TRANSCRIPT: Rams Head Coach Sean McVay - Media Availability - October 7, 2019

TRANSCRIPT: Rams Head Coach Sean McVay - Media Availability - October 7, 2019

(On LB Clay Matthews’ injury)
“He’s (LB Clay Matthews) got his jaw wired shut. I think he’s feeling good. That’s not an ideal situation – it was kind of a freak accident. He’ll be out for at least the next four to six weeks. It’s going to be something where you just kind of monitor that diet. Really, it’s going to be a challenge any time that you have that. He’ll do all the right things to put himself in a position to hopefully get back as soon as we’re able to take that thing off and then he’s able to fully function. I think, realistically, probably coming back after the bye is probably what’s the most likely realistic scenario for us.”

(On who will fill Matthews’ role)
“(OL Samson (Ebukam) will be asked to step up. He’s played a lot of important snaps for us, he’s a guy that we have a lot of confidence in. Really, we’ll have a chance to really get a chance to evaluate some of these younger players that might get a chance to play as well. (L Natrez Patrick, ‘Obo’ (OLB Obgonnia Okoronkwo) will get a chance to step up. As we put together the gameplan, I think we’ll get a little bit better feel, but Samson’s a guy that’s played a lot of valuable snaps for us and he’ll immediately step into that starter’s role.”

(On how Ebukam’s knee injury last season affected his play last season)
“I know he says he feels a lot better – I think you see the twitch, I think you see all the things. He really made a lot of big-time plays for us last year as well. He is playing at a higher level. Certainly, you’re going to miss (L Clay (Matthews) because he has had a lot of really good, productive games for us. I thought he played really well the other night. Samson is a guy that we have a lot of confidence in – he and (OL Dante (Fowler Jr.) will be asked to step up. Some big shoes to fill with just the production and the way that Clay has been playing. He’ll be missed, but we are confident in Samson’s ability to step up. I think he is feeling better getting that knee cleaned up and just feeling healthier this year as well.”

(On if he has spoken with former Washington Redskins Head Coach Jay Gruden)
“I exchanged some stuff with him this morning. It’s a tough situation. He (former Washington Redskins Head Coach Jay Gruden) is a really close friend of mine, he has been – really, that family, but especially Jay – you talk about instrumental. A lot of the opportunities that I’ve been given in this league as a result of his belief, his willingness to kind of teach me. One of the things that I think is so special about him that I never realized and really, truly appreciated until I got into this role here was how much he really protected me. When I was a coordinator, in a lot of ways, he kind of groomed me and brought me along to where you kind of learn some of the things about how you’re setting up a gameplan, how you want to call a game. He protected me from a lot of the things that – I don’t know that a lot of people would do that. I think that’s a real demonstration on who he is as a man and I’m forever indebted to him. That organization was really good to me. It’s something that you just realize how tough this league is. I love Jay Gruden, love what he’s meant to my family and to me and I’m always in his corner.”

(On if he’s talked to Jay Gruden about joining his coaching staff)
“He’s going to have a lot of options. I think the first thing is anytime something like this occurs, you want to be able to say, ‘I’m just there for you’ and you love them and care about them no matter what as a friend. I think he’s in a great situation, where he’s got great family and he’ll have a lot of options. Those are things that I think we’ll sure discuss at some point, but right now, it’s more about just reaching out to a buddy and seeing how he’s doing.”

(On if he has contact with CB Marcus Peters before or after games and what kinds of conversations he has)
“I talk to all of our players. I think it depends on what it is. In a lot of instances, it will be about the game, but making sure that we are all on the same page with what we want to be able to get done. He’s somebody that he and I have constant dialogue. I’ve always appreciated and respected the way that he’s been receptive to our conversations, whether it be good or we are talking about, ‘Hey, lets do something at a better level.’ I think that’s part of your job and part of my role.”

(On how he was able to take advantage of the mini bye-week this past weekend)
“I think that’s an appropriate way to put it. I wanted to give the guys a chance to get away. You can still work a little bit at home, but I always thought it was important for our coaches to kind of just decompress a little bit, get a little bit of a jump on the 49ers. The challenge is, they had their bye-week. They’ve only played three games and then you’re waiting on their fourth game tonight. I think it’s a good opportunity for us to look inwardly, evaluate ourselves a little bit through the first five games and then also just kind of just catch your breath a little bit. There is a good balance of getting away. I just kind of relaxed at home with my fiancé and dog and watched a little bit of football, did a bit of work here and there, but got some sleep and feeling rejuvenated and ready to go.”

(On if everyone got through the break without incident)
“Yeah, everything is good, so we are in good shape and that’s always a positive.”

(On if there is anything new on LB Bryce Hager and S Taylor Rapp)
“(L Bryce (Hager) is making really good progress. He had some real positive encouraging things, in terms of just that nerve firing a little bit, very optimistic. What does that exactly mean in terms of his availability this week? We won’t quite know, but it is positive to see him turn the corner in terms of some of the responses, just based on what (Senior Director, Sports Medicine and Performance) Reggie (Scott) and his staff had kind of educated me on. I think this was a turn that they were very optimistic about that he took for the better, just in terms of some of the things that came out today. (S) Taylor Rapp is right on track. He’s feeling good, we expect him to be ready to go this week and that’s a positive for us.”

(On what he sees from his running game from the last five weeks and what he expects from it going forward)
“Each of the games, when you really look at it, you ‘ve got a chance in the first two games to get about 30-plus attempts. I’d say you get about 32 and then 30 against the Saints, like 24 against the Browns. Then, the Tampa (Bay Buccaneers) game is such an outlier because you fall behind. You’re really almost in two-minute mode the majority of the game, even though we ended up catching back up. So, you get so skewed on the numbers there where it’s like a 68-to-11 balance. We started out the other day where we wanted to be able to run the football. I do think there’s an element of things can get a little bit off in terms of your run-pass balance because you end up having two-minute situations for us at the end of the half where that ends up being about eight to 10 plays where you’re pretty much, for the most part, throwing the football. Then, when you get into it at the end of the game, where really, like you asked me after the game, with two and a half minutes left, you could debate, ‘Alright, do you really jump into two-minute mode?’ Well, we did, so that ended up representing two drives where we ended up turning it over and then getting the ball back where you’re on the minus seven. So, there ends up being about 20-plus snaps that account for where you’re mostly throwing it based on the situation. To answer your question, I think there’s been some games that we’ve gotten it going. Definitely want to be able to be to be committed to that, but I think part of it is, too, continuing to find our identity for the 2019 team. We’ve got some continuity at some spots, but we’re also figuring out what’s the best way to handle different things, accentuate our players’ skill sets. Whether that be the interior of the line, our backs, things like that. It’s something that we’re continuing to evaluate and that’s going to be a focal point on these next 11 games.”

(On RB Malcolm Brown’s snap count last week and if it was due to the flow that RB Todd Gurley II was in during the game)
“That was really more than what it was. It wasn’t anything that (R Malcolm (Brown) didn’t do. It was (R Todd (Gurley II) came out, had some good, physical runs early. Wanted to be able to kind of continue with that. He was feeling good and then a lot of those instances if he felt like, ‘Hey, he’s feeling good,’ then we we’re going to go with him for that game and for that approach.”

(On how he tries to force more turnovers considering the team has forced one turnover in each of the last four games)
“You just keep emphasizing it, keep practicing it and hopefully that practice performance ends up equaling game reality. I thought it was a great job by (C Nickell Robey(-Coleman) on the first drive. You look at the strip, you never know what (C Marcus (Peters) would end up doing on a return there, but ultimately what we’ve got to do is play complementary football. We’ve got to take better care of the football offensively where you end up having 11 turnovers. That’s as much as anybody in the league and we’ve got to do a better job there and then we’ve got to take it away. We’ve talked about it over and over again and I know a lot of the teams in the league say this, but other than points, there’s no greater indicator of wins and losses just over the course of time than taking care of the football offensively and getting it back, defensively. That’s’ something that we definitely want to make a point of emphasis, as does every team in the league, I’m sure. I think it’s got to be a commitment, it’s got to be something that we’re constantly preaching and I know we have the guys that are capable of doing it at a higher level. We can certainly coach it and that’s where it starts, with us and with me and then the players being able to get it done.”

(On if turnovers are sometimes a fluke and even out)
“Sometimes. I think sometimes you get some favorable, but bounces. In a lot of instances, that’s why you like to look at them as takeaways. Are you truly taking it away? I thought that was a great example by (CB Nickell) Robey (Coleman) getting the takeaway the other night. Then you have some other instances where you look at our two turnovers that we had offensively. They do a great job kind of holding (R Todd (Gurley) up, I mean he has good ball security and they ended up ripping it out, they recovered that and then we ended up having a bobbled ball and (Seahawks FS Tedric) Thompson ends up making a great catch off of a tip. Each play has its own individual story, but I think more times than not if you truly focus on it, emphasize it – we do a good job of really emphasizing it as coaches. I’m optimistic and I’m confident that these last 11 games will indicate a trend in the right direction for our football team.”

(On what he can learn from the 49ers since they only have three games of film)
“I think it’s another game you can really use as an evaluation tool. In certain games, based on the opponent, can sometimes be more helpful than others in terms of the film evaluation based on how similar are some of the schemes? Are these some things that you would anticipate they would want to do to defend our offense or to attack our defense? It really just depends on the opponent. But every single game, especially early on when there are some tweaks and adjustments that teams inevitably make every single year, are very valuable teaching tools for us and evaluation tools to ultimately put together a game plan. Especially when you’re talking about they’ve only got three games of film, tonight will represent the fourth for the 2019 season. They’ve done an excellent job and it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”

(On if he is looking forward to matching with San Francisco 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan and with their roster at full strength)
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Kyle and I’ve learned so much from him, having worked with him. Really, it’s about the Rams versus the 49ers and I think what we’re interested in is figuring out let’s put together a good plan in all three phases and figure out how to win a game as a team. That’s really our sole focus and concentration is let’s have a great week of preparation, let’s figure out how we can find a way to try and get our fourth win and ultimately go 1-0 this week. You continue to say, you speak it into your being and really that’s just what that focus and concentration is on for our players, for our coaches, and I know I certainly feel that way as well.”


--RAMS--