Head Coach Sean McVay – Media Availability – November 23, 2017

Head Coach Sean McVay – Media Availability – November 23, 2017

(Opening Remarks)
“From an injury standpoint, (L Mark Barron did not participate with his hand, (R Malcolm Brown with his knee. (R Lance Dunbar did not participate with his knee, (C Nickell (Robey-Coleman) with his thigh. (C Kayvon Webster was limited with his concussion and (WR) Robert Woods did not participate with his shoulder and (L Bryce Hager did not participate with his calf. Everybody else was back.

(On what his confidence level is in terms of CB Kayvon Webster playing on Sunday)
“I feel good about that. I think he’s on track to be available for us, so as long as we don’t have any setbacks I think the anticipation is to be able to have him and then Nickell is still kind of day-to-day for us right now.”

(On what his options would be if Robey-Coleman can’t play)
“Well, you’ve got some guys on the roster. We’ll be able to get (C Troy Hill back, we’ve got some versatility at the safety position where we can move some guys around with (D Blake (Countess), (S) Lamarcus (Joyner). So, those are some things that feeling like you’ve got a handful of guys that can both play the safety, the nickel spot, both corners – it gives you some flexibility. Being able to get Troy back, obviously with Blake being able to play a variety of spots, I think that will help us out and then anticipating on having Kayvon if Nickell isn’t able to go.”

(On what needs to happen to get RB Todd Gurley II going)
“I think we’ve just got to get more plays off, be efficient on those early downs and when we stay out of those long third down situations we’ve been pretty efficient. But, good defense put you in tough spots. We’ve got to do a good job of when we are on the field early, with whether it be the mix of the run and the pass being efficient. When we do that we’ve been able to sustain some drives, get into the third-and-manageables and then you also want to be able to create some explosives. But again, this defense is a challenging defense, they present a variety of issues and just like any other week it’s going to be a great challenge for us. But, I think that’s the key for really our offensive success and typically when we’ve been success offensively, a large part of it is because of Todd’s contributions.

(On if he makes sure that all of his players have a place to go for Thanksgiving)
“Yeah, you make sure just by communicating and I think we’ve got a handful of guys that will be doing things together. Some guys have family in town and it’s the same thing with our coaching staff. We’ve got a connected team and there is a lot of things going on right now, but I think it also presents an opportunity to be thankful for all the blessings that we do have. We had a good day of practice and now let’s enjoy our families and their friends and be able to get away and relax a little bit.



Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips – Media Availability – November 23, 2017

(Opening Remarks)
“Happy Thanksgiving. It’s another revenge game for me – I’ve got Dallas, Houston and now New Orleans. I think I’ve got three or four more (laughs). They’ve got a great offense, (Saints Q Drew Brees, I was lucky enough to be with Drew Brees when he was at San Diego. In fact, we went from 4-12 and the first pick in the draft to 12-4 and won the division, so I know what he can do. I’ve admired him throughout and he’s just an all-time great. But they’ve got the best running game they’ve had since they won the Super Bowl and I think that’s the real key. They’re really powerful offensively now. They can run the ball and win or they can throw the ball and win. Before, it was all on him and this year’s team is different, so it’s a big challenge for us. We had some injuries at the end of the last game that hurt us secondary-wise. (CB Nickell) Robey(-Coleman) will probably be out, but I think (C Kayvon (Webster) will be back. We’ve had a couple guys like (C Blake (Countess) and (S) Lamarcus (Joyner) certainly can play nickel if we need it. So as long as we have one guy out, we should be alright.”

(On if he would be fine with moving S Lamarcus Joyner to nickel or if he would prefer to leave him at safety)
“Well, we’re not going to give away the gameplan yet, but we can do either. Yeah, I mean Lamarcus can play. Robey does such a great job there, but Lamarcus is a great player there too. So, it just depends on where we want to put Lamarcus. He’s a tremendous player wherever we play him, it’s just where we need to play him in this game, so we’ve worked some things out there. You may see him at both.”

(On how he feels about his run defense)
“You know, we’ve been up and down on the run obviously, but you can see a lot of teams are that way. (Cardinals R Adrian Peterson had a tremendous game and then when we played him, he couldn’t make the line of scrimmage. So, we can play good run defense and I think we will – it’s a work in progress. Points are the key thing. I think we get overzealous on how many yards they made sometimes – or didn’t make, or what they made rushing or passing. You’ve got to keep them out of the end zone, you’ve got to keep them from scoring. We had a game that was 7-7 last week going into the fourth quarter against a pretty good team on the road. Now, we’re playing at home against a really good offensive team, too, so that’s going to be challenge. But it’s week-to-week on trying to improve in every area.”

(On what kind of problems the Saints running backs cause)
“They remind me of Atlanta last year. You know, one guy can – two different backs, but they’re both especially good. One of them is more into the running game, the other is more into the passing game, so both of them give you problems at both. (Saints RB Alvin) Kamara is really the big threat out of the backfield and of course (Saints RB Mark) Ingram is running the ball. But, they can do either one, so planning for both of them is not easy because like I said, they can interchange or both do run and pass. But you’ve got stop Ingram from running the football and I think you’ve got to stop the other guy from catching the ball as much as you can and then try to hold them down in the other area.”

(On if there is anything that he can do to increase the sacks this week)
“We had a lot of pressure on (Vikings QB Case Keenum) him and I think he played really well. I think he played well again today. They hadn’t been sacked in four games going into our game, I’m not sure they got sacked today either. Their protection was good. I still thought we had a lot of pressure. Obviously, the one where he had two guys miss him and he ducked out of it and they ended up scoring on that drive, so we’ve got to make the plays when we get there. I still think our rush is good. We have a good rush team and of course we have (DT) Aaron Donald, if you can get him one-on-one, which he did quite a bit, he gave him a lot of pressure.”

(On DT Tanzel Smart’s decrease in snaps)
“Yeah, I mean we’re looking at different people to see how they fit. We know (DT Michael) Brockers plays end real well. We’re looking at a couple guys at the nose guard rotating in. I think (DE) Ethan (Westbrooks) has got a lot of ability. We put him in there and I think he really came along during the game. We felt like he’s a guy that can play that position, but it’s a position change for him, so I think he’ll get stronger and stronger as we go. He’s a powerful guy.”

(On if Westbrooks played nose tackle)
“He did play. He started at nose. He started and ended the game and played quite a bit.”

(On if there is anything he can do to surprise Saints QB Drew Brees)
“No. Not only does he see things, he studies. If a guy has a different stance, if a guy puts his hands on his hips and does this (motions to his hips) then he’s doing to blitz – he knows those things too. He’s a really smart guy, but he utilizes it. Like a lot of players in the league, a lot of players have talent, but he has great talent and he learned to utilize it. So, I admire him for the way he prepares. The Peyton Manning type preparation, that’s Drew Brees.”


RB Todd Gurley II – Media Availability – November 23, 2017

(On what he sees from the New Orleans Saints defense)
“Obviously, they’ve won eight straight and they’re playing great ball. You see some flaws here and there, but for the most part they’re playing together. They have (DE) Cameron Jordan, he’s one of the great, elite pass rushers. They’ve got (S Kenny) Vaccaro back. He’s a great safety who always has a knack for the ball. (S Vonn) Bell is always making plays, not sure about (CB Marshon) Lattimore, but he’s been an outstanding rookie so far and then (LB Manti) Te’o and (LB Craig) Roberston and those guys have been playing pretty good. It’s going to be a big challenge for us and then obviously they’ve got (Q Drew Brees. Maybe it’s one of those 10-7 games, but with a guy like Drew Brees at quarterback it definitely could be a shootout as well. They have a great defense, a great offense and they’re a great team. They’re on a roll right now.”

(On what he remembers about playing the Saints last year)
“All I remember was I wasn’t playing in the fourth quarter because we were getting beat so bad, so that’s not a good thing. Obviously, we had (former Rams Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Greg) Williams there and (Saints Head) Coach (Sean) Payton was trying to get after him, so hopefully it won’t be too aggressive this year. But like I said, good thing we’re not playing in the dome (Mercedes-Benz Superdome) with those guys winning eight straight. That’s definitely a tough environment to play in. It definitely wasn’t good, but it was (QB Jared) Goff’s first start. He had a great game against those guys last year.”

(On when the Saints ran a flea-flicker up 21 points last year)
“Yeah, we tried to do the exact same play like three weeks later and (WR) Pharoh Cooper threw an interception (laughs). So, I definitely remember that play as well.”

(On if he ever had an issue with the Saints running that play given how much they were leading by)
“It’s football. If you don’t want nobody to score, then stop them. That’s always been my philosophy is let’s run the score up – I feel like that now. We’ve got a high-powered offense it’s like, ‘Hey, we’ve been getting our tails kicked the last 10 years, so let’s do the opposite now.’ But like I said, if you don’t want nobody to score on you, then stop them.”

(On if he thinks about how much the Rams are going to need points considering how high powered the Saints offense is)
“Yeah, it’s like us – we’re a top 10 offense. If you’re playing against a top 10 offense and expect yourself to…obviously like I said, it could be a 10-7 game, but at the end of the day you have to get your mind prepared for that. At the end of the day he’s a Hall of Fame quarterback for a reason, he’s going to make plays. But, also we have a great defense where I believe those guys can stop him. For a game like that and you’ve got two great running backs in (Alvin) Kamara and (Mark) Ingram right now and those guys are lights out too. So like I said, you just have to get mind mentally prepared for that. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but you just have to know that you have to be on your A game come Sunday.”

(On if he has always had consciousness of who he is going up against from a personnel standpoint dating back to when he was in college)
“No. More in college it was more picking out the weak link, I want to go at this guy this week. I don’t know, man. We’re up here all the time. Like I said ‘Sully’s’ (C John Sullivan) been doing a great job just being in the protection room with the O-line and the quarterbacks just knowing that and seeing those looks over and over again. And then just having a level of respect for those guys. Like last week, those guys were great defense and they showed why they were a great defense. These guys won eight in a row so you have to know who you’re going against and also respect who you’re going against as well.”

(On if he noticed the Vikings doing anything to eliminate him in the running game)
“They just did a great job. They came in there, executed. Week-in and week-out that’s going to be the teams focus to stop the run. They know you’re going to get the ball, but at the end of the day, can they stop it? Last week they stopped it. So hopefully this week we can come back and get some things rolling, get the pass game going, get the run game going, get back to how (we’ve been) playing all year.”