Sean McVay weighs in on Eric Weddle's decision to keep Ravens' secrets
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theramswire.usatoday.com]
Cameron DaSilva
When Eric Weddle signed with the Rams, one of the first games he probably circled on the schedule was a matchup with his former team, the Ravens. It was always going to be an intriguing matchup, but with Baltimore 8-2 and looking like one of the best teams in the NFL thanks to Lamar Jackson, the implications of this game have been heightened – especially for the 6-4 Rams.
Weddle knows the Ravens better than anyone outside their locker room, but Sean McVay and Wade Phillips shouldn’t expect any inside information from their starting safety. He said back in August that he won’t share any of his former team’s secrets – a startling revelation to Rams fans everywhere.
“I can’t give all the secrets away. Those are my guys. I can never turn my back on my guys over there,” Weddle told Andy Benoit in a film breakdown video. “Coach McVay knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t need much.”
Weddle respects his former teammates too much to give away secrets about their scheme.
“What kind of man would I be if I rat out my guys that I played three years with?” Weddle asked. “I cherish every relationship I made on that defense, on that team. The minute I say, ‘Here are all of their calls’ or ‘here are the checks to this,’ then what am I at the end of the day? I lose everything that I gained from there. And that means more to me than anything.”
McVay was asked by reporters on Wednesday if he’ll pick Weddle’s brain this week in advance of their Week 12 matchup with the Ravens. McVay knows Weddle said in the past that he won’t share any inside details about Baltimore’s scheme, and the coach respects that.
“I think what you respect about Eric is he’s one of those guys that you pick his brain just because you want to talk some football. But in terms of some of the intricacies, I think he’s got a lot of loyalty to those guys even if he’s not there anymore. And I think those are things that I think he would probably say, ‘I like talking ball with you,’ but I don’t want to do something that takes away from his ability to try to unfairly give information with the Ravens and I know that’s something that he’s communicated. So I haven’t talked to him about it.”
McVay was then asked whether that would be regarded as unfair.
“I think this, it’s totally at each person’s individual approach. I think with his reasoning, I think it’s a small demonstration of why he’s a special guy. But we’ll talk some ball, we’ve talked before. Maybe I already asked those questions in the free-agent visit, he just didn’t realize it,” McVay said, smiling.
Schemes change every year and there are certainly differences between what the Ravens did last year when Weddle was there and what they’re doing now. In reality, there probably isn’t much of an advantage Weddle can give the Rams, because players still have to go out and execute the plays called.
Monday night will mostly come down to stopping Jackson, and if the Rams can’t do that, they’re going to be in for a long night – regardless of what Weddle might (or might not) tell them.
