Transcripts - Head Coach Sean McVay - Monday, December 11, 2023

Los Angeles Rams Transcripts - Head Coach
Sean McVay - Monday, December 11, 2023

Head Coach Sean McVay

(On injury updates from Sunday)

“So coming off the game unfortunately (TE) Hunter Long got his MCL. He'll
require surgery for that so he'll be out for the year. It's a bummer for him. He
was doing a really good job. He has fought through a lot of adversity this year
and I thought he played really well in the early parts of that game. You hate that
for him but looking forward to him rehabbing and doing a good job with us
moving forward. (OL) Rob (Havenstein) got a groin strain. He'll be day-to day.
We'll see what that looks like. He wanted to come back yesterday, but with the
elements and the weather and different things like that and (OL) Joe
(Noteboom) did a nice job stepping up in his absence, but it's always great to
be able to have your captain up front in there and so we'll take it day-to-day
with him. (WR) Tutu is in the concussion protocol. Seemed like he was…came
in today, was feeling a little bit better but we'll go through the necessary steps
with that a day at a time and see how that affects his status for the week. (LS)
Alex Ward actually came out. He had a stinger so we're waiting to get further
information on that as he's going to see a specialist today. Then (WR) Ben
Skowronek came in with an ankle and some back issues that would potentially
put him out for practice on Wednesday.”

(On his thoughts on the final play of the game and how he handles
controversial calls that can ultimately decide a game)

“Yeah, it was a big play. The way I handle it is you look at the things that I think
are all obvious to us that we all see, but there were a lot of other opportunities
with six missed tackles on that play. Got to be better with the location. There
are so many plays that take place throughout the course of a game and there
were a lot of instances where I was so proud of our team for the way that they
competed. I'm really excited about being able to move forward. Then there
were some instances that they earned the right to be in positions to close out
that game and there were opportunities really in all three phases to be able to
do that. You credit the Ravens for being able to find a way, but I'm not going to
waste my emotional energy on stuff that is in the past. What I'm looking for is
clarity on where we missed it. If that's the case, how we can avoid those things
that end up hurting our football team, but there were other opportunities on that
play to make plays that that's not a big of a conversation today.”

(On signing WR Demarcus Robinson and what his expectations of him
were at the time and how he's met or exceeded those now)

“Yeah, I don't really go into it like that as much as just I knew that he was a guy
that could help our football team. I really enjoyed watching his game from afar. I
thought he had a good body of work and resume on tape that you could
evaluate and then you get around him and you love his demeanor. He has got
a great energy about himself. Guys love being around him. Then I think
especially the last couple weeks, he and (Q Matthew (Stafford) have
developed a really good rapport. He has made a lot of really big-time catches,
obviously gotten in the end zone a couple times but he's made some big-time
individual wins in some man coverage situations, made a bunch of crunch time
and clutch catches for us yesterday that gave us a chance to be able to win that
football game. He's going to be an important part of this thing moving forward.
He's earned that right. I'm really happy for him and you can see he and
Matthew have developed a good rapport.”

(On what’s stood out to him about the way Stafford has played over the
last few weeks against top ranked defenses)

“Yeah, he's played like Matthew. He's a great player and you can see he's
feeling healthy. I think he's doing a great job of distributing the football. Guys
are competing hard around him and for him and he has got great command of
what he's seeing. These have definitely been two of the upper echelon
defenses. I think he's played really well when you look at the fourth quarter in
Seattle and then the last 12 quarters when you combine Arizona, Cleveland,
and yesterday against Baltimore. He's given us a chance to play really well on
the offensive side of the football and when he's doing that good things happen.
I think guys are making plays around him. The guys up front are playing their
ass off for him and he's leading like the guy that we know and that we all
appreciate when he is doing Matthew Stafford type of things.”

(On the injuries in the tight end room and how this will affect TE Davis
Allen’s role moving forward)

“Yeah, Davis Allen ended up coming into the game. He hadn't even played 40
total snaps the whole season and plays over 50 yesterday so I thought he did a
great job stepping up. A lot of learning, a lot of big-time clutch production in the
pass game. I thought he did a nice job in the run game, some things we can
learn from and also competed well in protection when that was asked of him.
He's a guy that's played in a lot of big-time games. It wasn't too big for him
yesterday, clearly we could all see that. Hopefully we'll get (TE) Tyler (Higbee)
back this week. That's the expectation. That's the goal. Still have (TE) Brycen
Hopkins who has done a lot of good things for us as well. We'll take it a day at
a time. We're kind of just now in the last couple hours just getting all this
information and then you start to sort through your plans accordingly.”

(On what stood out to him about WR Puka Nacua’s diving catch)

“Well, it was a pretty good… they had an interesting coverage contour on right
there where we had two verticals through a zone. (WR) Cooper (Kupp) got held
up a little bit because of the re-route from (Ravens CB Marlon) Humphrey into
the short field, but Matthew recognized Puka running away from a backside guy
kind of in a trail position, put it out there. Where I'm watching where he threw
that it was almost like Puka came out of nowhere to go snatch that. I think that's
just two guys having great trust, great location and just being able to make a
play and a drive that we had to. One of my favorite things about that was that
was the next opportunity Puka had after the one play action that we had run on
the previous drive where it's a routine play that he would make that just didn't
come down with it, but that's such a testament to Matthew's trust in him. Then
his ability to be able to respond when things don't always go your way. That
was definitely one of my favorite plays, not because of what a special play it
was, but because of what that represented in terms of the responses that we
always talk about when things don't always go your way throughout the course
of a game. Yesterday was one of those deals where there were nine lead
changes. It was definitely back and forth the whole day.”

(On the hard hit that Stafford took during that play)

“Yeah, he did. He got smoked on that play and popped right up, but he's such a
stud. He's such a tough competitor and he’s going to do everything to be out
there and continue to battle with his guys and I think that's why you see his
teammates always love him so much.”

(On what has to happen to play a complete game on special teams)

“Yesterday, really when you look at it, I was really pleased with our field goal
operation. I thought (K) Lucas Havrisik did an excellent job responding. I loved
the way that we covered on the first kickoff return where (Ravens WR) (Devin)
Duvernay takes it out deep and pin them down and deep into their own territory.
But it's really the punt return and punt phase and those are the ones that you're
competing the most in because the landscape of the league, you're seeing a lot
of touch backs. You're seeing a lot of fair catches in some of these kick return
situations and so there's so many things going on each play that it's never one
thing that you can highlight. But there's 11 moving parts whether you talk about
their punt return for touchdown, the opportunity we had where it was a short
field punt and we had them pinned deep and we just put our foot on the goal
line instead of pinning them on the one and now the ball goes on the 20, but it's
always about team ball. It's always about everybody doing their one eleventh
and there are some instances that we've executed well earlier in the year. And
then there were some instances yesterday where we could have been better
and that's one of the better special teams units in the league. That's as
complete a team as there is, the way that they play off of one another in all
three phases. I'm not a big stats person, but some of the metrics that are in
alignment with what leads to good football on offense defense and in the
kicking game, they're checking a lot of the boxes and that's why they're the one
seed in the AFC right now. But we'll continue to work towards those things that
you're talking about, but the main areas of improvement as it relates to
yesterday are in our punt and punt return phases.”

(On the delay penalty in overtime and the miscommunication on the
headset)

The first part was simply, we were running a motion snap point play. You're on
your silent cadence at that point. They had a certain look based on what they
were going to present pressure wise where the back was up in the right-side A
gap. Our right guard was looking back for that second indicator. He got his eyes
back, not early enough for that second indicator to represent (OL) Coleman
(Shelton) snapping the ball. And we just kind of lost track of time right there and
that's a communication…and all those things start with coaching and I got to do
a better job. But that was a very surprising one right there for us, but one you
learn from and you hope to never replicate. It ended up hurting us in that
instance right there. But then the other two just simply put, couldn't understand
what I was saying in terms of the actual play call. That actually happened twice
yesterday. It might've been a way that it was going through his headset
because it was the same play call that I was trying to get to. But no matter
what, whether it's the headset going out or whether he is not hearing it, it's a
communication issue. And that's one of the things that I think we've taken some
pride in. That was one of the things that I think did hurt us a little bit yesterday
not exclusive to offense, but just overall. And that always starts with coaching
and that's where one of the main after-action reviews you talk about, hey, how
can we eliminate these things? And how can we do a great job of eliminating
any gray, creating clarity, being better with the decisiveness and the
understanding of exactly what we're hunting up so that these guys can go play
and go execute to the best of their ability. And those are the things that really
bother you as a coach because you know that you want to have a better
influence than some of those instances yesterday. And our guys will respond
the right way and I know we will too.”

(On the touchdown pass from Stafford to WR Cooper Kupp)

“Two ballers making a big-time play. They're in a zero pressure situation. He's
free off of a guy from his left side. Cooper's able to do a great job of a little bit of
emotion that last second, ended up regaining leverage and that's a true trust
throw. I thought there were a lot of examples of those two being really in sync
again yesterday, which is really good for our offense. But that one in particular
and then on a very similar route that he was running, he hit him on a big third
down, But a quarterback that can be able to buy some time with the athleticism
to just be able to kind of just back up a little bit because of the pressure that
they brought to us. And then to be able to have the ability as you're drifting
back to be able to put the right amount of top on that ball so that when Cooper's
eyes come around, he can run underneath it where it's an us or nobody type of
throw. And that was a huge play for us in that instance. And there were a lot of
plays like that but that was a big time play by both those guys.

(On if one play set up the other)

“I think it was really just those guys being…there were some different
coverages and some different leverages, but I think that the different
complementary cuts that you're able to present and that Cooper's able to do
and make things feel the same certainly helped. Both of those instances, one
was in zero coverage and the other was in a man-pressure situation when he
connected with him on those two routes that we're talking about.”

(On if Kupp is starting to look like the player from the past seven years)

“What would your answer to that be?”

(On if Kupp is getting back to one hundred percent physically)

“I think he's feeling healthier. I think that's a big deal. I think he's such a tough
competitor that he would never complain or say anything, but his game is
predicated on twitch strength, contact balance, doing a lot of those different
things. The healthier and the more comfortable that you get after you had been
away from the game for a long period of time. I think that he had some more
opportunities yesterday, but I did think that that was a game that… I think he's
taken steps the last couple weeks. He had the setback against Seattle where
he is blocking, he gets hurt early on in the game and then you could see he
comes back against Arizona. He really got that thing re-aggravated very early in
that game against Arizona but he gutted through and made some really good
contributions to the game that maybe didn't show up on the stat sheet, but he
pushed through. He was much healthier against Cleveland. I thought he had
some really key and critical plays in crunch time movements against them. He
was able to not have any setbacks in the Cleveland game and then he had a
really good week of preparation leading into Baltimore, didn't appear to have
any setbacks. I think you saw just a healthier player. He's always been the
same player that we know is special in so many ways, but especially when you
are playing that position, I did think it was big for him and I thought he made a
lot of plays just like the ones I was talking about, made some great catch and
runs. I thought that's where you really saw it. He was able to create some
separation and then some of the sideline awareness and the ability to work
edges and break tackles and create after the catch, that told me that he was
feeling healthier and I think the trajectory of things we want to keep going in this
direction. But I was really happy for him because he's really put in a lot of work.
And he has just been so steady and so mentally and physically tough with
what's been a frustrating situation. And to see him play the way that he did and
give our team a chance to be able to win, I was happy for him.”

(On running the ball early in the game and getting away from that at
different points in the game)

“I think you go into a game and I think we pride ourselves into being
reactionary. We have certain things that we want to be able to do, but it's
predicated on moving the ball and scoring points. We were able to move the
ball for those first nine plays with an efficient way, our guys enabled us to be
able to mix it up, present some different things once we got down into the red
area and things tightened up a little bit. And they added some extra players to
the box and changed up some of their personnel groupings, some of which you
like to be able to run it against, sometimes you don't. And it's always a give and
take, but there's always things that I'll look at in terms of a decision maker. But
you do go into the game with a game plan, but I don't think you ever, like
everybody talks, I'm not like a robot where you just read right off of a script.
You're seeing the game in real action. And so the reason we were able to do
that is because our players enabled us to do that. There's never a time going
in, you can't get off nine consecutive runs unless you're staying ahead of the
sticks. Otherwise, you might be punting three times before you get those nine
plays off if you're just going to be bullheaded that way. But it's always about the
players execution. They did a great job. There are always going to be some
calls that I would like back. I thought that red zone sequence in particular that
you're referring to could have helped. We could have maybe had some
execution that was a little bit better as well, but I was pleased overall with the
way our guys handled it. And then there are a handful of things in that game
where you're saying, ‘I wish I could have helped elicit more of a positive effect
on putting these guys in the right spots.’ And then there were sometimes where
I thought we helped in that regard as well, but I'm always going to think about
the ones that I can do better for these guys. And you credit them too. They did
a lot of really good stuff. There's a reason why they're one of the best defenses,
but our guys were ready to go. They enabled us to be able to have that opening
drive outcome because of the way they started the game.”

(On what he saw from K Lucas Havrisik during the week and how that
played out during the game)

“I saw a guy respond the way that I would want him to from some adversity,
from a challenge where you bring in a guy that's been a veteran, has a lot of
credibility and has a lot of previous production comes in. I thought he just
continued to handle that situation like a pro's pro. He kicked really well
throughout the week and earned the right to be up and active for us on game
day and then I thought he delivered in a big way and I think that says a lot
about a young guy. It's easy when things are going well, but when you have a
little bit of a challenge, how do you respond? And that's where you really learn
the most about people. And I was super pleased with him. I think that's a true
testament to the mental toughness that he has. And he came through in a big
way and he definitely had a winning performance for us yesterday with what he
was able to do specifically in those elements and then coming off of some of
the challenges from the previous week. I was really proud of Lucas.”

(On if he’s made an effort to get the ball out of Stafford’s hands quicker or
use his movement to help receivers find voids down the field)

“I think we always try to do that. I think we've been able to do that a little bit
more because we've been more efficient on some early downs. I think we've
been able to have a little bit more continuity upfront. I think we've been able to
kind of figure out a little bit more of a rapport with some of the guys that are
consistently playing around him, and I think that's helped us. But we're always
trying to evolve and do a good job. There's definitely a lot of instances,
especially as it relates to some of the things last year where you look at
yourself and say, I have to do a much better job of those things in terms of
being able to help us be ahead of the sticks, but also try to keep our
quarterback clean. That's always a goal for us and there's different ways of
doing that and I think that job is a lot easier from our vantage point when
number one, you've got him playing the way he's playing, but you've got some
consistency and continuity around him. You've got the ability to run it, got the
different things that can come off of the run where you can move the spot
around, and then obviously the quick passing game. And the drop back passing
game in general where the ball might come out in quicker timing or some of the
intermediate, but it's still coming out in a pretty good rhythm and timing. Those
are things that we're always going to look to do. But really, it's all about
Matthew has played really well, but there's always a concerted effort and I don't
think I did a good a job of that last year and we've tried to really make sure
that…I think our coaches have done a good job of that this year.”

(On if being healthier gives him more inventory of what they can do
offensively)

“I think that certainly is a big part of it. I think there's a lot of layers to it but I
think the continuity, I think being a little bit in better positions on some of those
earlier down and distances enables you to have a little bit more variety of what
you can present to the defense. But at the end of the day, it always will and it
always comes down to the players are executing at a really good clip. They're
doing a good job and it's why we've been able to play fairly decent, pretty good
offensive football against some really good teams the last few weeks
especially.”

(On how he’s helping Nacua play through a ‘rookie wall’ while being
dinged up)

“I think he's a special guy. He's doing things that haven't been very often done
in the history of this league but you always try to take care of your team as a
whole and that's the way that you go throughout the course of the week. The
amount of time that's spent with (Director of) Reggie (Scott) and his group and
then how many different snaps and what are the things that we're asking of
him. He played a lot of snaps again yesterday. It's a physical style of football
that he plays and a very physical brand, but I think you just try to be really
smart with the game plans throughout the course of the week. But he's a grown
man and I think he's shown that he's doing a lot of things that are a little bit
outside the framework of what the normal dialogue is as it relates to rookies.”

(On his diving catch with no gloves and how you don’t see that very
often)

“I know, right? He made a hell of a catch with whatever it was. And my favorite
part was the response in terms of that catch coming after an uncharacteristic
drop over the middle. And again, similar to what I was talking about with Lucas,
I think you see a lot of examples of guys representing some mentally tough
responses that I think is going to serve us well as we try to navigate these last
four games of the season the right way.”

(On how he saw Allen approach the challenge of waiting for his moment)

“Consistently. He's a guy that he's just always…You could see he's been in a
lot of big-time games with his career at Clemson and the success that they've
had. I think a lot of our rookies possess the maturity and a security in
themselves that serve them really well. Some of which these guys got a chance
from opening game, some of which the guys were just working behind the
scenes and just continuing to go to work and knowing that when their
opportunity comes, they were going to be ready, and Davis is certainly one of
those guys. It's not too big for him. He's just got a great look in his eye and a
great ability to be coachable, receptive to the things that you're asking. And
he's got great, soft hands. He's made really some big time catches for us. Even
you go back to that Arizona game on the third down and two, just soft hands,
the game is not too big for him and he's only going to get better as he continues
to accumulate experience. And you can see this guy is fearless, I mean,
making plays over the middle, the third and long catch that he makes where he
goes up and over to ensure that he gets the first down on the third down and 15
plus, those are plays that you can't coach that kind of stuff. That's right in here
with you. And (Tight Ends Coach) Nick Caley does a great job leading that
group as a whole, but Davis is going to be a guy that only gets better and he's
going to continue to earn that confidence because of the consistent way that he
approaches his craft.”

(On how close the decision was on DB Quentin Lake and what he expects
his workload to be)

“It was close because he’s done such a good job, but I expect him to be back
this week. He’s done a phenomenal job working his rehab and it'll be a boost to
be able to get him back in the mix and what he adds to our secondary.”

--RAMS--

---

#HelmetHornsMatter

“Well, the color is good, I like the metallic blue,” Youngblood recently said while laughing, via NFL Journal. “The horn is terrible. It looks like a ‘C.’ When I first saw it on the logo I honestly thought it was a Charger logo.

“Now when I see it on the helmet, it just isn’t a ram horn. There is no distinct curl like a mature ram horn. I don’t know how the Rams could get that wrong. That is your symbol and it has been for what? Seventy years or more? Longer than I have been alive? It’s just not us, it’s not the Rams.”---Mr. Ram Jack Youngblood