coach Sean McVay – Postgame Press Conference

(opening comments)
“First of all, congratulations to the Packers. That’s a great football team. Coach LaFleur did a great job of having those guys ready to go in all three phases. You can see why they were the one seed. But there’s never a good way to have feelings right now when there’s such finality to it and you’re not expecting it. Love this football team. I love the scars that we were able to respond from. There was a lot of ebbs and flows this year. The men in that locker room, I’ve very appreciative of. The thing about the NFL is that change is inevitable, year in and year out. But I’ve very grateful for the experiences and the opportunity to work with such a great group of coaches and players. You know, I think when you reflect on the game, a lot of back and forth, a lot of great plays really on both sides. The thing that I go back to that’s kind of stinging me right now is when we got it to 25 to18, you cut it to a one possession game. Our defense got two stops and we had some opportunities offensively to really, kind of sustain drives, get some momentum going. And on a couple plays, the margin of error is just so slim against an excellent football team like that. And I really thought that was going to be our chance to get back and potentially go drive and score and tie the football game up. And you never know what happens from there. But really impressive team. Congratulations to them as they move forward. And love our football team. These are never easy moments.”

(on Aaron Donald playing so few snaps and if this was injury related)
“I mean, they do a good job of changing up their tempo, their personnel. We had some different subs going. You know, Aaron is able to sub himself. We’ll have to really see but he was going to do everything in his power to be out there with his teammates. This guy’s the epitome of a warrior. I love him. You know, the plan going in was seeing how he feels. He’s kind of always got that ability to tell us how he’s feeling. So, as far as the exact snap counts, there’s a lot of things going on during the course of the game that we have to be in tune with.”

(on Aaron Donald being emotional on the sideline and what impact his injury has on the defense)
“It has an effect. You know, Aaron cares so much about this team. He’s such a great competitor. What he also understands is how difficult it is to even put yourself in position to be one of the final eight teams. That’s the thing that you talk to the team about, is that, don’t take this for granted. Let this fuel you; let this drive you. But understand you still have to start over. And you don’t just show up in the playoffs and get a chance to win. Or show up in the Divisional Round. It’s very difficult. I think Aaron knows that. We’ve been able to go to the playoffs three of the last four years. But you don’t minimize it. And that perspective is something you cherish. I love Aaron Donald. It means a lot to him. And it’s unfortunate that he wasn’t at full strength today, but I just think the accountability, the ownership that he has, the expectations and the standards. He wants to be able to really make a big difference week in and week out. I think in some instances he felt like, with the way that he feels like he can contribute, that’s where I think he was upset. But I love him. And very thankful to work with players like him.”

(on what he saw from Jared Goff today)
“Thought Jared did a nice job. I thought there was a couple opportunities where he got us into a rhythm. I really liked the sequence, where we got the first scoring drive, where he made some plays in the empty formation and ended up progressing, hitting Josh Reynolds. He hit Robert Woods on a seam. I thought he saw the field really well. I loved the tight window throw to Van Jefferson for the touchdown. Those two sequences, where we got it to a one possession game, is where, you know, I’ll go back…we had a drop that was a big drop on a play we had a chance to get ourselves to third and manageable. And then the screen was a stupid call where [Packers cornerback Jaire] Alexander did a nice job making a play and you get yourself in negative yardage. So, I thought Jared did a good job. I thought he saw the field well. I thought he was good and efficient with his decisions. You know, they did a good job rushing. We ended having four sacks; they got four sacks on us but overall I thought he did a nice today.”

(on what gave him the confidence to keep using the wildcat formation)
“Well, I think the more you can have the ball in Cam Akers’ hands, we’re in a good position. One, we were kind of looking for an opportunity to maybe throw it to Jared [Goff], and then we came back to him, and what an outstanding touchdown run that he had from about seven yards out. This guy’s going to be a big-time player. He got more and more confidence as the season went. I have tremendous confidence in him, and I think [running backs coach] Thomas Brown did such a great job being able to help him continue to mature throughout the season, and I think this guy has an unbelievably bright future.”

(on if it was just a bad day for the LA defense or if Aaron Rodgers was too much for them)
“I think there were some broken plays. I think you saw they’re a really good offense. And I think the thing that’s such a winning edge for them is the ability to get in the offset gun even under the center, and Aaron [Rodgers] has such great command. The game sometimes feels like it’s in slow motion with him. They’re physical up front. They’ve got [Jamaal] Williams, and [Aaron] Jones did an excellent job of churning out tough yards. But then you get some isolations outside or you get a favorable box count or something that you like where you get, you’re just whipping it out and it’s like he’s throwing darts. He gets the ball out on the perimeter, whether it’s Davante [Adams] or some of their other skilled playmakers, they’re getting good yards and those end up being extensions of the run game. That guy [Aaron Rodgers] has such great command. We talked about it all week, and in the first drive he catches us in a substitution and ends up getting a big play down the field. When you watch, if you said you knew nothing about football, and you said, ‘What does it look like to feel like the game is in slow motion and you’re just so in command and under control?’ That’s what it looks like when you watch this guy play. And you don’t have to be anybody who really knows what’s going on. He’s in total command right now. He’s playing at an unbelievably high level, and really, there was a couple drops that he had that could’ve been some big plays, as well in that first half that we were kind of fortunate with. But this defense has carried us the whole way. Our defense has been the strength of this team. I love this defense. I couldn’t be more proud of the consistency of which they operated with. That’s why I think I’m so sick is because it was an opportunity where we got into a one possession game. They got the two stops that were necessary. And we wanted to make sure we gave ourselves a chance as a team. And that’s my responsibility, and I didn’t come through there. And I think that’s what’s going to really sit in my gut. You give credit to the Green Bay Packers, but this defense has been stout and phenomenal all year. It’s a tough result, and it’s a tough finality to the season. But I don’t think it takes away from how great they were and how instrumental they were in us even getting to this point as a team.”

(on Rodgers’ touchdown run and what he is capable of creating)
“That was a play that, you kind of had a feeling it was coming. Even when you kind of feel like you defended it, you can’t leave your feet against a great player like that. He kind of has a good way of being able to make it right, even if it’s not totally perfect for you. He’s a special player. It’s why he is definitely deserving of, more than likely, being the MVP of this league.”

(on using the wildcat formation and if it’s the plan to keep using it moving forward)
“Yeah, I think it is. When you look at it, Cam [Akers] has done such a great job of really just continuing to become a big part in some instances, the focal part of the offense. You can definitely build on that. I think you want to pick and choose your spots, but like I said, I think this guy’s got an incredibly bright future. The more that the ball is in his hands, usually good things happen, and we’ve seen that as of late. I think he really had a lot of good momentum and a lot of good performances that he can draw on to really build on this. I think it can be something for sure that we build on.”

(on if Jared Goff proved anything today)
“I think he did a nice job. I thought he improved on last week. I think you really saw a guy that stepped in and he did what he could. I thought he made some plays. I thought he saw the field well, like I was mentioning. He did a good job today.”

(on if Jared Goff is Sean McVay’s quarterback)
“Yeah, he’s the quarterback.”