Rams have “turned the page” on 2021, start over in attempt to repeat

[profootballtalk.nbcsports.com] Rams have “turned the page” on 2021, start over in attempt to repeat
Posted by Charean Williams on July 22, 2022, 9:45 PM EDT

Los Angeles Rams Mandatory Minicamp
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The Rams received their Super Bowl LVI rings Thursday night. On Friday, they moved on to 2022.

“It was kind of good timing, because now it represents, ‘Let’s turn the page,’” McVay said, via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press. “Let’s not minimize what a great year last year was, but that’s not going to have anything to do with this year.”


The Rams have put together another roster that has a collection of talent that few others have. They return 16 players who started in the Super Bowl, and a 17th, Odell Beckham Jr., remains a free agent and could return. Left tackle Andrew Whitworth retired and edge rusher Von Miller and cornerback Darious Williams departed in free agency.

But safety Jordan Fuller is returning from an injury that kept him out of the postseason, and the Rams signed receiver Allen Robinson and middle linebacker Bobby Wagner.

Repeating is easier said than won, however, with the 2003-04 Patriots the last team to accomplish the feat. Tom Brady, who quarterbacked those teams, had a chance to do it last year with a Bucs’ team that returned all 22 starters and lost to the Rams at home in the divisional round.

“So many things have to go right,” McVay said. “We could be a better team this year, and I think we’ve got a chance to do that, and it might not mean we win a Super Bowl, because there are a lot of things that take place throughout the course of a game — the bounce of a ball here — certain things that are out of your control.”

The Rams lost in Super Bowl LIII to close out the 2018 season, and the following year, they went 9-7 and missed the playoffs for the only time in McVay’s head coaching career. McVay said it had more to do with bad bounces and bad luck than a Super Bowl hangover.

“A hangover, to me, what that entails is guys think they’re better than they are,” McVay said. “They stop working the right way, complacency sets in and the previous success you think is going to have anything to do with your future success. We’ve got the right kind of guys in our locker room, the right kind of coaches that are intrinsically motivated.”