TRANSCRIPT: Rams QB Jared Goff - Media Availability - September 30, 2019

TRANSCRIPT: Rams Head Coach Sean McVay, QB Jared Goff - Media Availability - September 30, 2019

Rams Head Coach Sean McVay
(On any injury updates to S Taylor Rapp, CB Marcus Peters and LB Bryce Hager)
“(L Bryce (Hager) and (S) Taylor (Rapp) wouldn’t have been participants today had we practiced. Ankle (injury for Rapp) and then it’s a stinger with Bryce. With Marcus, just because he didn’t come back in the game, he cleared the concussion assessment, all the things that you have to go through if you see a hit that looks like that. But, he got a little bit of a facial laceration – or something like that – from the shot. He’s feeling good, didn’t have any affects and he totally passed – he wasn’t in concussion protocol, but he passed the assessment. He didn’t have any symptoms, so he’ll be in good shape.”

(On if Rapp is expected to play on Thursday night)
“Those guys (Rapp and Hager) will be day-to-day. It will probably end up being a game-time decision on those guys.”

(On what he saw from QB Jared Goff after watching the film of Sunday’s game)
“I saw a lot of opportunities. Anytime you have that many opportunities to really throw the football, there’s going to be – I thought he (QB Jared Goff) made some really great plays and there’s a couple things that you’re always going to want back. I think that’s the normal assessment when you really look at a quarterback, especially with the amount of attempts, some of the different things they were doing. I thought he stood tall in the pocket, I thought he kept his eyes down the field, took some shots and just kept firing. When you go down 21-0, the flow of the game is totally predicated on, ‘All right, let’s find a way to get back in it.’ You’ve got a two-minute drive at the end of the half and they were able to score and we kind of really never got back into our normal down and distance operation where he could be underneath the center, have some run-pass balance and things like that. I think that puts a lot of stress on the quarterback, on the offensive line, based on how we felt like was the best way to move the ball. I thought he did a lot of good things.”

(On if Goff is throwing as accurately this season compared to last season)
“Yeah, I think so. That’s as many attempts as we’ve ever had. That’s never an ideal approach, but the thing that I think you can take away is, we made no excuses. We didn’t get it done and give the Bucs credit. To be able to continue to battle when you end up saying, ‘All right, we’re not getting points off of our first three possessions.’ Then it’s 21-0 and then six of the next seven possessions, he led us on scoring drives. I think that says a lot about the guys’ mental toughness, their ability to continue to compete. There’s no such thing as – you want to try to get the win however you can. We didn’t get that done and that’s why we’re fortunate to have an opportunity this week – on a short week – to try and redeem ourselves.”

(On if he has any concern with Goff’s fumbles through the first four weeks of the season)
“I think overall we’ve got to take better care of the football. We’ve got seven turnovers in the last two games and that’s going to be really hard to win. Other than points, that’s the greatest indicator of wins and losses – that turnover margin. There’s definitely a lot of instances you talk about two hands on the ball in the pocket, things like that. But when the pocket collapses, the rush is coming and you pull you hand off the ball to be able to try and deliver it, and sometimes guys get their hands in there. Those are things that, inevitably, occur at the quarterback position. Want to try and minimize those as much as possible, but those are things that happen to everybody.”
(On if there is a reason why the offense used RB Todd Gurley II as a receiver more than a runner in the beginning of the game)
“We wanted to get him (RB Todd Gurley II) involved. Really, we had five penalties in the first 20 plays, too. When you’re getting some of those false starts, now you’re in first-and-15. The approach and the way that we ended up kind of wanting to attack those guys ended up being a little bit altered just based on the way the flow of the game played out. He gets involved, he has a couple touchdowns, has seven catches. You could see we did want to try and get him involved early. And really, any touch that we can get the ball in Todd’s hands we feel like is a good thing.”

(On the penalties that were made by veteran players)
“Different reasons for all of those. Ultimately, it’s about our offense doing a better job of not beating ourselves. That’s everybody being on the same page. Making sure that when we do change up the cadence, we do a good job of everybody understanding why we’re doing that, settling in. I think just the consistency and the rhythm that we want to be able to operate with and stay in those normal down-and-distances is going to be vital or us moving forward. Something that we’ll look at and make sure that we try to get corrected.”

(On the defense saying they did not come out with enough energy and if he got a sense that players were looking past the Buccaneers)
“I didn’t sense that. For us to every come out without complete sense of urgency, obviously I feel responsible for that if that is the case. I’ve got to do a better job making sure that we understand how precious each week is. I certainly think our guys do understand that. Credit the Bucs, they made a lot of plays. I do think that that performance was uncharacteristic of what we’re capable of as a team. One game will never define us and that’s why we’re hopeful to respond the right way in a really tough atmosphere against the division opponent on Thursday.”

(On who would likely start if LB Bryce Hager is not able to start on Thursday)
“(L Troy (Reeder) would probably in those situations. He did a nice job stepping in yesterday. He had six tackles and about 18 snaps – I want to say – that he played. He did a nice job, but there’s always some things dependent upon the specific defensive personnel grouping we’re in that would really better be able to answer that. As we’re putting our gameplan together, if he doesn’t go, then we’ll have a little bit more clarity as the week progresses.”

(On what this week’s schedule looks like since it is a short week with the game on Thursday against the Seahawks)
“It really looks like tomorrow ends up being a combination of Wednesday and Thursday in a walk-thru setting. We’re basically having like a two-a-day. So, you have meetings, then you walk-thru, a little bit of a break for lunch, things like that. Then more meetings, another walk-thru that will kind of simulate a condensed version of Wednesday and Thursday. Then, on actually Wednesday, we’ll go through what would be an in-season Friday and a jog-thru type setting. Kind of put the final touches on our gameplan so you have a jog-thru, if you will. It will still kind of be a walk-thru with meetings on Wednesday morning and then we’ll travel to Seattle on Wednesday, midafternoon.”

(On if there is anything, he can take care of last minute on Thursday during the day with the game taking place in the evening)
“It’s pretty similar to what we did when we played against Cleveland on Sunday night. We’ll have morning meetings, we’ll get the guys and have an activation on Thursday morning. We’ll have some meetings and walk-thru, then get them off their feet. It’s a kick off at 5:20 p.m. in our head, so it’s not too long of a day.”

(On what he needs to do when he looks at playing the Seahawks and QB Russell Wilson)
“He does a great job. He’s got some good weapons. (Seahawks Offensive Coordinator) Coach (Brian) Schottenheimer does an excellent job being able to move the launch point. They’ve obviously done an outstanding job really over the last few years being able to establish the run. Their ability to create where he can change that launch point off some of those run actions. You look at the drop back game too, he’s one of the best for a reason. He can create in the pocket, he can create out of the pocket. He’s one of those guys that make so many plays. He’s an elite competitor and it’s going to be a great challenge for us. This is a really, really good football team. We have a whole lot of respect for the Seahawks. They know us, we know them. They’ve done some great things to be able to adjust and adapt some of their systems over the last year and they’ve gotten better. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Rams QB Jared Goff
(On if there is anything that can be learned after the Tampa Bay game)
“Again, like we’ve been saying for the last couple of weeks, just starting off a little bit quicker. I think there is a lot of stuff that is surprisingly good that you take out of that game, especially from a pass-game standpoint that we were able to do late in that game. To get ourselves all the way back from that hole, it’s rare. We were close to finishing it off and unfortunately didn’t. There is no moral victory, but a lot of teams let that bury them early on and aren’t able to climb out. Unfortunately we were, but it wasn’t enough. I think just early on, like we’ve talked about, just getting everything rolling, staying smooth and trying to eliminate some of the mental errors and some of the stuff that is easily fixable.”

(On having the most completions in NFL history and third-most pass attempts and if it felt like college)
“It did feel like a lot, it did feel like college, too. It felt a lot like (University of California) Cal. I know that’s not a world that we want to live in, it’s not built for success that way. Unfortunately, we were down early and had to use that as our gameplan and I don’t think that’s something we want to live by.”

(On how he evaluates his performance)
“I think just like I mentioned, there was a lot of good and a lot of bad. I think there’s some plays that I thought were really good and some were really bad. I think you try to evaluate each one by their own entity and try not to group any together. We dropped back, I think what it was 68 times or something, maybe even 70 including a sack or so. You try to take that with a grain of salt, knowing that it is going to be a little bit different sample size. Again, there was some stuff that I was really happy with. A lot of stuff in the pass game with myself upfront and the receives actually was good, but it wasn’t enough to win. We need to be a lot better.”

(On if his fumbles have been discussed and if it’s something that is being worked on)
“It’s really happened when I’m throwing. So, it is something that I’m conscious of, but I have to throw. It’s really happened when I’m bringing the ball back and it’s just been a coincidence. I’ve prided myself in ball security and taking care of the football and not turning the ball over throughout my career. That’s something I need to do a better job of for sure. It starts in practice, just being better in practice every day and moving that into the game.”

(On if he feels the game against Tampa Bay a wake-up call)
“I think it’s just going to be good for us to look back on it’s something that we will learn from. I think it’s something that kind of created a little bit more urgency with everyone and understanding that we do want to win every game. It is hard to do that, but at the same time, we need to play better regardless of win or loss. We need to execute better and be ourselves and do what we do. If we do that, we should be fine.”

(On how he would explain the team’s mood)
“We’re fine, we’re 3-1, we are in a good place. I think I’ve certainly been a part of a lot worse than this and I know a lot of the guys on this team have as well. You look at it with good perspective. The first quarter of the season we went 3-1, we are still in a great place, we’ve got a nice division game this week to get a chance to go up there to Seattle and hopefully do some good things.”

(On how he likes playing at Seattle)
“It’s loud, it should be loud, it should be rocking, Thursday nighter. It should be fun, it should be a good one.”

(On DE Jadeveon Clowney changing the defense)
“He’s a great player and has been for a long time. I think anytime you have a really good pass rusher like that, you have to be aware of him and know where he’s at. We’re going to play our game and we have good O-linemen to block as well, but (DE) Jadeveon’s (Clowney) a great player and we’ll be aware of him.”

(On what he means by saying they need to play better)
“I think there’s a multitude of things. I don’t think over the last four games, I wouldn’t say we executed extremely poorly. We just probably didn’t execute up to our standard. We did go 3-1 and we did win some games and we did do some good things offensively. I think yesterday’s a perfect example where we did execute well on a lot of fronts, we did do a lot of good things. Just consistency and doing it for the whole game was not there and I think that speaks better to what we need to do better - Just be more consistent, be more focused play in and play out. It starts with me and it starts with every play and everyday in practice just being better and just continuing to raise that standard and raise our level of play.”

(On if there has been an adjustment period for their offensive line this year compared to last year)
“I don’t think that’s any part of it. I think they’ve done a good job both those guys. I think (C) Brian (Allen) stepped in really well and has become a leader up there and making the calls and doing everything he should be and (OL) Joe (Noteboom) is doing a great job in his own way too. I think it’s been good seeing them grow they’re both still young of course and still learning but we’ve got good players up front. That’s not a problem and they’re doing a great job and working their butt off everyday and I expect them to continue to be hard on themselves as well as all of us our. They’re doing a great job and expect them to continue to get better.”

(On how the team came together for the town after the Woolsey fire and Borderline shooting last year)
“It was a tough time. It all happened so fast and I think parts of it were overshadowed by the fires and you kind of forget what happened with Borderline. It’s so close to home here and it hit so close that you’re so effected by it. I tried to be the best leader I could be in that situation and I know there’s nothing I could ever do to ever be able to help the families with their loss. Just trying to ease some of it. I think we were able to do that raising some of the money through California Strong. Then with the fires it was the same type of thing just trying to ease some people’s pain. I think last year, that Kansas City game was a great example of trying to do that as well as raising money and just trying to be comforting, be a safe haven for those people.”

(On if his division is tougher this year)
“Few good teams in our division. We got four good teams. It’s tough every year and up to this point there’s three teams with three wins. It should be a tough one, we’ll be excited to go try to repeat for the third time.”



--RAMS--