Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Rams at Eagles Postgame Quotes – September 20, 2020

(On the win)
“I thought one of the plays of the game was [Rams CB] Darious Williams’ pick in the end zone. That was when they started to get a little bit of momentum. I thought [Rams QB] Jared [Goff] played really well from the first snap until the end. He made some timely throws. We petered out a little bit coming out of the second half and towards the end of the first half offensively, but like anything else we just kind of picked one another up. Defensively, we got a couple of huge stops, got some short fields and were able to capitalize. We had a lot of contributors and a lot of young guys made plays today. I was really pleased with [Rams RB] Darrell Henderson. I thought he was a real bright spot for us, making some plays in the run and pass game. That was something that [Rams Running Backs] Coach [Thomas] Brown and I talked about this week, and we were not surprised to see that. It was really good for him to be able to do that. Obviously, it was a big day for [Rams TE Tyler] Higbee having three touchdowns on five targets. That’s kind of what you expect. He’s done a great job.”

(On Goff’s fast start)
“He played really well. He was outstanding. I thought he had great command of what was going on and recognized the different looks. [The Eagles] are a challenging defense with a lot of different things they can present. He got into a rhythm, and guys made plays. It starts with him and he did an outstanding job today.”

(On the thought process behind Rams WR Cooper Kupp returning punts)
“In some of those situations, it’s just the trust in him to be able to field it. I still have the same trust in Cooper Kupp. He’s going to be a huge part of everything that we do. He ended up making a couple of guys miss, then the ball got a little bit loose. Those are great learning opportunities. Like any great competitor, it’s about your ability to respond. He ended up closing out the game for us on a jet sweep on a third-and-2. That was great situational awareness to stay inbounds so we can take a knee and run the clock out. Not at all worried about that, but those are things we can all learn from. My confidence in Cooper doesn’t change at all.”

(On the improvement of Rams LB Micah Kiser and CB Troy Hill)
“Both of those guys built on solid performances last week. Micah seemed like he was coming up with stop after stop. You feel his physicality. He’s got great command for what’s going on. He made a lot of plays today and was involved in a lot of the action. And then Troy Hill, what a pick. He’s made a couple of great tackles and is a great instinctual player. These are things we’ve seen from Troy for years. He’s just now getting an opportunity to show his versatility being able to play in that slot position. I’m really pleased and happy for both him and Micah, and I expect those guys to continue to build.”

(On the challenges of replacing key players from last season)
“I don’t know that anything has expressed itself just yet, we still have had just two weeks of inventory. It was really tough to have to say goodbye to a lot of guys that have been instrumental in a lot of the success that we’ve had together. You talk about guys like [RB Todd] Gurley, [WR Brandin] Cooks, [LB Cory] Littleton, or [DE] Dante Fowler, but you do have a vision and you have to figure out a way to make it work. We feel really good about the pillars that we do have in place. I think we have identified some guys in the draft. We felt good about those guys and like anything else, we’re continuing to build. By no means do we have all of the answers, but we just want to see that daily improvement. We’ll see if we can have a good performance next week against Buffalo next week.”

(On the ups and downs defensively)
“I think stats can be misleading and the tape will really reveal the truth. The ball had to come out of [Eagles QB Carson Wentz’s] hand. I thought [Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson] did a nice job of putting in a game plan where you force the ball to come out. There was not a whole lot of long, developing stuff. They got a couple of good timely motions where they hit [Eagles WR] DeSean Jackson on some speed outs where the ball is getting out of your hand, which I think prevents your ability to push the ball down the field. [The Eagles] were able to do some good stuff running the football. I was really pleased with our defense and they continued to compete. We feel like a physical bunch. I don’t know if it was just the absence of fans, but we were popping our pads out there, and you’re hearing a lot of good collisions. I love even just something as simple as the two-point stop from [Rams LB] Leonard Floyd. They tried to run a little option towards our sideline, and he strings it out and makes a big play. Our energy throughout the day defensively was outstanding. We are going to just continue to grow.”

(On handling the cross-country trip and early start)
“It’s all about our players. I go back to the performance staff, but I thought the guys did a great job taking care of themselves throughout the week. They brought their own energy, and that’s reflective of the leadership we have in this locker room. We said earlier in the week that we’re not going to allow a 10:00 a.m. [PST] kickoff get in our head and be an excuse. I thought our guys were ready to go from the jump. I actually think a lot of the guys would tell you that they liked it. It was a really seamless flight and we got in last night. We had some quick meetings and had a reset for these guys. We got up today and were ready to roll. Sometimes when you fly in late on Friday nights, you feel like you’re just waiting around all day Saturday to do something. With the limitations and protocols about not being able to leave the hotels, I thought it was a reflection of the leadership and the guys being able to handle it in the right way. We’ll see if we can do the same thing next week against a tough Buffalo opponent.”

(On going for it on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter from the Rams’ own 29-yard line)
“I think it’s all about the players. That’s a reflection of the confidence I have in our guys. Sometimes you are just feeling what’s in your gut. There are the analytics and all of that stuff, and that is something we take into consideration, but it was also just a factor of the Eagles not thinking we were going to do that there. I did not want to punt the ball back. I thought it was important that we got some continuity offensively, because we had really stalled the last couple of drives. I thought that situation presented a chance for us as coaches to show the confidence in our guys. They ended up responding the right way and we ended up kicking a field goal on that drive. I still thought it was some positive momentum we were able to regain there.”