TRANSCRIPT: Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Media Availability – September 18, 2020

TRANSCRIPT: Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Media Availability – September 18, 2020
(On if he is going to stick with a facemask or face shield)
“You know what? I have some options; I have a lot of options. (Vice President, Sports Medicine and Performance) Reggie (Scott) got me this thing. So, maybe I'll put that on, who the heck knows, but I'll try and make sure that I'm doing a lot better than I did so that I don't have to answer your guys’ questions about it (laughs).”

(On how preparation for Sunday’s game against the Eagles has been going)
“It’s good. The guys have had a good week. I think what we try to really do is make sure that we make the practice week stressful so that we can work through all the problems, solve those and then hopefully they don't come up or when they do we're able to seamlessly kind of adjust and adapt accordingly. But I know that this is going to be a really good football team we're going against. (Eagles Head) Coach (Doug) Pederson has done an excellent job. They've consistently responded after, you know, tough outings or performances or disappointing setbacks. This is a resilient team with a lot of great players. So, I know our guys have to be ready to go and peaking at the right time.”

(On TE Gerald Everett’s status for Sunday’s game)
“We put him as questionable, but he ended up going today. He felt good. I fully expect him to be ready to go.”

(On how he thinks RB Cam Akers did in last Sunday’s game and what he’d like to see from him in game two)
“I think he did a nice job. I thought number one, he protected the football. I thought he had some tough, hard-earned runs. He put his pads down and sometimes if it's a dirty run game where, you know, they do a good job of kind of getting off and there's not sometimes a lot of space, putting your pads down and getting on a first-and-10 to second-and-6 is a positive thing for us. So, I think he'll just continue to improve. I think, like anything else, you can just feel the guys that have played a lot of football. It's a different atmosphere without the fans, but it's still a big-time game with a lot at stake and you could feel that. Even though you know that it’s got a different feel when you're actually playing, in terms of the noise and the atmosphere, it felt like an NFL football game and you appreciate the guys that have done it a lot. They had that look in their eye, like they're ready to go. And then I thought our rookies did a nice job, but like anything else, those first experiences are going to be really valuable learning ops for them. And so, I think a lot of the guys that were younger players that maybe haven't played as much, did do a good job of getting better throughout the course of the game. I mean, you even look at a guy that played really well like (IL Micah Kiser, he had to get his feet underneath him after those first couple of snaps and then he settled in and played really well. So, I just expect him to improve and we'll see if he gets some more opportunities this week.”

(On helping a rookie navigate from success in college into the pros)
“I think it's really powerful when you have the guys in place that demonstrate that day in and day out with their teammates and then that's exactly what we're supposed to do as coaches. Part of the thing that we do in our evaluation process though, is try to identify players that love the game, that know how to prepare, that have done things in their previous history, whether college high school, that you just project them to be able to make a seamless transition because of the things that you look for that you think are important for them to be pro’s pros, as you would say. I think a lot of those guys that we've drafted and identified over the last couple years fit that mold. That’s why when they come in, you feel confident that they've got an opportunity to contribute immediately.”

(On Running Backs Coach Thomas Brown)
“There's just certain people that have a great way about themselves that one of their special traits is to be able to connect authentically with people. That’s definitely one of (Running Backs) Coach (Thomas) Brown's great traits. He's got a high capacity for football and he's got a command. He’s got a really approachable personality, but he's also got just such a command that people want to listen when he speaks. He’s got a nice confidence, but a humility about himself that I think is comforting to the players. He’s demanding on them. He played the position at the highest level. He has total ownership and autonomy of everything that we're doing offensively, what's going on defensively. He’s a great coach that's probably an even better person. Those players feel that, you know, it's, you hear coach (Former UCLA Basketball Head) Coach (John) Wooden say all the time, ‘People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And I think those players know how much he cares.’”

(On the status of WR Robert Woods’ contract)
“It's progressing. I know there's conversations. I hope to be able to have some positive news over the next couple of days, if not sooner than that. But like I said, that's something that's important to us and we're hopeful to be able to get that taken care of for (WR) Robert (Woods) in the near future.”

(On if his role has changed from his normal approach since adding on new offensive staff members)
“That's a good question. I think you're still feeling it out. I think what I wanted to try to do is just be more present with our team – be around defense, special teams and the offense a little bit more. Be around the staff members a little bit more. I think I've done a little bit better at that. If you asked me Week 6, I hope hopefully I'll be able to answer that same question the same way. So, but adding those guys has been huge in terms of being able to just kind of step back, if that's what you're asking. That's definitely something that I'm trying to do as well. We've got great coaches that you want to be able to empower them and give them the autonomy and the ownership to be able to get in front of the room, lead their position groups or their units and we've got that with a lot of our coaches. So, that's a comforting thing that does enable you to be a little bit more present. Just kind of being around as opposed to just installing or doing things like that. So, it has been a better rhythm and a routine that I think will be more sustainable and hopefully we can continue with this.”

(On why RB Cam Akers didn’t know that he was starting until the day of the game and if there is a protocol on when they tell rookies that they will or won’t start a game)
“It was really just because you're really just talking about the first snap. We knew all three of those guys that we were going to get involved and (R Darrell (Henderson Jr.) just a little bit less because he was coming off the hamstring, but we knew that (R Cam (Akers) and (R Malcolm (Brown) were going to play significant roles who you deem as taking the first snap. That was something that (Running Backs Coach) Thomas (Brown) and I spoke about, and that was what we felt and then we communicated that to the group accordingly. But we feel good about those three and that's really how we look at it. Malcolm ended up doing a phenomenal job. I expect him to do the same this week but might see a couple more opportunities for Darrell.”

(Clarification on if the decision to start Akers was made on Sunday)
“Yeah. Really, they like the decision. When you say like ‘starting’, I look at it as a little bit different than the guys like playing the whole game. It was really just a decision on who do you let take the first snap? Because you saw, if you look at the snap counts, Malcolm play the majority of the snaps. So, it was just exclusively for who we wanted to have play that first drive. And I think for a lot of reasons, getting those rookies in the flow of a game early to get some of those nerves out, whether it's getting (WR) Van (Jefferson) in there earlier, getting Cam, we felt like that was an important thing with guys that are kind of going to be rotational players like those two in particular.”

(On if it meant something to Akers to start his first NFL game)
“I think it did. I mean, I think he knows that he's going to have an important role. I do see it a little bit differently in terms of who takes the first snap, isn't necessarily as important as it is the group that we feel really good about and that's my approach. But I think it was probably a really cool thing for Cam.”

(On the match-up between WR Cooper Kupp and CB Nickell Robey-Coleman and the decision to use CB Troy Hill)
“Yeah, (C Nickell (Robey-Coleman) and Cooper definitely made each other better. You look at whether it's in one-on-ones or just in the team period, seven-on-seven, you can see why he's one of the special nickels in this league. He’s got great short-space quickness and lateral agilities. He's got great instincts too. His concept trigger is as good as anybody I've seen. You see the amount of plays he makes in the screen game, but he's just got a great feel. I think it's going to be a great match up between those two on Sunday. They have a good familiarity with one another, so it'll be fun to watch. And then with (C Troy Hill, a lot of the same things that you loved about Robey. Troy was that rare kind of guy that can start on the outside, he can start on the inside, but the instincts, you see his ability to negotiate traffic. He's tough. Whether you send him as a blitzer, whether you end up having him cover on a two-way go, all those things that you look for from the instincts, the awareness, the toughness, the ability to be able to, kind of, just mirror inside, because that's a tough deal when guys have a two-way go and usually those guys have access because they're off the line of scrimmage. Those are the things that we liked so much about Troy and he's done a phenomenal job.”
--RAMS--