TRANSCRIPTS: Rams HC McVay, QB Goff – Training Camp – August 9, 2017

TRANSCRIPTS: Rams HC McVay, QB Goff – Training Camp – August 9, 2017

Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Training Camp Press Conference – August 9, 2017



(On the fights from today and whether he expected them)

“I think anytime you practice against somebody else guys are competitive, especially after the first day where there’s some good back and forth. Starting out with the one on ones, guys are competitors that’s what makes them great. We always want to be smart about it, but those are things that we’ll be able to look at and figure out exactly what happened. Going to back and forth, it’s hard to exactly say what’s had gone on. But, I thought the guys did a nice job regaining their poise and finding a way to get through this practice where we both got something out of it.”



(On how much better our performance was today from Saturday’s scrimmage)

“It’s a little bit hard to say right now, just because being a little bit more involved with the offense the other day where I was a little bit back and forth just based on the way things played on earlier on in practice. Until we fully go back and watch the tape it’s hard to say. What you did feel was good energy on both sides and I think that’s what we were trying to get accomplished.”



(On whether he was surprised by the number of on-field altercations between the teams today)

“Guys are great competitors, like I said we always want to be mindful, smart of this about how we do this. I’ve been a part of something like this when we practiced against the (Houston) Texans in Washington. Fortunately nobody got hurt as a result of it and we’ll try to be mindful of those things moving forward.”



(On what he said to CB E.J. Gaines)

“That’s between me and E.J., just letting him know that I’m with him and I’m supporting him and love him. But really, nothing else other than that.”



(On the fine line between intensity and not being smart and whether he was okay with the intensity)

“Because, the majority of it went on when I was on the other field and then didn’t see anything really occur like that, once I had kind of spent a little bit more time being on the defensive side and kind of bouncing back and forth. I thought the guys did a nice job after we gathered up though of regaining their poise. And that’s what practice is. You’re trying to mimic and emulate those game-like situations and we know that if we lose out poise in situations like that, usually that dictates a 15-yard penalty and that can be the difference between winning and losing a games. We’ve got to be mindful of that and do a good job moving forward.”



(On without looking at the film, what he likes)

“Like I said, I like the energy. I like the way that when I was over this side with the two minute drill that our defense stopped them on both drives. And those are where games are won and tight games at the end and two-minutes where we had to get a stop prevent them from being able to get a chance to kick a field goal. Both of our defense units stopped them from that. Other than that, just the overall competitiveness, going against another quality team is something that will be beneficial for us moving forward into the season.”



(On whether calming them down was the general message when he gathered them)

“Yeah, absolutely. You just want to be mindful of making sure that nobody gets injured. These guys are great competitors, but I thought they did a good job responding after we kind of came up as a team.”



(On whether the team playing with intensity is something he encourages)

“Yeah, I think that’s something we can enjoy about our guys is how competitive they are. We’ve got a good juice on both side of the football and our special teams competes with great effort and intensity and that’s what we want to embody as a team, but we want to do it smart.”



(On what he thought of QB Jared Goff today)

“I was over on this field a lot, I didn’t see a whole lot of the practice, just because we were doing a lot of two spot drills where things were going on at the same time. So, like I said, until I go back and really watch the tape – it’s hard to say.”



(On if there is a benefit to scrimmage against a team whom they face in the preseason)

“I think it’s good work for us both. It’s one thing if you’re playing them in the regular season where you want to be mindful of not giving away a couple of the things that you’re doing, but the preseason offers an opportunity to get ready for the season and I think that’s where it actually helps us out. Being able to practice against a different defense and offensive system and special teams getting to compete against them and being able to do that in two good practices and then go against them in Week 3 of the preseason. I think it will be great for us.”



(On not being able to monitor what the first team offense is doing at all times)

“It’s tough and that’s something that I’m getting used to and really I think it was more of a result of having a two-spot drill. Typically, if we were both just going one at a time you’re able to be a little bit more – you’re able to be involved the way you’d like to on the offensive side and then kind of have a feel for the defense and special teams, but today dictated a little bit different response and you know, I thought it was a great opportunity for those guys on offense to do some good things and again, I can’t wait to really watch the tape and get a better feel for it.”



(On how the Rams offense responded in today’s joint practice with the L.A. Chargers)

“Well, I thought they did a good job. The first time that we went against them a couple days ago, just adjusting some different things. Clearly they’ve got some premiere rushers on the edge in (DE Joey) Bosa and (DE Melvin) Ingram and I think (DT Brandon) Mebane offers a nice presence and they do a good job with some different packages that they’ll create on some of those third down situations and I think they’re going to be a tough defense which is why it’s such good work for us to get.”



(On the right side of the offensive line)

“We haven’t yet. I think we’ll get a chance to go back, look at this tape. Now we’ve had a couple days where (OL) Rob (Havenstein) and (G) Jamon (Brown) have played the guard and tackle position and we’ll get a feel for what we think is the best way to situate those five, kind of after meeting as a staff and talking it over.”



(On if seeing the same team so often and having both fan bases in attendance triggers fights)

“I think just great competitors that – you know, always want to be mindful of pushing it too far and I think that’s where sometimes you always want to just monitor that when you’re competing against other teams in practice, where you’ve seen it occur and those are things that are good learning opportunities for us as a team to say, ‘We can’t have this happen during the game’ and if we’re able to maintain our poise then that is what’ll keep us out of those bad situations that occur as just a result of us keeping that composure in those crunch-time situations.”



(On the reason fighting is more prevalent in joint practices as opposed to preseason games)

“I think it’s hard to say. I think it’s just great competitors and it’s also a little bit different setup in terms of where you’re actually going in all team settings and then when you go in actual one-on-ones where you’re really just isolating matchups, I think that’s when things can get a little bit more competitive and that’s probably a result of kind of when things started to get a little out-of-hand, if you will, early on at practice, but fortunately we were able to come together and finish it out and get the work that we wanted.”



(On what kind of test the Cowboys are to his team this Saturday)

“It’s a great test. I think (Cowboys Head) Coach (Jason) Garrett does an excellent job with the team and it’s clear why they were NFL East champs last year, so I think it offers an excellent opportunity for our team to go against a quality opponent and see how our first-string guys handle those first couple plays that we’ll give them and you know whether we play them through the first quarter or a couple drives, it’s going to be determined, but it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”





Rams QB Jared Goff – Training Camp Press Conference – August 9, 2017



(On if they expected the practice to be a little feisty)

“Yeah I think day two of practicing against them and we’ve seen each other for a little while now. I didn’t see what happened. It was on the opposite field, but sometimes it happens. I thought it was under control for the most part.”



(On if the fights were a distraction for him)

“No. No, I don’t think so. Again, that was on the other side. I didn’t even see what happened. We had to pause for about 30 seconds and then kept going. No, it was fine.”



(On how this practice went for him compared to the last joint practice)

“Good. I think both times were good. I think we got off a lot more plays today. For whatever reason, it felt like we got more series with the offense. I thought it was good. I thought we did well in everything, but in the two-minute. We’d like to have a couple of those back, but then again I think last time we scrimmaged against them we had a good two-minute drill. So you know, today the two-minute drill was probably the one thing we want back and everything else was pretty good.”



(On him doing very well on the two-minute last practice and struggling a bit with that today)

“Yeah there’s always stuff you want to work on. Like I said, that would probably be the one period, I think we would like back, but I thought it was pretty good all around.”



(On opening it up a little bit more and taking more shots downfield)

“Yeah, you’ve got a good idea of what they’re doing now seeing them one time a few days ago, so yeah, we made some good plays on them.”



(On if what the Chargers do up front is good mental practice for him)

“Definitely. Especially when you don’t get a chance to game plan. It does make it a little bit more challenging kind of going on the fly there and trying to figure it out. So yeah, it’s definitely helpful and challenging on myself, challenging on the O-line and I thought they stepped up. They did a good job.”



(On what his goals are for Saturday)

“Just go out there and have fun, play football, get back out there. It feels like it’s been coming for a long time now, kind of get a chance to get back out there in the Coliseum and see all the fans again, have some fun and hopefully score some points.”



(On if he feels like he’s pretty much where he needs to be at this point in training camp)

“Yeah, I feel good. I feel good. Every day you’re trying to get better and continuing to get better. But no, I feel great where we’re at offensively and where we’re at as a team, as well.”



(On finally connecting on some deep balls)

“Yeah, about time. Deep balls come. I think early on in camp you’re just figuring out timing sometimes and just some different things with guys, but it takes time sometimes. I think they are starting to come. We were starting to hit a few today. It was a good job by the receivers of getting open downfield.”



(On Coach McVay as a play caller)

“He’s been great. Every day we’ve had him calling plays and he’s done a great job. He communicates well. I think his track record speaks for itself. Saturday, I’m excited. I think it’s going to be more of the same from what we’ve done in practice. (Inaudible) He’ll call the plays and that’ll be it.”



(On if he has an expectation about the number of snaps he’ll have on Saturday)

“I have no idea. That’s up to the coaches. We haven’t even talked about that yet. I’m sure we’ll get to it in the next couple days, but I’m not sure what we’re going to do.”



(On the atmosphere of this joint practice compared to a normal practice)

“It’s cool. You heard a lot of ‘Chargers suck’ and you heard a lot of ‘Rams suck’. You heard a lot of chants for both sides. It was fun. It was a really good experience out here, a lot of people, I think it was sold out and it was a lot of fun.”



(On if it felt like the fan bases were rooting against the other team)

“Yeah, I’m sure there’s a little rivalry among the fans, both L.A. teams now. But it was a good day today and I had a lot of fun seeing the fans out here.”



(On how his chemistry with TE Tyler Higbee has evolved)

“Two training camps living with him. I’ve spent a lot of time together off the field as well and it’s been good. I think he’s a great player. I think he’s coming along just fine and I’m excited to see what he can do this year as a starter this year. I expect him to do some big things.”



(On if he’s a good roommate)

“He’s okay (Laughs). He’s fine. He does well.”



(On how much different he feels going into this first preseason game compared to last year)

“This is much different. That was my first NFL experience. There was 90,000 people at a preseason game, so I was a little wide-eyed at first, but I feel good now. I feel more excited and I’m ready to get out there and just run some plays – just get out there and see a real defense, maybe get hit a couple times, just go through some things that you go through in a real game and just kind of get back into that feel.”



(On how he would evaluate the team’s composure and poise after the fights)

“Yeah, again, I didn’t see what happened, so I don’t really know what the deal was. But after we had two or three of them, it was smooth sailing from there. I thought we did a good job of responding to it.”



(On if he huddled up and rallied the team)

“On that side we were good. We didn’t have any fights over there, so we didn’t say anything. We were just like, ‘Alright, let’s wait for this one to end and keep going.’ But no, I think we responded well and from what I heard, the defense responded really well, as well.”