Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Rams-Broncos Postgame Quotes – August 24, 2019

Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Rams-Broncos Media Availability – August 24, 2019

(On Colts QB Andrew Luck retiring)

“My reaction is what a great player he is. I’m sure that he’s been going through a lot of things to make this decision. You feel for him, you feel for his team and his teammates. He’s the epitome of class. He’s been a great player, great competitor. I don’t know enough to really have any more of an opinion other than I have a lot of respect. He’s been a great player and I hate it for our game to lose such a great player due to injuries when he’s only been playing for so many years. But, he certainly has made his presence known in this league.”

(On DT Sebastian Joseph-Day not playing)

“He (DT Sebastian Joseph-Day) had a little hamstring tightness. He’s really done such a nice job for us that, listening to (Senior Director, Sports Medicine and Performance) Reggie (Scott) and talking through that there was potentially…you’re going to leave him susceptible to maybe further injuring that. I think just based on all those things, we felt like that was going to be the best decision. We didn’t want to leave him exposed to further injuring that and that was what went into the decision. Had that not occurred, then we were still talking through whether we were going to play him or not. He’s done a nice job for us, but he still is a young player and that’s the reason why we held him out tonight.”

(On how close he is to figuring out his core special teams groups and on special teams penalties)

“We’re in the process of doing that. I think, in a lot of ways, some of these calls, we want to make sure that we understand exactly what’s being officiated and really be able to see it because sometimes you can’t really see exactly what was being called if you don’t get the replay. So, before you want to really go in on having those opinions and things like that, I want to be able to evaluate the tape and I think there’s a lot of guys that are continuing to compete to really carve out a role for themselves on (special) teams for (Special Teams Coordinator John Fassel) ‘Bones’ and for (Assistant Special Teams) Matt (Daniels).”

(On LB Travin Howard)

“He’s done a nice job and I think you see the athleticism, you just felt the suddenness and the explosiveness where he arrived and he arrived violently tonight. I thought (LB) Dakota Allen showed up a couple times as well. Those guys have done a nice job under (Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers/Front Coordinator) Coach (Joe) Barry’s leadership. We, obviously, lost a really good player in (LB) Micah (Kiser) who’s going to be out for a while and we’re going to need those guys to step up and we’ll see exactly how it shapes itself out. Held (LB) Bryce Hager out tonight because he is basically our ‘MIKE’ linebacker. Then really we’re seeing around (LB) Cory (Littleton) and those other guys who’s going to make a name for themselves and make it hard for us to cut it down to 53 (players).”

(On if the coaching staff is noticing the pressure OLB Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and LB Natrez Patrick are bringing off the edge)

“Oh yeah. They’ve done a good job with that. When you get into some of these known passing situations, you get a chance to see if these guys can win in some of those one-on-one pass-rush moments. They’ve shown up. I think both of those guys did a nice job influencing and affecting the quarterback again. We’ll go back and look at the tape, but I thought those guys did a good job and it was good to see (DL) John Franklin(-Myers) show up as well.”

(On how he thinks QB John Wolford performed tonight and how he has played overall)

“I thought he (QB John Wolford) did a great job tonight. I thought he and (QB) Brandon (Allen) both – even though there weren’t a lot of points to show for it, I thought the offense moved under those guys’ leadership and got up and down the field pretty efficiently, had some sustained drives where they were able to get into a rhythm, get some plays off. I was really impressed with John. You look at the fourth-and-4 touchdown pass, sits in there, works through a progression. Then, even in the four-minute drive, to be able to have the presence and the athleticism, he keeps that ball, gets it to a second-and-short on an early down to really finish out that game. Really good poise by him. You could see, he got through some progressions tonight, was able to evade the rush when some guys came into the backfield and made some plays with his legs. You could see why he’s just a little baller, man, and he did a great job tonight.”

(On if this roster is deeper than in previous years and if it will lead to more difficult cut decisions)

“That’s exactly right. It’s going to be a lot of tough decisions, but that’s a good thing. I think that’s a credit to really (General Manager) Les (Snead), his group and our coaching staff to be able to on-board and create some competitive scenarios and situations. You want it to be that way. I think the biggest thing at the end of the day that we want for all these players is if it doesn’t work out for the Rams, hopefully they’re getting a chance to showcase their skills and it works out somewhere else because there are going to be a lot of guys that, unfortunately, won’t be a part of this very shortly. This week will go by quickly, but, very appreciative of, really, just the way that these guys have consistently worked and I think there is some good, competitive decisions that we’ll have to have to make because of the way the guys are playing.”

(On why QB Blake Bortles didn’t play tonight)

“I think we felt like he has done a good job of really establishing himself as the clear number two. If it was a situation where he hasn’t played a lot of football – but when you look at, ‘Alright, what’s really to gain?’ Let’s start to get ourselves in the mindset and the mentality of, ‘Alright, what are we going to do towards the season?’ Because a lot of the stuff that we’re running – as you guys know – is very different than what we’ll look like in terms of concepts, different things that we’ll want to run and do. I think it’s important for he and (QB) Jared (Goff) to really get themselves in the mindset of getting ready for the season and starting to do some different things that we anticipate activating against the (Carolina) Panthers.”

(On what football means to him and why football has been successful and has grown in the last 100 years)

“I think people love it. Football is such a special game where you always talk about how it’s the epitome of a team sport. It takes all 11 (players), all the different lessons that you can learn are so much you’re able to translate into being able to handle the inevitable things that occur in your life. This game has been a true blessing to me and my family. I joke about it, but you love it so much sometimes you probably say, ‘Maybe you need to have a little bit of a life outside of it.’ The people you get to meet, whether it be the players, the coaches, the experiences that it’s presented. My grandfather’s history with this game and what I’ve learned, I could go on and on about what the game has meant to my family, but I think – more than anything – it teaches you lessons and it teaches you that it’s about people being a part of something bigger than yourself. When you’re around special guys like what we are here, you get excited about coming to work and you’re trying to do right for them. When you achieve the success collectively and you’re able to share in some of the moments in the locker room afterwards, there’s no feeling and there’s no other way you can emulate and mimic those types of situations and that’s one of the many things that I love so much about this game.”

(On if he feels the offensive line is developing more cohesion)

“I thought so. I felt like we protected better. We had a chance to let some things develop in the pass-game, got some decent runs off where we were at least in some second-and-6s, some second-and-manageables, where we were able to potentially keep your run-pass options open. I thought that was instrumental in really being able to sustain some drives even though it might not have shown on some of the points where we had to finish in the red zone. But, I thought overall the offense moved the ball pretty consistently all night and that was a result of the offensive line’s consistent play.”