Report: Sean McVay routinely yelled at Jared Goff, grew frustrated with the QB
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theramswire.usatoday.com]
Cameron DaSilva
It’s not often that a quarterback goes from signing a $134 million contract extension to being traded with a package of picks for a 33-year-old veteran in a span of 18 months, but that’s the exact situation Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams found themselves in. It was a stunning turn of events when the Rams agreed to trade Goff to the Lions for Matthew Stafford in January, two weeks after their season ended, but one that may have been coming for a while.
McVay called out Goff publicly for the first time following the Rams’ Week 12 loss to the 49ers, a game in which the quarterback committed three turnovers. But that wasn’t the start of McVay’s frustration with Goff.
According to Lindsey Thiry of ESPN, the relationship began to deteriorate in 2019 when the Rams came up short of the postseason and Goff regressed significantly from the year prior. Thiry spoke to more than two dozen sources, which included Rams players, coaches and executives, to uncover what went wrong between Goff and McVay.
For the most part, McVay publicly backed Goff as his quarterback, but privately and on the sidelines, there was clear tension between them. McVay regularly yelled at Goff on the sideline and after the Rams’ loss to the 49ers last season, he called out the quarterback in the locker room in front of players and coaches.
Tension with Goff had grown. On the sideline, McVay would routinely yell at his quarterback, but some noticed there came a point when McVay wouldn’t circle back to apologize. Some chalked it up to the competitive environment, others to McVay’s inability to hide his frustration with Goff.
For Goff, it became increasingly difficult how often his coach took aim at him — whether on the sideline, in meetings or the practice field.
“Sean lost touch with how much he was breaking Jared down, but there’s got to be the build back up,” a league source said. “[McVay] was either unaware or disinterested in protecting Jared’s confidence.”
According to a league source cited by ESPN, “it gradually became more hostile, with McVay cussing out Goff, and Goff would feel crushed.” That’s not the picture McVay painted publicly with Goff, often complimenting the quarterback throughout their time together in L.A., so it comes as somewhat of a surprise.
But his frustration was warranted. Goff was slow to process things on the field, particularly in the seconds after the snap. He struggled to recognize coverages and blitzes, which led to turnovers and mistakes that put the Rams’ backs against the wall defensively.
McVay is an excellent play caller, but even his scheme couldn’t help Goff. It got to the point where McVay felt every call had to be perfect for Goff to succeed.
McVay told people around him he felt as though he had to call every play perfectly for Goff. And Goff felt increasingly micromanaged as McVay continuously ramped up the complexity of his offense in an attempt to outscheme the defense, a league source said.
Goff was McVay’s first and only full-time quarterback as head coach of the Rams, but he got the chance to call a game with John Wolford under center in Week 17. According to the report, players were excited about Wolford starting the season finale and the playoff game against Seattle, with a team source saying those were the Rams’ “best weeks of practices.”
McVay’s confidence in Wolford even got to the point where he would’ve started him against the Packers in the divisional round if he had recovered from a neck injury in time. That opportunity to draw up a game plan for a new quarterback played a role in the Rams’ decision to move on from Goff, something Les Snead said himself in his free agency press conference.
However, if it were not for Wolford’s injury, several sources said McVay would have started him against the Packers.
When asked if Wolford would have started if he were available, McVay avoided answering the question.
“[McVay] was totally all-in 100 percent on starting Wolford over Goff,” a league source said.
“When we found out John couldn’t go,” a team source said, “we felt defeated.”
This report paints a clear picture of how the split between McVay and Goff came about. Goff clearly didn’t have the quick-processing skills or field vision that fit McVay’s needs. And for McVay, the constant turnover issues and costly mistakes ate away at him in a year where the Rams had the No. 1 defense in the NFL.
The opportunity to acquire Stafford was too good to pass up for McVay and Snead, even at the cost of admitting Goff’s contract was a mistake. Now they both get a chance to start over with a proven quarterback who excels at reading defenses and creating big plays.
