Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Rams-49ers Postgame Quotes – October 13, 2019

(Opening remarks)

“Congratulations to the 49ers, they did a good job today. There is a lot of things that…All I know how to do is just go back, let’s look at the film, let’s figure out what we can do to be better. The guys continued to battle, but really, it’s just about let’s stay together, let’s not let this little bit of adversity that we’re going through divide us. It’s my job to make sure that we continue to work as hard as we can to look inward, find the solutions, and just get better. There is nothing we can do about this performance other than learn from it. That’s all that I know how to do, that’s what we will do, and we’re going to work as hard as possible to do that.”

(On how he will navigate through losing three games in a row for the first time in his head coaching career)

“The same way that you navigate through a win or a loss and that’s go back to work, try to find a way to just continue to get better, use every opportunity as a learning experience. Was it a humbling day for us? Absolutely, but it’s something that we’re going to learn from. We’re not going to let it demoralize us. That’s a good football team, they did a nice job, we didn’t do enough collectively. We’ll all look inwardly and we’ll figure out how to be better moving forward.”

(On if he has any injury updates on T Joe Noteboom and S John Johnson III)

“I don’t have any updates on those guys right now.”

(On how much the 49ers defensive line dictated his play calling when the protection may not quite have been there)

“It does. Credit them, they did a nice job. We started out and there was a handful of things that went on. That’s really why you can’t wait to just go back because there were so many situations that took place after that first drive where we had some opportunities, when you get it in there and you don’t punch it in from inside the one (yard line), with a couple chances. There are some things that, really throughout the game, it’s kind a little bit of a whirlwind. No excuses, but we’ll all look at it. We’ll figure out how we can be better moving forward.”

(On what went into the first drive of the game)

“I thought the guys came out ready to go. To be able to have a seven-play drive, seven runs all manageable down-and-distances, there was a good enthusiasm, there was a good juice. That was the way that you wanted to start. We’ve got to do a better job after that of being able to continue that momentum and those are things that we’ll look to figure out how to do that.”

(On the defense having two takeaways and what they were able to provide)

“They gave us a chance. I thought they did a lot of really good things, they played hard. There was opportunities to be had that we didn’t capitalize on. It’s about playing better as a team and that’s what we have to do.”

(On the running by RBs Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson Jr.)
“Yeah, I thought really in some spurts – again, until you go back and look at the film, it’s always hard to say, but there were some good, hard physical runs. Clearly the first two runs that (RB) Darrell (Henderson Jr.) had were really exciting where you could see the speed and the athleticism. Then there’s always some things that we can look at to be better at. I think we’ve all got to do that. I certainly am a part of that and that’s what we’ll do. But, I thought those guys had some positive moments and until you really go back and evaluate the entirety of the film, it’s hard to say kind of an overall approach.”

(On if he has a handle on where the team is mentally at this point)
“Yeah, I mean I trust that this is a mentally tough team. We’ve got mentally tough people in our building. This is a real opportunity to be what we say we are. We’re just going to go to work, we’re going to stay together, we’re not going to let the outside and in influences create a divide with us. That’s something that I trust that we will do and we’re going to work as hard as possible just to continue to be solution-oriented and that’s all I know how to do.”

(On the abnormally low passing yards by QB Jared Goff in this game)
“Yeah, it was hard. I mean really when you look at it, I want to say there was maybe six throws we had in the first half. We only had 25 or so plays, so in a lot of instances because we were running it and there were some different things where they did a nice job controlling some possessions that led to that. Then by the time you end up getting into some of those situations where you are throwing it a little bit more, they’ve got a great defense and they’re kind of pinning their ears back and going and it’s kind of hard to be able to get into a true rhythm there.”

(On the adjustments he will make to improve the team’s continuity)
“Well I think really it’s just figuring it out. Just kind of like what you ask is, ‘All right, let’s figure out the best way to maximize guys’ skillsets, get that rapport going,’ and that’s a very vital part of football. Football’s the greatest team sport there is, and we’re going to continue to do that, continue to try to develop guys. That’s the only way that we can go and move forward and try to be, like I said, solution-oriented.”

(On the fumble by Henderson on a pitch in the fourth quarter)
“I think he probably just dropped the ball. Kind of just a very rare occurrence, but when that does happen, that ended up being a big play for the first play of the start of the second half. It just didn’t work out in our favor.”