Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay talks about quarterback Matthew Stafford's progress, creating an environment that encourages urgency and consistency from players, and defensive tackle Poona Ford as well as cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon returning to practice.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm sure the first question you guys will have is
about Matthew. And you know, like we've said we're going
to be flexible and fluid. I think more than anything,
I feel for Matthew because of how much he wants
to be out there and feel good.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Ultimately what ended up happening.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Had a great workout, felt good, but then you know,
come in today and it doesn't feel great, and so
didn't think that was the right decision to be able
to push him. We've kind of always talked about flexibility,
being fluid with some of the plans, and I think
more than anything, you know, I feel for a guy
that you know, I really care about, that wants to
be out there more than anything else. We're going to
be smart, you know, but he didn't feel good enough,
(00:35):
and we didn't think it was the right thing to
do based on you know, how he woke up feeling today. Yeah,
he just didn't you know, it didn't respond the way
that you wanted it to. He felt, you know, when
he was out here working out it was great, and
then you know, it's like anything else, you know, let's communicate.
We all know there's nobody that's tougher than this guy,
and so we are going to still be safe. But
(00:56):
I think more than anything, it's like, you know, he
wants to be out there more than anybody.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
You know, his teammates can't wait for him to be
out there.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
But I'm gonna defer to you know, Reggie and doctor
Watkins and then listening to Matthew's feedback, because we just
felt like, you know, it wasn't in alignment with how
he was feeling to you know, to progress accordingly. You know,
I don't know if we've gotten to that point yet,
you know it it would be individual.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
You know, that was kind of part of the plan.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
But the plan was for him to be able to
go today and you know that didn't come to fruition.
And so I think ultimately what we want to be
able to do is take it a day at a time.
I think that's healthy for everybody. Sometimes when he set expectations,
they're not met. You know, what's the first response is frustration,
you know, and that's okay to feel that way, But
how can we move forward accordingly and most importantly support
a guy that when he gets out here, you know,
(01:44):
we're going to be really excited about it. But kind
of like I've told you guys from day one. You know,
I'll defer to the experts. I'll defer to Matthew. Nobody's
tougher than this guy. And so we're going to be.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Smart with it.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
And you know, I know he wanted to be out
here more than anybody else, but we just didn't. You know,
talking to Reggie felt like this was the right approach,
just based on some of the feedback we got from him.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Here's what I would say.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
You know, I think what the I think the fair
answer is is I'm going to take it a day
at a time as well, because I can't be twenty
seven days from now in Houston. You know, we have
to be able to have agility and flexibility. And that's
not exclusive to Matthew. That's really for you know, all
of our guys. So I think the most important thing
is number one. My job is to support him, put
my arm around him and let him know that, Hey,
love you. I'm sorry that we're going through this, but
(02:31):
we will be you know, Let's keep a positive mindset
and let's continue to attack this thing to try to
be able to get our hands around it so that
he can feel as good as possible. When we open
up against Houston. I do think it's important to be
able to get some work in, you know, but not
at the expense of following the plan that we've talked about.
And so I think the you know, the truest thing
is is stay one day at a time, continue to
(02:51):
support him, and then I'll defer to the experts on
you know, where we're at with things that are a
little bit outside of my area of expertise.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
But I do have total.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Trust and confidence and you know, our medical group, you
guys know how I feel about Reggie and the medical
advice that he's getting. And nobody wants to get it
figured out more than he does as well.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah when.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, no, No, that's separate. It's actually a time machine.
You know, if you saw the year one to year nine,
I've been sitting in that thing for a while, you know,
looking So, no, it's a recovery deal. You know, there's
a lot of different things, red light therapy, a lot
of different modalities, and so you know, Reggie's always on
the cutting edge of some different things that can help
our players recover and overall health and wellness. And so
(03:37):
that's what it's alignment in and you know, feel free
to sneak in there.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Gary, you might like it.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
That's what he was doing today, you know, but that's
kind of normal for any of our players. It wasn't
anything specifically related to his back that he was doing
in there.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
You know what, I don't have a damn.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Clue, you know, I think this is a new thing
that we're we're experimenting with. He's always got some sort
of cool stuff, and I know that his intentions are
always geared towards making sure that we have, you know,
some of those little edges in this league, but about
providing as good of setting in situation for our players,
especially as it relates to the recovery. And so he's
always at the forefront of that stuff in regards to
(04:25):
just in general or be Yeah, I think consistency, I think,
you know, I think the first thing is you got
to connect with these guys, understand where they're at, making
sure that you create an atmosphere and environment where there's
the appropriate urgency. But we want them to enjoy it too.
You know, what kind of ways, what kind of vibe
do we create in here? You know, what does it
look like with their teammates, with their coaches, and so
(04:47):
I feel like our guys have done a really good
job of that, and I think ultimately all we can
control is how we impact each other in a positive
way every day while also acknowledging when you talk about frustration,
like that's okay to acknowledge your real emotions. Now you acknowledge,
and now let's respond instead of react accordingly. But one
of the things that you love about you know, Matthew,
or really a lot of our guys in general, is
(05:08):
a mindset and a mindset that we're looking for. These
are skills that are developed and you get those you
get that way by leaning into hard stuff and training
yourself to be able to handle those moments with that poise,
you know, with that calm that we're looking for, but
also being able to create the courage with how we
go about every single day to go for it and
not be afraid to fail. And so, whether it's supporting
(05:28):
each other, whether it's responding accordingly, or you know, cultivating
the kind of environment that we want to you know,
try to minimize those things as much as possible.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
That's what we're looking to do.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, No, it was good, and we got putting a
forward back out there, Keller Witherspoon, So so really everybody
was back out there. You know, that had kind of
been missing, and that's a real positive. A lot of
those guys were on the defensive side of the ball,
but offensively, you know, we had you know, pretty much
all hands on deck, you know, with the exception of
Matthew taking part an individuals and thought it was a
good competitive practice. You know, that's going to be in
(06:03):
alignment over the next couple of weeks where we're going
to be in the mornings. You guys, know, it gets
pretty ridiculous out here, and so I think that's the
smart thing and it doesn't affect our kind of trajectory
in terms of our teaching. You know, part of why
we like to go walk throughs then practices because of
the installs. We're just picking and choosing at this point,
and so it serves us well for a couple of
different reasons. You know, for the most part, we're just
(06:29):
making sure fields are good. We can get the officials
and the proper crews. But you know, roughly anticipate starting
around eleven o'clock and finishing a little bit after one.
So I don't know if that's kind of what you're
getting at. But I feel pretty good about the possibility
of that thing being you know, for sure we're going to.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Get that done.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Feel closer than I did yesterday. That hasn't been a
conversation that we've had, you know. I think it's more
along the lines of, you know, this week kind of
represented that target data. Really starting to be able to
implement him back the workout was a step in the
right direction, and then you know, I'm glad that he's
able to give us the feedback so we can say,
let's pull back here. That hasn't been something that we've
(07:07):
talked about. You know, I haven't haven't gone down that
road yet. In terms of those types of conversation. There's
been a lot of conversations about what's the best method
of how.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
We want to approach it. That hasn't been something that
comes up yet. Okay, if you were playing, if you
were playing the league, that's I you know, I don't
know that, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I I think I think he still probably you know,
would be able to play just based on how he feels.
But because of how he felt overall, it's like, Okay,
what's the risk reward with us being twenty seven days out. Now,
I'm not minimizing how important every single day is. I
don't want that to get mixed up. But when you
are making decisions, you have to say, okay, number one,
what's best for the player, and then what's best for
our football team. And in this instance, the approach, knowing
(07:50):
that he was going to do some individual and how
he felt, just didn't think that that was worth it
for us. But you know, whether that he'd be the
one that would be able to tell you whether or
not he'd be to play. I mean, he looked damn
good throwing the other day, but nobody's tougher than him
and has overcome more stuff than he has. But you also,
you know, want to see if we can have him
feeling as good as possible, because you know, that's super important,
(08:12):
you know, And I feel like that's a real responsibility
that we take, you know, as coaches, to try to
put our guys in the right spots to be successful,
but also to be able to feel good.
I'm sure the first question you guys will have is
about Matthew. And you know, like we've said we're going
to be flexible and fluid. I think more than anything,
I feel for Matthew because of how much he wants
to be out there and feel good.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Ultimately what ended up happening.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Had a great workout, felt good, but then you know,
come in today and it doesn't feel great, and so
didn't think that was the right decision to be able
to push him. We've kind of always talked about flexibility,
being fluid with some of the plans, and I think
more than anything, you know, I feel for a guy
that you know, I really care about, that wants to
be out there more than anything else. We're going to
be smart, you know, but he didn't feel good enough,
(00:35):
and we didn't think it was the right thing to
do based on you know, how he woke up feeling today. Yeah,
he just didn't you know, it didn't respond the way
that you wanted it to. He felt, you know, when
he was out here working out it was great, and
then you know, it's like anything else, you know, let's communicate.
We all know there's nobody that's tougher than this guy,
and so we are going to still be safe. But
(00:56):
I think more than anything, it's like, you know, he
wants to be out there more than anybody.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
You know, his teammates can't wait for him to be
out there.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
But I'm gonna defer to you know, Reggie and doctor
Watkins and then listening to Matthew's feedback, because we just
felt like, you know, it wasn't in alignment with how
he was feeling to you know, to progress accordingly. You know,
I don't know if we've gotten to that point yet,
you know it it would be individual.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
You know, that was kind of part of the plan.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
But the plan was for him to be able to
go today and you know that didn't come to fruition.
And so I think ultimately what we want to be
able to do is take it a day at a time.
I think that's healthy for everybody. Sometimes when he set expectations,
they're not met. You know, what's the first response is frustration,
you know, and that's okay to feel that way, But
how can we move forward accordingly and most importantly support
a guy that when he gets out here, you know,
(01:44):
we're going to be really excited about it. But kind
of like I've told you guys from day one. You know,
I'll defer to the experts. I'll defer to Matthew. Nobody's
tougher than this guy. And so we're going to be.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Smart with it.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
And you know, I know he wanted to be out
here more than anybody else, but we just didn't. You know,
talking to Reggie felt like this was the right approach,
just based on some of the feedback we got from him.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Here's what I would say.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
You know, I think what the I think the fair
answer is is I'm going to take it a day
at a time as well, because I can't be twenty
seven days from now in Houston. You know, we have
to be able to have agility and flexibility. And that's
not exclusive to Matthew. That's really for you know, all
of our guys. So I think the most important thing
is number one. My job is to support him, put
my arm around him and let him know that, Hey,
love you. I'm sorry that we're going through this, but
(02:31):
we will be you know, Let's keep a positive mindset
and let's continue to attack this thing to try to
be able to get our hands around it so that
he can feel as good as possible. When we open
up against Houston. I do think it's important to be
able to get some work in, you know, but not
at the expense of following the plan that we've talked about.
And so I think the you know, the truest thing
is is stay one day at a time, continue to
(02:51):
support him, and then I'll defer to the experts on
you know, where we're at with things that are a
little bit outside of my area of expertise.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
But I do have total.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Trust and confidence and you know, our medical group, you
guys know how I feel about Reggie and the medical
advice that he's getting. And nobody wants to get it
figured out more than he does as well.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah when.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, no, No, that's separate. It's actually a time machine.
You know, if you saw the year one to year nine,
I've been sitting in that thing for a while, you know,
looking So, no, it's a recovery deal. You know, there's
a lot of different things, red light therapy, a lot
of different modalities, and so you know, Reggie's always on
the cutting edge of some different things that can help
our players recover and overall health and wellness. And so
(03:37):
that's what it's alignment in and you know, feel free
to sneak in there.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Gary, you might like it.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
That's what he was doing today, you know, but that's
kind of normal for any of our players. It wasn't
anything specifically related to his back that he was doing
in there.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
You know what, I don't have a damn.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Clue, you know, I think this is a new thing
that we're we're experimenting with. He's always got some sort
of cool stuff, and I know that his intentions are
always geared towards making sure that we have, you know,
some of those little edges in this league, but about
providing as good of setting in situation for our players,
especially as it relates to the recovery. And so he's
always at the forefront of that stuff in regards to
(04:25):
just in general or be Yeah, I think consistency, I think,
you know, I think the first thing is you got
to connect with these guys, understand where they're at, making
sure that you create an atmosphere and environment where there's
the appropriate urgency. But we want them to enjoy it too.
You know, what kind of ways, what kind of vibe
do we create in here? You know, what does it
look like with their teammates, with their coaches, and so
(04:47):
I feel like our guys have done a really good
job of that, and I think ultimately all we can
control is how we impact each other in a positive
way every day while also acknowledging when you talk about frustration,
like that's okay to acknowledge your real emotions. Now you acknowledge,
and now let's respond instead of react accordingly. But one
of the things that you love about you know, Matthew,
or really a lot of our guys in general, is
(05:08):
a mindset and a mindset that we're looking for. These
are skills that are developed and you get those you
get that way by leaning into hard stuff and training
yourself to be able to handle those moments with that poise,
you know, with that calm that we're looking for, but
also being able to create the courage with how we
go about every single day to go for it and
not be afraid to fail. And so, whether it's supporting
(05:28):
each other, whether it's responding accordingly, or you know, cultivating
the kind of environment that we want to you know,
try to minimize those things as much as possible.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
That's what we're looking to do.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, No, it was good, and we got putting a
forward back out there, Keller Witherspoon, So so really everybody
was back out there. You know, that had kind of
been missing, and that's a real positive. A lot of
those guys were on the defensive side of the ball,
but offensively, you know, we had you know, pretty much
all hands on deck, you know, with the exception of
Matthew taking part an individuals and thought it was a
good competitive practice. You know, that's going to be in
(06:03):
alignment over the next couple of weeks where we're going
to be in the mornings. You guys, know, it gets
pretty ridiculous out here, and so I think that's the
smart thing and it doesn't affect our kind of trajectory
in terms of our teaching. You know, part of why
we like to go walk throughs then practices because of
the installs. We're just picking and choosing at this point,
and so it serves us well for a couple of
different reasons. You know, for the most part, we're just
(06:29):
making sure fields are good. We can get the officials
and the proper crews. But you know, roughly anticipate starting
around eleven o'clock and finishing a little bit after one.
So I don't know if that's kind of what you're
getting at. But I feel pretty good about the possibility
of that thing being you know, for sure we're going to.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Get that done.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Feel closer than I did yesterday. That hasn't been a
conversation that we've had, you know. I think it's more
along the lines of, you know, this week kind of
represented that target data. Really starting to be able to
implement him back the workout was a step in the
right direction, and then you know, I'm glad that he's
able to give us the feedback so we can say,
let's pull back here. That hasn't been something that we've
(07:07):
talked about. You know, I haven't haven't gone down that
road yet. In terms of those types of conversation. There's
been a lot of conversations about what's the best method
of how.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
We want to approach it. That hasn't been something that
comes up yet. Okay, if you were playing, if you
were playing the league, that's I you know, I don't
know that, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I I think I think he still probably you know,
would be able to play just based on how he feels.
But because of how he felt overall, it's like, Okay,
what's the risk reward with us being twenty seven days out. Now,
I'm not minimizing how important every single day is. I
don't want that to get mixed up. But when you
are making decisions, you have to say, okay, number one,
what's best for the player, and then what's best for
our football team. And in this instance, the approach, knowing
(07:50):
that he was going to do some individual and how
he felt, just didn't think that that was worth it
for us. But you know, whether that he'd be the
one that would be able to tell you whether or
not he'd be to play. I mean, he looked damn
good throwing the other day, but nobody's tougher than him
and has overcome more stuff than he has. But you also,
you know, want to see if we can have him
feeling as good as possible, because you know, that's super important,
(08:12):
you know, And I feel like that's a real responsibility
that we take, you know, as coaches, to try to
put our guys in the right spots to be successful,
but also to be able to feel good.
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