Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Media Availability – October 11, 2017



(Opening Remarks)

“From an injury standpoint, we gave (OLB Connor) Barwin, (C John) Sullivan and (T Andrew) Whitworth their typical day of rest on Wednesdays. (L Mark Barron was out today with a knee. He should be good though. (S) Lamarcus (Joyner) was a limited participant and (C Troy Hill was out today with his shoulder.”



(On QB Jared Goff having a career-high 47 pass attempts on Sunday and if he plans on trying to reduce that number)

“Yeah, I think so. I think ideally you would like to have that run-pass balance a little bit closer than what it was the other day. I think a lot of that too is predicated on, at the end of the half we’re in a two-minute situation where you throw it three straight times. Then at the end of the game we had a clock and then we had a couple other situations where it’s kind of known passing downs. The other thing too is that we struggled on some first downs. Credit to them, they did a nice job. So, we got into some more of those second-and-longs where you are a little bit more inclined to throw the football – kind of lose some of that run-pass balance, but in an ideal world we’d like it to be a little bit more like it was earlier on in the season, just so that we can maintain that balance like we talk about.”



(On if he had a chance to work out some other players at punt return)

“Yeah, we did. (WR) Cooper (Kupp) and (WR) Pharoh (Cooper) did a nice job there fielding those. It’s looking like probably Pharoh will be the guy that will do that for us, but Cooper has done it already where you really look at in some of those punt save situations, very sure handed. But, I think when you look at the role that he has offensively and then how well Pharoh’s done as far as a returner as a kick returner, feel a lot of confidence in him and that’s more likely the direction that we will go. But, both those guys will continue to get work throughout the week.”



(On what he saw out of S Lamarcus Joyner at practice today)

“Yeah, he looked good with his movement and we were smart with him. I think he’s getting a feel. Tomorrow will really offer a great feel for us in terms of we’ll ramp up the tempo a little bit, we’ll put the pads on. So, that will give us a better indicator of kind of where Lamarcus is at and how his hamstring handles a little bit heavier workload and then I think that will give us an idea if he’ll be ready to go against Jacksonville or not.”



(On how he will manage the time zone changes for the trip to Jacksonville and then the trip to London and if that changes up the team’s routine)

“It does. That’s one of those things where really (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach) Ted (Rath) and (Director of Sports Medicine/Performance) Reggie (Scott), they’ve done a great job kind of looking into it as far as how we want to adjust right away and it starts with when we leave on Friday as far as some of the sleep schedules and different things on when we’re getting guys up. They’re a lot more educated on that than I am, but I trust their advice and we’re going to follow a very strict routine to try to get those guys acclimated to the East Coast time zone as quickly as possible and then once we travel to London that following Thursday, it’ll be some of the same approaches. But, we will have a lot of different things in place to try to get those guys on a good sleep schedule and adjusted to that time zone.”





Rams QB Jared Goff – Media Availability– October 11, 2017



(On how he can better protect the football against Jacksonville, who leads the league in interceptions and sacks)

“They are a good defense and have a done a great job creating turnovers this year, so we have to be careful about that. Definitely our goal every game is to protect the football and take care of the ball, but this game’s going to be an emphasis for sure.”



(On how well he knows the areas that were impacted by the Northern California wildfires)

“It’s right there. The city I lived in hasn’t been affected yet, but just north of it has been devastated and it’s been tough to see some people that I know and some people that are friends of friends that have been affected by it. Hopefully they can get it under control soon and hopefully those people can figure out something that will help them with their situation soon.”



(On if he has seen any of the videos from the fires)

“Yeah, it’s brutal. It’s been rough and it’s hard to be down here and kind of see that going on. I know the air quality’s been really bad up there and talk to some people about it everyday. I think it’s getting better. I don’t know exactly the details, but I’ve heard it’s getting better. But for those families that lost their homes I feel for.”



(On if everyone he knows is safe)

“Yeah. Like I said, where I live and where I mainly grew up has not been touched by it.”



(On what he saw after watching last game’s tape that he didn’t initially see coming out of the game)

“I think you just go back to seeing how important it is to take care of the football. There’s a couple plays that stick out. The screen to (R Todd (Gurley) that you know I just maybe got a little lazy on and let it sail a little bit over his head, turned into an interception that took points off the board. The interception I threw to (FS) Earl (Thomas) just being smarter with when I want to make that throw and be aware that there are people around me. And then a handful of plays that you wish you had back that could have possibly changed the game, but we’re trying to move on from that. (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) says it best, don’t let them beat us twice. We feel like we did some good things in that game that could’ve resulted in a different result. But also, we really beat ourselves that day and don’t let them beat us twice and come back in – I thought we had a really good day today.”



(On if he has any experience or memories of playing (Jaguars L Myles Jack when he was in college)

“Yeah, great player. I played against him two years. I believe the third year he was hurt when we played them – I think. I played against him for two years and good player. Really athletic. He was playing running back and linebacker back then and obviously is freaky athletic and a really good football player.”



(On what he can do to better connect with receivers on deep throws)

“I think just through practice, just getting reps and working on it. There’s a couple things that I think we could’ve hit last week that we didn’t. Just continue to work on it. With that being said though, we have hit it. We have had some deep balls hit. So we’ve been up and down, I want to just continue to stay consistent, try and get better at it every day.”



(On WR Sammy Watkins using social media to seem to indicate some frustration with his role in the offense)

“I think Sammy is a really important part of our offense. We’ve obviously chatted about the game and what not. He’s a really important part of our offense and a guy that we do what to get the football to, but by no means do I want to change the way I approach each play and think of it any differently. There are some things I think we can do to get the ball in his hands. He is one of our dangerous players when the ball is in his hands. I told him this – I told other people this – when he gets the ball you get excited with the way he runs and how violent he is. Definitely want to try to get him more involved, but by no means am I going to change my approach play in and play out. Just continue to go through the reads and hopefully he can get some more touches.”



(On if he talked with Watkins about that one route where they weren’t on the same page)

“We talked about it immediately after. Yeah, it’s good, just a miscommunication.”



(On if Watkins has expressed any frustration with him)

“No. He’s a really good dude and a guy that cares about the team and is very unselfish. I think he’s going to come out of this on the right side.”



(On if there is anything he want to improve on after watching film from Sunday’s game against the Seahawks)

“Yeah. I think just like I stressed earlier – just taking care of the football and understanding how important it is and not taking any play for granted. An easy play like a screen is so easy to me it’s just a 1-2-3 throw. But don’t take it for granted and make sure you stay focused on it. Another one, like I said, is just know when there’s people around me and just be aware of that.”



(On what he sees as the strengths of that Jacksonville defense)

“Their whole defense is good. They’ve got a good player at all 11 spots. When you look across the board, it’s one player after another is a good player and a guy that can make a difference. So you just have to be – like I said, careful with the football. With that being said though, we’re going to continue to do what we do and hopefully run the ball well and throw the ball well and try to be aggressive.”



(On if his sense of awareness is heightened after seeing the Jacksonville defense intercept five passes against Pittsburgh last week)

“Yeah, for sure. They’re leading the league in turnovers for a reason. I think you have to be aware of it and I think one thing it will allow them to be is very confident coming into this game, coming off a game like that. They’re going to come in confident looking to make plays on the ball. Yeah, it’s something to be aware of for sure.”