Rams Head Coach Sean McVay Media Availability – Media Availability – October 24, 2021
Rams Head Coach Sean McVay Media Availability – Media Availability – October 24, 2021
(Opening Statement)
“Today, a lot of adversity that we had to overcome. I thought the guys weathered the storm. A lot of credit to the Lions and Coach (Dan) Campbell. I thought Jared (Goff) did an excellent job being able to make his plays. I thought (D’Andre) Swift was outstanding. They did a great job defensively, really, creating a lot of pressure and making it difficult on us to kind of, you know, finish all those drives with touchdowns. Especially in the second half. But we came away with the win. I was really, really pleased with the guys in crunch time. I mean, for Aaron (Donald) to get that rush when we had to have it, force kind of an erred throw. Jalen (Ramsey) makes an unbelievable pick. Then we end up driving the length of the field, kick a field goal. Matt Gay delivers, in essence, kind of put the game out of hand. I thought Matthew (Stafford) made play after play. I thought Robert (Woods) and Cooper (Kupp) stepped up in a big way. There was a lot of realy good individual contributions. We’ll take it. That’s a really tough football team you got to give those guys their credit. But a lot of things that we can clean up. But certainly no style points in this league. And, again, a lot of respect for Coach Campbell and those guys.”
(On what was said between him and Jared Goff at the end of the game)
“No, I’m not going to get into — no, I mean, it’s — as I said, ‘Great job. I’ll touch base with you a little bit later on.’ But that was — so I guess I did just share with you what I said.”
(On if he expected a “back against the wall like effort from the Lions)
“We did. And that’s what’s a little bit disappointing, Jourdan. That was not stuff we were surprised by. But we didn’t execute and they did. They ended up creating a bunch of momentum and you end up having two fake punts and a surprise onside kick. Both of those things are things that we did anticipate and expect. But we didn’t execute and they did. That wasn’t good and there’s a lot of things that we can learn from.”
(On how the start this game compared to last week’s start)
“Yeah, I think overall it’s hard because you only have, really, three possessions in the first half. You end up with two touchdowns and one field goal. I thought we did a good job. I hated my third down call on the first drive of the game on the third down and four in the high red. I didn’t give us a chance on that play. They had a good defensive call and I gave us no chance with the play call. Then to be able to get two touchdown drives in addition to that opening drive field goal, I thought was good, to be able to get the lead at half time. But, again, there just wasn’t a whole lot of opportunities. I didn’t like that we didn’t capitalize on the momentum we had a chance to really grab hold of coming out of the half. The game is about handling the ebbs and flows. Our guys did that. There was a lot of reasons to put your head down and not feel good based on the way that it started, but that’s the last thing our guys did. And I thought our big time players stepped up in crunch time big and that was instrumental in us getting the W today.”
(On what he saw from Matthew Stafford today)
“I saw the same guy I’ve seen. You know, steady, great performer. He was great in the clutch. And, really, even when things weren’t going well, he just stays nice and even-keeled. And that’s what a great quarterback does. He’s our leader. He did a great job today. And, you know, pretty special for him to go over 300 career touchdown passes. Speaks to the resumé of work that he has. And to be able to do that in a win against a former team a lot of great relationships, I know he has tremendous respect for that organization, the way he was treated there. And I think they feel the same about him. I was really happy for him to get the win.”
(On whether he prepared for fake punts and onside kicks every week of if there was an emphasis on it this week during preparation for the Lions)
“I think you’re always on alert for it if you think that it’s a possibility that teams can, you know, potentially give that to you. It was something you do work throughout the course of the week with your weekly rhythm and the process in the kicking game. But, obviously, it’s a good wake-up call for us and something we got to do a better job of moving forward.”
(On if the second fake punt caught them off guard)
“No, I mean, if we were in a safe situation right there, we lost the edge. Again, they made the plays and we didn’t in that phase and it almost changed the outcome of the game.”
(On the interception by Jalen and if it was a great read)
“Huge. All the above. It was great concept trigger. Great recognition. I thought to force a little bit of an erred thrown by Aaron Donald, you could see, I mean, he did a great job. He was right in Jared’s face immediately. Won right off the snap. Any time you get that internal pressure on a quarterback, that’s always much more difficult. And then to have the ball skills to slice underneath that, make that play. I just told him, I said, ‘I thought you were going to take that all the way back.’ He’s a stud. And you talk about big time players stepping up in a moment. We had to have it from our defense and those guys delivered in a big way. And that’s why Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey are who they are.”
(On if the Lions look and feel like an 0-7 team)
“No. I think you guys could feel that today. Really competitive. I think it’s a huge credit to their coaching staff, their players, their leadership. Coach Campbell did an excellent job. And you can see, there’s a belief. I mean, any time that you go wire to wire with us, with a team like Minnesota, you look at the Ravens, you know, they had a chance to really win all three of those games and they’ve been in a lot of other ones. So absolutely not. This league is so difficult. You guys ask those questions all the time. But any given week, you got to be ready to go. Players are too good, coaches do too good of a job. And it’s about who plays well in that three-hour window of time. And, fortunately, we were able to weather the storm today.”
(On if there’s a follow up on Robert Rochell’s injury)
“I think he’s going to be okay, Jourdan. I haven’t talked to Reggie (Scott) and his group but I did talk to Robert (Rochell). He said that the initial tests checked out well. But I’ll be able to give you further clarity tomorrow.”
(On if he was surprised about how Jared Goff was able to handle the pressure they were bringing)
“I thought he did a great job, Gary. You know, really, he handled it well and made a couple big time throws. The first third down and nine where they caught us in a pressure and he delivers, I thought it was a great call by Coach (Anthony) Lynn, great individual effort by (D’Andre) Swift to be able to turn that into a touchdown on a third down and nine. Yeah, I wasn’t surprised, he did a good job. You know, credit to him.”
(On how difficult it was to defend the Lions offense)
“It was difficult, Claudia. They did a nice job. I think they’ve got two of the underrated backs in the league in (Jamaal) Williams and (D’Andre) Swift. I think they do a nice job of being able to create some problems and change the math with you on some of the angles that they’re able to create specifically in some of their gap and trap-type of schemes. So they did a good job. It’s a tough football team, but we made the stops when we had to and that’s why we were able to come away with the win.”
(On how the relationship between Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford continues to evolve)
“I think it helps. I think those two are so on the same page, they understand the intent of the plays that we’re trying to run. They see the coverage structures when Cooper (Kupp) might end up being a guy that gets the ball based on how many guys were getting out in the route progression. And so, he came through in the clutch. He and Matthew’s rapport is special. I also thought it was on display with Robert Woods. (Tyler) Higbee made a couple of really important catches. That third down and 10 in the high red area where he hits Higbee on kind of a seem bending in there, that was all Matthew (Stafford) and Tyler Higbee. So Cooper and Matthew have done an outstanding job but I think a lot of other guys have as well and that’s why we’re able to be 6-1right now.”
(On Darrell Henderson’s performance)
“He’s tough. I thought he had some really tough hard-earned yards. Especially coming back after — that was a good hit that he took from (Tracy) Walker when they ended up bringing up pressure for us. Bad play call. He’s probably looking at me like, ‘What the hell you thinking, man?’ But he came back. He did a nice job. And he’s a tough player. He’s steady, reliable, dependable. Love Darrell Henderson.”