Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Coach McVeigh Show, presented
by Microsoft Surface.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm JB.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Long with DeMarco Farr and Sean McVay. The Rams coming
off their first win as you are well aware, and
off to Chicago for a week for this week. Good
to see a Sean.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Good see you guys. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, how you feeling
feel good? You know? I was proud of the team.
I think what was important is that we took a
step in the right direction, and sometimes that can be
reflected by getting the result you want. Sometimes it might
not be reflected. But I wanted to see improvement, wanted
to see growth, wanted to see us compete to the
best of our ability stay in the fight, and there was.
(00:42):
There was a lot of things that unfolded in that
game where we made it hard on ourselves early and
you don't take away any of the credit San Francisco deserves.
They jump out to a fourteen zero lead, They had
some things that they did that you know, you give
them a ton of credit for, but our guys kept
battling and I thought there was great examples. I thought
special teams came up huge to be able to do
some things that led to really our first scoring drive offensively,
(01:06):
got some stops at the right times defensively, and then
we were able to create enough and sustain some drives
and get some momentum that ended up leading to the
outcome that we wanted. But there was a lot of grit,
there was a lot of toughness, there was a lot
of fight, and there was definitely some improvement that I
saw and I was I was really proud of the
group and it was a fun day for them.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Going from one week. I mean, you get the w
that's all that matters. You won, But to see what
you said from going from one week, we're going to
challenge each other. I need to see the best out
of you going to this week and then you see
what you did on in so far this weekend. It's
got to make you proud, like you said it did.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
And it wasn't perfect either. You know, there's a lot
of things that we can improve upon, but I think
you know you emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing right. So
there was a handful of things that we did emphasize
that we saw. It helped give us an opportunity to
try to come away with the results that you're hunting
up and now it's like, okay, how do we continue
to do some of those things, and now let's improve
(02:01):
some other things and let's continue to build. We were
talking about it before we started. You know, I'm grateful
that we came out healthy. That hasn't been the case
in the first couple of weeks. It's been kind of unprecedented. Nonetheless,
the season goes on, and so how now do we
establish some rapport with the guys that are playing. How
can we put the work in that allows for that growth,
for that improvement that will lead to a process that
(02:25):
we talk about committing to the daily improvement and the
standards that we have and the rapport that's important, especially
at those specific positions. And there's a lot of things
that we can improve upon. But there was a lot
of cool things that our guys did, and I was
happy and I was proud of them.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
We fully appreciate that you play seventeen nameless, faceless opponents, right,
and each is only worth one, But rivalry is also
matter in this sport. It's what makes it special. Can
you acknowledge that for our city, our fan base like
that that was really worth something?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
No, it was fun and really. You know, that's a
team I don't know. Rivalry is a team that you
old and high regard because their body of work over
the last handful of years has merited that they're they're
they're a really well coached team. I hold Kyle in
the highest of regards. You guys know that they have
great personnel. John Lynch and Kyle do a great job
(03:15):
of acquiring you know, guys that are very similar to
the things that we look for in players. And then
they do a great job of challenging you and testing
you schematically in all three phases, and so we know them,
they know us, but they do a great job. They're
always a really difficult matchup, uh, and for our guys
to be able to just kind of, like I said,
stay in the fight, find a way to make enough
(03:36):
plays to be able to give themselves a chance to
come away with the result. At the end, I was
really proud of them. But that's a quality team. You know,
you know, good football, and they've put you know, good
football on tape consistently year in and year out. And
I got a ton of respect for that guy.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Respect the team, respect the coaches love seeing their fans leave.
That's fair right, love seeing a lot of them there,
but bye love it. Uh, how do you guys stay.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
So I think the percentage was of Niners fans to Rams.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Let's see eighty twenty Rams Niners there.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
They didn't build the escalators wide enough.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
No doubt, yes, sir, But how do you guys stay
so cool and cool and calm, you and your quarterback
in particular when it's it's chaos down?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
You know, here's what I would say, DeMarco. I'm glad
you mentioned that. Not necessarily you know about me, but
I think he had such a great, even keeled demeanor throughout.
I thought he let the game come to him, you know,
when you are behind two possessions or you're behind ten
points as the fourth quarter is going on. I thought
he made great decisions. I thought he was in complete control,
(04:41):
and even though there weren't as many opportunities to throw
the football, I thought he made great decisions. Some of
them were great decisions to throw it away. Thought he
recognized and read coverage. I thought he, you know, made
quick decisions and accurate decisions. And guys believe when he's
got that just confidence in that aura about himself. But
(05:01):
he didn't force anything. You know that, that to me
was why I think everybody kind of knew that. Man,
there was a lot of reasons to feel like the
percentages of the analytics, I'll tell you you're out of
that game, But it never really felt that way because
of you know, how steady and even keeled he was.
And I thought Matthew was in really complete control and
command yesterday, and I thought that gave the rest of
(05:25):
the team kind of a calm and a steadiness that
was needed. And coaches included.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Top ten in the NFL career completions now for Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
But could I make the case that's cool?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
It has been nice to know before the team meeting
where I could have given him.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Some level he was his best completion post game with
the game ball, Yes.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
It was you know what that was a he he
ended up bailing his coach out there. I was so
excited for so many guys. How could I forget my man,
CARDI you know.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I thought you did it on purpose to let QB
one kind of take.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
That's exactly what I got it.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Let's go special teams then, because are right there best
ram special teams game, and who knows how long. You
want to take us inside the fake punt execution first,
because you know, I.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Think what was big. It was a third down and
twelve Tyler Johnson gets six yards. It's a fourteen to
nothing game, JB. And this is something that our guys
had worked on. There was a possibility that the look
could present itself. And thought, excellent snap by Alex Ward
and then what a great job when you really look
at it. You know, I don't know what kind of
shots you guys have of it, but you know for
(06:32):
it to be a great snap to Ronnie. And then
you look at the sellout by Niko Klinitch. He secures
Conley and then to be able to sell out on
Odum on the second level that allows Ronnie to be
able to put his foot in the ground. This is
just a great job. I mean that layout right there
and now he levels it off inside of him. I
think we got six and a half yards we needed
six and that extended the drive and that led to
(06:55):
Karen Williams touchdown reception from fifteen yards out. But true
credit to our special teams as a whole. I thought
Chase Blackburn, Scott Frost did a great job. This is
a great example of practice performance equal in game reality.
We had worked this one. They had an ownership and
an understanding of what the intent was, and they executed
(07:16):
it in a in a key moment that we had
to have. You know, there wasn't a lot of momentum.
This gave us some life and these were one of
those plays that you talk about just keeps you in
that fight. Thought it was great for what that did
in terms of just you know, some positive momentum and
huge job by the special teams. I was really proud
of them.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Ye something about teams when when you hit a big
play it lifts the entire team. Maybe it's because it's
offense and defense working together.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, I think you're right, you know, and really we
needed that. I think we've been at our best when
we're playing complimentary football. And so you end up getting
this fake punt conversion to basically steal a possession, and
what does it lead to, Like if you end up
having the punt back or you don't come away with
points and it's kind of all for not right, But
it led to a touchdown. So now it's a fourteen
seven game, and so this was big. Obviously Xavier Smith's
(08:04):
return was so huge, So happy for him the work
that he's put in to be able to deliver in
a crunch time moment. I thought it was really smart
by Omar Spates, not the block in the back, you know,
as a young player, to make a good decision at
the point of and really at the moment of truth.
Jalen McCullough goals next level to be able to get
that wall set up and then for that to lead
to us being in, you know, right around the fifty
(08:25):
yard line, you know, with you know, a little bit
under a minute left. That was big where you don't
feel like you're really having the press and got a
chance to be able to end the game in regulation,
which our guys did.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
How much did Cardi kick last week out here on
the practice field.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Just kicked one time, you know, on Friday he kicked
went eight for eight and he was perfect in the game.
So we weren't sure until Friday. I remember talking to
him even on Friday, what do you think He's like,
You know, I won't know until I kick, But he
had a good look in his eye and then as
soon as he did, you know, Chase felt good about it.
He felt good about it. Had a really good warm
(08:59):
up and and he delivered in a big way. But
Tanner Brown would have been ready to.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Roll if needed another flatline guy. After the game, I said,
great job, and he said for what Yeah? Yeah, kicking
the game when you field goal.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
You know what I like about him too, DeMarco is
if you look at where he's hitting his kicks, I
think this is a big factor. You know, the consistency
at where it goes through the uprights. Obviously, as long
as it goes in between those, it counts all the same, right,
But I think when you talk about it's like a golfer,
how much can you repeat that stroke? How much can
you consistently place the ball where you want? Most of
(09:32):
his kicks are going to be good from uprights? You
know about this wide yeah, And that to me is
he's got a nice repeated stroke. I think our operation
has been better. I think you look at Alex Ward,
you look at Ethan Evans, both of those guys in
their second year as pros. You know, everybody just wants
to look at the kicker. It's snaphold kick. And I
(09:52):
thought our protection was good as well. Versus a tough
rush out fit as a field goal blocking it from
the niners, not these golfers.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I'll say that much.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
And you told the me, you that Xavier Smith's gonna
be your guy hunt return.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Yeah, he'll be the punt returner. You know, semantically, you know,
how does that work out in terms of the roster mechanics.
You know, we'll figure that out as we go. But
he he did a great job. I was happy for
us return back in the day high school. Yeah, I
mean if I needed to, But yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Earned some extra reuption. You never know, big one, get
another one.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
While we're on your athletic days.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
How long would you be on injured reserve if you
tried what Kyen did some yesterday.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
I was stuck the landing. I would have stuck the landing.
Come on, man, great scored. That was awesome. No, hey, Kyron,
I'll tell you what. That was a cool play. Because
Warner has played as good as you know, he's always
been as good as it gets at the position. I
think he's playing as well as he's ever played. For
Matthew to be able to kind of hold him based
(10:49):
on what coverage they were in when he's kind of visual, uh,
for Kiren to be able to win inside on Campbell
and then to be able to have the presence, you know,
front pad throw before Warner could get over there in
a quarter's con tour, and then to be able to
finish it was swaggy. I think Karen was pissed he
didn't stick the landing, but he did a great job.
He certainly came to life in the red area like
he seemingly always does. He do him back down, man, No,
(11:10):
he's tough as hell.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
I love that he flipped over that one safety that
they were going at it. But he won't back down
from that sort of game.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Noh, he's so tough, you know. And I think he
he had a bunch of big time plays. He's a stud.
Love his energy. I thought he was great yesterday.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Tied your guy Marshall fuck for a franchise record six
straight games with a rushing touchdown. Sixteen rushing scores in
the last fifteen games.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, right, that's right, Williams good.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yeah, and he thought to go for two after his third.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
If we had been if it had been less time
on the clock, then you would have thought about it,
but didn't want them to be in four downs. If
we had ended up converting that but if it was,
like you know, with like fifteen seconds left in the answers,
probably yes, But based on the time that we scored with,
that wasn't something that we were thinking.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
We've talked a lot about Joe and winning ten stepping
into some vacant cleats and they're big ones. But how
about what he did competing on your run surface yesterday,
including on at least one of those Kiren touchdowns.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Yeah, I was big. You know, he's got a great
way about himself. He's physical. I mean, he had some
key blocks at the point of attack, caught it, you know,
big inbreaking route obviously caught the screen, caught it, you know,
another flat pass where he just does a good job.
You know, he's he's got a great game day demeanor
and you could feel that from the very first preseason game.
But he is physical at the point of attack. He
(12:28):
likes that. You could see he got so excited for
Kyron after he ends up springing that block that he
makes on Brown when they were in a man coverage
and we were in a one by three an he
kind of motions across right before the snap. He's a stud.
I really like him. He's he's all about the right
kind of stuff. He's one of our kind of guys.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
I'm a two two fan. I have to tell you that. Yeah,
I don't know why. Maybe it's because he's on, maybe
it's because he's undersized, But I just love to watch
this dude play, and it seems like when he sets
those routes up, he can run by just about anybody.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Yeah, he's got an effortless gait too. I mean, I
think when you watch him when he makes the deep
catch on one of the premier players in this league,
he's kind of got an effortless gait where it doesn't
look like he's working as hard as he is, but
he's covering ground because he's got that stride length. His
upper body stays quiet. Thought that was a great track
that he had, and then he had a couple, you know,
(13:18):
big time third down conversions for us as well.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Let's take a closer look at one of them. Second quarter,
third and eight from your own twenty five. The way
you got him a free release here was awesome.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yeah, this is cool. He's coming in a little short
motion from outside in they were in a man coverage
right here. I thought he did a great job of straightening,
hit him up just a little bit, and then as
he broke you know, if you go back even just
a tick, you know you can really see right before
you know. Unbelievable job by Matthew to be able to
speed it up, but to be able to get vertical,
to put his foot in the ground, and then to
(13:46):
make this catch away from your frame really impressive. You know,
this might have been his second best catch on the
third down conversions that he had, because the one on
the shallow was unbelievable where he basically caught it a
couple times. But you know Matthew's ability to speed this up.
This is a really cool angle. You see as soon
as Matthew's backfoot hits he ends up throwing this without
(14:07):
a hitch, changes his arms, slot, perfect location. It's great
that two two has his mouth piece into so that
you know he's really you know, it's really doing a
lot for him. But great catch, big conversion right there.
This was on the same drive that we ended up
having the fake punt, but at least got us some space,
(14:27):
got an explosive Two two had a big day and
this was this was an awesome play, Really cool connection
by Ian Matthew. Great job by Ronnie River stepping up
on Fred Warner in the B gap two on the
left side right there.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I've heard you mentioned this previously, but it's it's born
out in the statistics. In fact, there's a site NFL
penalties dot com that keeps track of like the hidden
PI yardage. Two two was tops in the league in
a per game average last year in PI, tied for
second in total penalty yards generated last year. And he
picks up right where he left right, He's like Calvin
Ridley company, no kidding, Yeah, him into your meeting, like
(15:02):
PI yards either like on a per game or a
per target basis. Like even though TOO two's usage rate
hasn't been that high, his impact and those hidden areas
has been really concentrating.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Big yeah. And that's the thing, Like, that's why I
don't get too caught up in stats, right because you
look at whether it's the forty eight yard PI, Well,
what does that happen for us in terms of if
our job is to move the ball and score points.
I don't care what yardage all that stuff says, but
that's a forty eight yard gains offense that might not
go down in the stats and the total yards. But uh,
(15:32):
and I know he probably would like that to be
you know, on his stats, But like we recognize that
stuff in a team meeting, sure, because that's super important. Like, hey, hey,
that's a forty eight yard gain for our offense. It
might not go down officially, but last time I checked,
where that ball is placed is forty eight yards further
than where it was on the previous snap. Same thing
with Kolby Parkinson's PI that he draws on Deondre Campbell.
(15:56):
We had a lot of hidden yardage you know that
might be hidden on the stats, they weren't in terms
of where it allowed us to matriculate the ball down
the field on some of those scoring drives to Marco.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Close with Parkinson, he is a matchup problem with size.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Yeah, he does a good job. I think he's a
complete tight end too. Nick Kayley, Man, if you guys
go back and watch, you see somebody having fun. That
was excited when he ended up drawing that PI right there.
That guy loves football. He gets so juiced for his
guys and really for our team in general. But Colby
had a good day, had some major contributions, big third
down conversion, that he had and was really productive in
(16:32):
the run game as well.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
It's not just as simple as putting a second tight
end on the field, right, You made it look easy,
but it's more than that.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Well, Hunter Long did a great job. You know, he
played a handful of snaps, you know, Kaylee. Our coaches,
you know, Mike Laflor, Ryan Windell, all those guys really
you know, they did a great job, you know, having
some different variety based on our circumstances, and our job
is to maximize the players that we have. I thought
it was really cool to be able to see some
(16:58):
guys step up and deliver. And now let's see if
we can really build on it like we've talked about.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
See I'm still thinking of that that whip. See I
get stuck on offense defense. I thought Byron Young took
another step forward too.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Yeah, he he really made his impact, felt. I thought
he was productive in the run obviously, even as a
zone dropper, you know where he makes that play when
we rushed three early on in the game on jennings
On kind of that delayed slant that perty checked it
down to him. Was a great job, you know, breaking
visual on the ball, getting his head out of the
tackle and then at the end of the half to
(17:31):
prevent them from getting any points on the sack fumble.
That was huge. He was a game ball recipient on
the defensive side. Joe Coniglio does a really good job
with that group by so conscientious and he's so tough,
so coachable, and I thought a lot of the things
that had been emphasized in terms of our right here's
where we take a step forward. That practice preparation, that
(17:51):
practice performance led to game reality for him yesterday. I
was happy for him.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
That sack was nasty replay that see, he.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Did a great job and he won with his hands,
and then to be able to close and then attack
the football and then fist to get the recovery. Pretty
good illustration for you there.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
See you understand like position value and restricted resources in
this league. What if you have not one, but two
great edge rushers on rookie deals. What can that mean
for the Rams right now? But also in this window
of time, it's big.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
I mean especially when you look at and you mentioned it, JB.
You know, where are these high value positions that usually
you have to use high draft capital or if you
acquire him through trades or free agency. These guys are
making a bunch of money, and so how do you
continuously build your team up? And that's a big deal.
I thought Jared Vers, you know, did some really good
(18:41):
things yesterday. I thought Michael Hoyt was really steady too.
I thought he had a great energy, great demeanor. All
three of those guys played, you know, around the same
sort of snaps, and I think they all have nice
complimentary skill sets, but b Y was a guy in
particular that stood out in terms of taking a step
in the right direction. Thought Michael Hoyt was really productive.
And then Jared Vers, you know, he's he's violent, you
(19:03):
feel his presence, He's only going to get better, very disruptive,
and then continuing to learn from the opportunities where it's like, okay,
where are your playoffs based on this call? And he's
he's real coachable, He's a stud.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
He pursues like a banshee. Love that. I love the
stuff off the edge like a bench. No, man, I
took two steps and stopped you.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
No coach for me.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
I had no choice.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
He played hard. I know you did a couple.
Speaker 4 (19:28):
Of explosives got away, but you sewed it up and
you got better as you will.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Yeah, you know, I think there's definitely like you know,
especially you know, being able to shore up the way
that we were hitting blocks playing the run. You know,
pretty had forty two yards that were you know, a
great job by him, But we've got a corral. He's
running quarterbacks a little bit better, not a little a
lot better. But I did think for a great running
team like the Niners are in terms of their design runs,
(19:55):
we did a fairly good job. They create a lot
of conflict, they do as good a job as anybody schematic.
They had been really productive running the football, and we
were able to limit it. I mean, we didn't certainly
stop it, but I thought we had some critical stops.
I thought the red zone sequenceer was a second and two,
and then we ended up, you know, going to third
and one, and then we end up doing a good
(20:15):
job of taking a negative that forces them to kick
a field goal to go up twenty four to fourteen
instead of possibly twenty eight fourteen. That was key.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I'm sure there's a statue sq quarterback on your schedule
waiting somewhere.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
It's just not going to be this week.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
No, it will not be this guy's he's a problem.
He was a top pick for a reason.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
More on him in just a second, But can I ask, like,
what is a fair evaluation of where your secondary is,
and particularly Trey White, who I've heard you say like
he's not someone that you are willing to bet against.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah, I thought he did a good job. You know,
he had a big time third and four stop for us.
He competes, really already did a good job coming up
in some run support situations. You know, a guy that
knows how to play this game has a lot of experience.
I thought. I thought he took a step in the
right direction. I yeah, I'm not gonna say what I
thought of the one that was called on the second drive.
(21:03):
You know, but he's competitive, he's doing he's doing a
really good job right there.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
You want me to say it for you.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Yeah, the penalty disparity was seven too. At one point
I noted there was I thought a real issue with
Hufunga's late hit on Kyron.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
That was a miss.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
There was another face mask in the mix, But I'll
tell you what. They picked up the one that mattered
at the end.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
They did. At the end, I was glad they picked
that one up that definitely was not a personal foul there,
and so you know, I thought Trey White took a
positive step, I really did. I think to Kobe Durans
done an excellent job working through some things. Obviously, Cam
Curl and Quinton Lake have been productive. And then I
think it was a good opportunity. Cam Kitchens, you know,
(21:43):
played the most. You know, he played a handful of
snaps and some of our sub situations, some good stuff
and some things that we can learn on, you know,
with him. But he's the kind of guy that's wired
to be able to do right and use it as
growth opportunities moving forward.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
On the Chicago yeah, yay.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
That's yeah, you're right about that. We've been there late
in the years, but this is it's always Chicago's a
great football city, be a great opportunity. I want to
see us have a great week of preparation and uh,
I'll look forward to getting and started on that once
we finish up here.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
But you know, their personnel in terms of Shane's there,
Thomas Brown is there, right, so some familiar faces on
their sideline.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Yeah, you know, and and really good coaches that were
outstanding contributors. You know, to our group here, and so
we've got our work cutout for us, as you do
every week in this uh, in this league, and that's
what you love about it, and that's what can also
drive you crazy.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
You got one. But I'm sure you've seen Caleb Williams tape.
Impressive in college and pretty good in the pro so far.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Yeah, he he is is. He's a dynamic athlete. He
can beat you in a variety of ways. And so,
like I said, we've got our work cutout for us,
and they've got excellent skill around him, and so it's
gonna be a great challenge.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Congratulations on a winning the home opener. Next time you're home.
The clock operators is gonna run all those seconds. If
they have to put some back on at the end,
so be it. But the referees are going to be
in charge.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Of that bacond. Now that's a long two seconds.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Aick anything less than a minute, that's all coming up.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
When that play was extending, what were you guys thinking,
Oh my god, No, I was.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Please no face mask, please, no defensive penalties. What I
was thinking, why would you say that?
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Yes, sir, Victory Monday.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
For Sean McVay for demrco Far. I'm JB Long looking
ahead two week four in a trip to the Windy City,
looking forward to seeing you or talking to you. Then
this the Coach mc face ship presented by Microsoft Surface