TRANSCRIPTS: Rams HC McVay, OC LaFleur – Media Availability – September 29, 2017

Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Media Availability – September 29, 2017



(Opening Remarks)

“From an injury standpoint, (S) Lamarcus Joyner was out again today. He’ll be out for the game, but he is making good progress with the hamstring. We held (S) Cody Davis out – he had a little tweak in his quad, but he’ll be questionable for the game. Then (C) John Sullivan was a limited participant, he’s questionable as well. Everybody else should be good.”



(On who will play if Joyner and Davis can’t play on Sunday)

“Well, we feel good about the depth that we do have at the safety position. You look at (S) Maurice Alexander, (S) John Johnson (III) is continuing to improve and (D Blake Countess, so those three guys. If that’s the case, (S) Marqui Christian is available as well, so we’ll evaluate that. Lamarcus will be out. We’re optimistic about Cody, but he’s questionable for the game right now.”



(On if WR Sammy Watkins and WR Tavon Austin are out of the concussion protocol)

“Cleared, yes. They are good to go. They were full participants the last couple days and they will be involved and ready to roll on Sunday.”



(On how big of a loss Joyner is)

“He is such a great competitor and he does so many different things for our defense, whether it’s playing the safety position in the base and then when we get into our dime, playing the nickel. Very versatile, but he’s also such a great competitor. The effort, the energy that he plays with snap-in and snap-out, I think that raises the level of play with the guys around him. I talk about it all the time, you feel him when you watch the tape with the way that he plays. Made plays in the pass game, excellent in coverage and I think he’s an excellent player in run support. He’s a great player. We’re going to miss him a lot in this game, especially with just the playmakers that they do have on the offensive side of the ball, but that being said, a lot of confidence in the depth we have at the safety position for guys to step up and then at the nickel spot, we’ve got some corners that can transition in there that have done that throughout the course of their career as well.”



(On if CB Kayvon Webster will start at cornerback)

“Kayvon will be starting, yes. Kayvon and (C Trumaine (Johnson) and then (C Nickell (Robey-Coleman) will be ready to go, he’ll play some of that nickel spot. We’ve got a good rotation of DBs that will be ready to go.”





Rams Offensive Coordinator Matt LaFleur – Media Availability – September 29, 2017



(On if he could have imagined QB Jared Goff starting off so strong this season)

“Yeah, I don’t think I ever went into it with any preconceived expectations or whatever. Our job, just like (Rams Head Coach) Sean (McVay) always talks about is focused on daily improvement and daily excellence, so really for him just to get a little bit better each and every day.”



(On what has impressed him about Goff so far)

“I just think especially in relation to this last game, he threw the ball extremely accurately and was able to hit guys in stride, which allowed them to take 10-yard completions and make them into chunk plays and explosive plays.”



(On how valuable he thinks WR Tavon Austin is to the offense)

“I think anytime you have an explosive player, the defense is going to notice where he is, especially when you’re handing him the ball whether it’s from the backfield or you’re giving it to him on those jet sweeps. The defense definitely has to account for him on each and every play, which in turn opens up some of these other guys in their routes.”



(On if it makes it easier for him to scheme for guys because of the versatility of the wide receiving corps)

“Yeah, I think anytime you’ve got a collection like we do, it’s almost like your basketball roster – you want to have a nice, fluid rotation, keep those guys fresh and then it really inhibits the defense’s ability to really lock on to one guy and take them out of the game. I think we completed seven balls or seven different receivers caught balls last game.”



(On eight different receivers catching passes Week 1 and Week 3)

“I don’t know if it’s unusually high because last year – I guess all you can go on is your past experiences and we had a pretty versatile group where I was at. But, it definitely helps your balance on offense without a doubt.”



(On what it was about the Thursday Night game that allowed WRs Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins to have a lot of success)

“Well, obviously the coverage dictates a lot of the time where you’re going to go with the ball. Again, Jared threw the ball extremely accurately and it allowed those guys to catch and get yards after the catch and then of course Sammy had an unbelievable catch on that go-ball that we threw him. That was incredible tracking ability.”



(On if the ball to Watkins was his favorite Goff throw from that game)

“I think you talk about that third down late in the game, right? Where San Francisco is building some momentum and they’re making it a tighter game and he’s able to progress through his read and get to (R Todd Gurley (II) on a check down on a third and 10 that goes for like 20 yards. That was one of the better ones as well. There were a bunch of them. Anytime you’re 22-of-28 in a game, you’re going to have some pretty good plays.”



(On him wanting Goff to stay in the pocket longer)

“I think there’s certainly a feel to that thing. Sometimes the pocket does break down and you have to escape. I think when that has happened, he’s created some off-schedule plays, so it’s always a fine balance because you don’t want to over talk it and get in their head and feel like he’s got to be a sitting duck in the pocket. It’s a total feel thing for him, but certainly there were some plays, when you go back to last Thursday where you’d like to see him push up in the pocket, as opposed to pushing back maybe.”