A look at what the 4-10 Rams still have to play for

A look at what the 4-10 Rams still have to play for

Alden Gonzalez

LOS ANGELES -- Jeff Fisher, speaking in an exclusive interview with Fox Sports, his first since being let go as the Los Angeles Rams' coach, said he was "a little caught off guard" by being fired last Monday, particularly with a Thursday game looming against the Seattle Seahawks.

“I’d just recently had signed an extension,” Fisher said in his interview with Charissa Thompson, edited down to three minutes and 30 seconds in an online video. “Knew things were getting tough, I knew that, but I didn’t anticipate this. I always thought, depending on what happens the last three weeks, that there may be that potential with the season being over. But I was a little caught off guard with the short week.”

Fisher signed an extension through 2018 before the start of the season. But news of that occurrence did not leak until the morning of Dec. 4, and the organization didn't do anything beyond confirm it. Fisher reiterated in the interview that it was "never my place to announce the extension" and said he didn't believe the situation was handled appropriately, something Rams COO Kevin Demoff admitted last week.

Regardless, Fisher had a whole lot of draft picks -- a lot of them acquired in the 2012 trade with the Redskins that allowed Washington to select Robert Griffin III -- and a whole lot of time to get the Rams turned around. But they didn't finish better than 7-8-1 and had lost eight of nine by the time owner Stan Kroenke decided to let Fisher go, with an offense that was once again the least productive in the NFL and a fan base in Los Angeles that had grown irate with the head coach.

Fisher stressed in his interview that it was his choice -- "It was our choice," he added -- to trade up to draft Jared Goff No. 1 overall earlier this spring. He stated that Goff is "no doubt" going to be a franchise quarterback, added that he didn't believe he was "ever part of seeing the new stadium" and said his "dream scenario" would be "a chance to play the Rams."

He also owned up to not doing his part.

"Bottom line is I didn't win," Fisher said. "I didn't win enough games. New market, that's important. And I'll take responsibility for that."
The Rams are moving on now, in the early stages of their search for a new coach that they hope will make them consistent winners at least by the time they transition into their new facility in Inglewood, California, for the 2019 season. But they still have a season to play out. Coming off their 24-3 loss to the Seahawks, which dropped them to 4-10, several Rams players talked about putting good games on film to finish out the season, especially with a new coach looking to evaluate what to do with the roster moving forward.

The Rams stress that they remain motivated, with home games left against the San Francisco 49ers on Christmas Eve and the Arizona Cardinals on New Year's Day. Here's a look at what can still drive them.

Goff's progress: Goff took a vicious hit from Richard Sherman in the fourth quarter on Thursday night and finished the game in concussion protocol. But he seemed fine afterward, and the nine days between games will help him get ready. The Rams would love to see more progress out of Goff, which has been slow to come by. Through five games, Goff has a 24.5 Total QBR, while completing 54.7 percent of his passes and throwing for 5.46 yards per attempt. A lot of those struggles fall on a receiving corps that has dropped too many passes and an offensive line that is allowing too much pressure. But Goff has also missed a lot of throws he should make. He needs the reps.


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