September 9, 2024 • 19 mins
On this episode of the Coach McVay Show, Sean McVay joins J.B. Long and D’Marco Farr to recap the Week 1 loss to the Lions. McVay discusses Matthew Stafford’s gritty performance in Detroit, provides updates on the latest injuries, and looks ahead to the Week 2 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello, and welcome to a new season of The Coach
McVeigh Show, presented by Microsoft Surface. I'm JB. Long with
Super Bowl champion DeMarco Farr, the head coach of your
Los Angeles rams Sean McVay. Coming off in overtime loss
to the Detroit Lions. Next up week two in Arizona. Well,
that was a nightmare scenario. Last night in Detroit almost
turned into a dream victory.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I was proud of the way that our guys battled. JB.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
You know, there was a lot of adversity that we
had to overcome, and I don't think you really learn
about groups until you go through those storms. And to
be in a situation against an excellent football team, and
make no mistake about it, that's a really good football team.
Well coached, they got great personnel, great scheme, they're checking
all the boxes. Their expectations, I believe is real, and
that atmosphere was real. But we go down seventeen to three,
(00:52):
and there was a lot of reasons for our guys
to not feel like there's a belief, there's a confidence
to just play the next play, and you don't reel
off seventeen in a row to get to twenty to
seventeen with four and a half left, without mentally and
physically tough players, without the coaches just staying nice and steady.
We came up short. We had some real injuries, and
we had to make some real adjustments, and there had
(01:14):
to be some necessary flexibility and fluidity from our players
and coaches, and I thought that was on display. But
ultimately it's about how we move forward. You know, you're
not used to sitting here. We've been very fortunate to
win a lot of our openers, but it's the one game,
and we got sixteen of these guaranteed left, and whatever
happened yesterday, we've got to be able to move forward accordingly.
(01:35):
And I do trust that we have the right men,
coaches and players to be able to do that, and
I'm looking forward to doing that with these guys.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
I heard you postgame. You said, I learned a lot
about this group. And I know you guys preach about
mental toughness and how to finish football games, But when
you see it play out in front of you, does
it kind of surprise you?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Like? Wow, they do believe in what we do.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
It doesn't but I see better than I hear you know,
and I thought it was powerful to get to experience
the things that if you were to say, were you
going to bet on that group responding that way, say yes,
I am going to bet on that. You can't ever
mimic and emulate those types of scenarios or situations unless
you're actually in those moments. And so there was a
lot of reasons for me to be encouraged. But it
(02:16):
is about how we move forward. You know, we're banged up.
You guys are gonna ask me about these injuries and
they're very real and we're going to miss some good
players for significant amount of time. But that that offers
opportunities for other guys to be able to step up.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
And you know, whether you look.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
At as fortunately or fortunately, I feel for the players
because of the work that they put in. But we're
going to pour into the guys that are going to
get an opportunity to take steps forward. And it's not
going to be anything you know that we're not capable
of handling. For the players and the coaches, even though
you hate it, for the guys that are going to
be missing some time, do you.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Want to rattle them off? You'll me to kind of
walk you through one by one injury wise, what's.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
What's your preference? How would you want to do this?
Just joyous exercise.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Let's start with Pooka. I guess injury reserve who is going.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
To probably go to IR. He's got a Grade two
PCL sprain. It's the same knee, it's the same injury.
It's just a little bit more significant. And it's a
shame for him because he's worked so hard to get himself.
I thought he had a great week of preparation and
you can see his impact on the game is immense.
He had four targets, four catches for almost fifty yards
in the minimum max he had, he.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Had a jet sweep.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
He's competing without the ball, he attracts attention and so
that's a big loss.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
But guys did step up yesterday.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
We have guys that are capable, that have played a
lot of meaningful football for us. But that is you know,
that's a deal that you hated for him because when
you're with him and he gets the information and you know,
you know how bad he wants to be out there
with his teammates to contribute and to be a part
of this. It hurts him. He's going to be back
at some point though, So that's a positive. When that
is at what point, I don't know, but that is
(03:51):
why I our is the most likely scenario because it'll
at least be.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
For a month.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Steve played every snap as a rookie, unfortunately heading the
same direction. It sounds like with us.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
You know, he got he got his MCL pretty good.
He's a tough guy and uh, and he's been resilient.
You know, you're looking at it. Both of those guys
were iron man in their own right as rookies and
uh and unfortunately, you know, they go down, but they'll
be back and and we'll get them back and we'll
be better when we do get them back. But in
the meantime, it'll offer opportunities for other guys to be
(04:20):
able to develop, to mature and to be positive contributors
for this football team.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
And we'll see exactly what that looks like.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
God, he wanted to keep playing hard.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
I know, Yeah, it was cool. It was pretty cool.
I mean, Reggie Scott didn't think it was very cool.
But you know, at halftime he ended up. You know,
where they're telling me is that he's going to be
out for a few weeks and then I see him
in the huddle for our first snap of the second half,
and fortunately it was at a clock stoppage and so
you get them off the field, but it shows you
how much he wanted to be out there. And sometimes
(04:49):
you have to protect these guys from themselves.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
So sean a couple of you know, real NFL world
dynamics here. One, there is a limit to injured reserve
per season, right like eight per year.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
And yeah, in terms of the guys that you can
put on for the DI you know, designated to return,
you know, where they're only missing four weeks or whenever
you decide to be able to bring them back. And
you know you're talking about you started kat Leviston on that,
you know, and you don't have to once you put
guys on APT you know, kt Leviston is an exception.
You put him on that at the very beginning. So
he's one of those guys. You know, you have Larol
(05:20):
Murchison on there with the expectation to be able to
bring him back at some point. Darius Williams is one
of those guys as well, and so you know, you
start to look at it and before you know it,
they start building up and you're sand man, we're only
in week one when you only have really eight of
those for the whole year. But I think it's more
than reasonable to expect why Pooka and Steve are guys
(05:41):
that would fit into that criteria if we need those
roster spots, which which we will.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
And the other thing is a week six by which
when it comes out in the spring, you're like, oh,
that's earlier than Seawn's ever had. It Probably not best,
you'd love to have it down the schedule. Maybe it
kind of plays to your advantage here here you can
get five price.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Of four weeks.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
You know, what I've tried to do JB is be
really disciplined and it's so hard about worrying about the
things I can control. And that's one of those deals
that in this situation, that's a glass half full approach
where you're saying, all right, you don't want to be
in these types of situations, scenarios or circumstances, but if
you are an early buy, does benefit where you're stealing
a week in terms of some of the things that
(06:17):
we're talking about right now.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
So that is a positive.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
But I think the most important thing for us to
do is let's really focus on the progress. Let's really
focus on the things we can't control. And I thought,
I do believe if we do that, it's going to
give us the best opportunity to hunt up the results
that we want. So we're sitting here feeling a little
bit better about it. But there are just there's so
many things that take part in a game that you
(06:42):
can't control. And I think I've gotten more discipline and
I think our team is pretty disciplined in regards to
let's look at it.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Let's have no regrets.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
Let's really focus on the part of the process that
we can control and the things that we can't.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Let it go and keep it moving.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Man, who do we miss on the list? Boom, you
know Boom and.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Da Kobe Durant and the other guys that are you
know Joe note Boom. You know he got his ankle
on the first play of the game. You could see
he gets rolled up on and he's battling through it.
He played a few handful more snaps, but you know,
at for st aj Currie to step in and you
know he battled. But but Joe is you know, I
feel bad for Joe because Joe is tough. U Joe's
(07:21):
just had some unfortunate luck in terms of his availability.
But he is a very important part of this team.
He can play left tackle, he can play right tackle.
We can play left guard, he can play right guard.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
He's uh, he's.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Done those things. But missing him. We missed him a
lot yesterday and that altered the way that we were
able to play. But he did he got his ankle
pretty good. Now, whether or not that's an IR guy
or not, there's a possibility, but you know, we'll see.
But he'll be out for a little bit of time.
I do know that much.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
So speaking of the way you play, that's three offensive
guys that are major contributors. When you lose that many,
how what do you do game plan wise? Like what
can we run? How do we run it?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah? How does that work for you?
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Well, you know, it's tough.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
And then you're not even mentioning that we already had
Robin Allericau.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, you know, And so here's the thing. It is challenging.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
But I will say this, I was really proud of
bo Limmer the way that he came in. He is
a mature rookie. It's not too big for him.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
He's tough, he's guts, he's gritty, he's one of our
kind of guys.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
So I thought he did a really nice job Jonah
to be able to play basically center for two weeks
and then let's go back to guard.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
You know, you're doing that in the middle of a game.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
And and he battled and competed, and I love, you
know what he's all about, thought k Dot. And you know,
you look at him, he's he's got an ankle injury.
He's going to be day to day. He battled and
finished the game. But it was uh, and I thought
Warren mc clennan, you know, held his own Warren. Warren
has really made tremendous growth in progress. But it is, uh,
you know, it feels similar. I know we all know
(08:54):
this to what some of the you know, challenges that
we navigated in the twenty two season, but I think
we're better equipped to handle it in terms of let's
worry about the things we can let's develop, let's really
focus on, you know, how we move forward and instead
of you know, what we can't do?
Speaker 3 (09:11):
All right, what can we do?
Speaker 4 (09:12):
What's the best way to accentuate these guys skill sets,
what's the necessary flexibility and fluidity that we have to
have as coaches, starting with myself, and then how does
it put the players in the best spots to be able.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
To go shine?
Speaker 4 (09:23):
And that's why once we get done with this, there's
going to be a lot of hard work and deep
thought process that goes into, you know, trying to have
that come to life throughout the course of this week
and then ultimately on Sunday when we play the Cardinals.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Could it be Rob at Wright and McLennan flipping the
lass of possibility?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
You know that that's a possibility.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
But here's the thing I don't want to put any
I think expectations can sometimes be a killer, and when
they're not met, there's disappointment. And what I mean by
that is Rob's done a great job of putting himself
in a position to make progress. Whenever he's ready, the
doctors will tell us that and if that is this week, man,
I'll be really happy. But I think I don't want
to put the cart before the horse. I think we'll
(10:03):
see how the rest of this week goes. I know
that he's chopping at the bit to be able to
get back out there and to lead and to be
a part of this thing. You know, on the field,
he certainly has been leading in his own right. But
we'll see that could certainly be a possibility JB. But
that's still to be determined.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
He told me this morning walking and we got back late,
so I didn't watch the whole game film, But Cooper
had twenty one targets. Yep, I was standing out there.
I didn't know it was twenty one targets. But it's
nice to have that guy back, that one consistent thing
that you know can win for you.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Yeah, and he caught fourteen of them, you know, and
that's the thing, and some of them there'll be some
opportunities where you know, he was out He was outstanding,
and we asked so much of him and it wasn't
too much for him and he I thought he and Matthew.
I thought Karen Williams played really tough. I was really
impressed with Kobe Parkinson. You know, we mentioned some of
the guys up front, but I thought I and Matthew really,
(10:56):
you know, came to life in some of the most
critical moments to be able to get us back in
that game and in the crunch time you know situations.
They did that and you know, I was I thought
Cooper was Cooper was the Cooper that we know. He's
feeling good. And I thought his body of work where
he could just go trust to go, cut it loose
and play was on display that.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
Little quick out. People say it's easy. That ain't easy.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
If it's easy, everybody would.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Know, no, those are those are hard and you know,
and those were things that we kind of had to
resort to just based on some of the other things
that we had discussed. And for those guys to consistently
execute that and for him to have as many catches
where he's catching it with his back to the defense,
you know, there were some challenges, but.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
He just kept swinging and he kept delivering and did
a nice job.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Those are essentially your early down runs. I mean, those
are first and throws, right. It takes elite arm talent
to have the time and the precision to make sure
that's not a touchdown going the other direction. There were
a couple of hold your breath moments there.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
There were how.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
About the twenty yard toad drag swag?
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah, that was great.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
You know, that was we had hit him on that
same play earlier in the game when he had gotten
Arnold flipped on our near sideline and came back to it,
and you know, Matthew delivers a great ball. You know,
you could see Brands as an underneath defender was kind
of in no man's land. There was a big cavity
in between, and and you know he put it over
the top. And then Cooper to have that, you know,
(12:14):
I think the other thing too, is amazing catch. But
just you know, there's certain guys that have just great
sideline awareness, you know, to be able to make that play,
to really understand, you know, there's just there's a subconscious
feel that these great ones have, and certainly Cooper's sideline
or back end line awareness in the end zone as
has always been one of his great traits, and I
(12:35):
think that's consistent with some of the great players. But
that was a big explosive that we had to have
on a drive that Matthew went eight for eight that
ended up giving us the lead there.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
He said, Stafford, so now I can talk about the quarterback.
See they think I'll talk about him too much. Just
unreal just what he can do and how he's doing it.
Just special player. Just one more gush about your quarterback.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Yeah, no, I mean just gutsy, resilient, standing in there,
keeping his eyes down the field. I thought he made
some off schedule plays. Thought he was at his best.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
When he when he when when we needed him, you know.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
And he's so hard on himself. He'll be talking about
the couple opportunities that he wants back. But you show
me a great quarterback and a great game from a quarterback,
they'll always want a couple of plays back.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
He made some.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Plays that we'd have no chance of being in that
game without him. You know, when we did get the
ball back with four and a half minutes, the throw
to the Marcus Robinson to be able to convert on
the third down to give us a fresh set of
downs was magic.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
You know.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Some of the plays that he made on that you know,
on the eight throws that he did have that I
alluded to on the you know, the drive that put
us in front, they were great throws and they were
you know, he really pulled out every club in his
bag to be able to make some of those different
throws and we just came up a little bit short.
But as a competitor, if I'm him, he's got nothing,
but uh, he should be nothing but proud and uh
(13:49):
and he'll come back and he'll be ready to attack
this week.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
But he instills a belief.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
In everybody around him, regardless of the circumstances. And I
think that's as big a compliment as you can give
to your quarterback.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Had chance to sit down with Tyler Johnson today, What
a what an impressive young man he is is He
seems so ready for this moment too. He's been on
a championship team, He's worked with Tom Brady, he's been
a part of your organization. Now he and Jordan Whittington
ready to step up in phill Pucas cleats.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
I think so, And I think two two is ready
to get some more opportunities. You know, two two's a
guy that's delivered for s JB. There's a lot of
different reasons when you put together certain you know, game
plans if you will, that can sometimes help guys get
in the flow. And then sometimes they just the way
the game unfolds it, it doesn't allow it to be
illustrated that way. And so the answer is yes on
both the guys that you asked about. And then I
(14:34):
also think two two is going to be a factor,
and you know, once we finish up here, that will represent,
you know, getting going and figuring out how to maximize
that room. Because you've got Cooper, You've got the Marcus Robinson,
and then you got three other guys that I just
mentioned in too two and Tyler Johnson and Jordan Whittington
that are smart, tough, physical football players I mentioned are
(14:55):
kind of guys, and then they all fall in alignment
with that, and they all have kind of complimentary skill
sets that we've got to do a good job of
figuring out how to accentuate that.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I hope Jared versus your type of guy.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
I haven't watched the entire defense yet, but the mental
reps that I have is him walking tackles back, Cam
Curll knocking the hell out of everything.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, I thought the defense played like Gangbusters.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
I did too. I was really pleased. And that's an
excellent offense. DeMarco. I mean, you look at it.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
I mean these guys, I think they challenge you from
personnel with the skilled players. They've got a quarterback that
knows exactly what they're trying to get done, and he
can play on time and in rhythm with accuracy. They're
excellent on the offensive line. They have great design in
the run game, so it's a combination of scheme and personnel,
and you're checking both of those boxes, and when you
do that, you're really challenged.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Thought our guys did a great job. You know. They
they fought there.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
You know, they fought their tails off. I was really
proud of them. You know, we have a couple of
things that we want back in that overtime period, but
for the most part, I thought there was a lot
of positives, a lot of things that we can take away.
And I think our players know that too. You know,
they wanted to be able to finish that deal. They
have high expectation. I think a lot of people were
probably surprised, but I don't think they were. And nobody
(16:04):
in this building was just based on the body of
work that we've seen. I thought Chris and our defensive
coaches did an excellent job. I thought they had some
great flexibility based on some things that they were doing
that allowed us to get off the grass and some
known passing situations. And and I thought a lot of
the young guys are the new additions that you mentioned
showed up and I think a lot of the you
know guys that we're familiar with, whether it's the Quinton Lakes,
(16:26):
John Johnson's, you know, Kobe Turners. I thought Byron Young
showed up, and I thought Kobe Durant had a pretty
complete game as well. What ai oh in that moment
to shoot, I thought he knocked himself out. But that
was such a huge play when they're getting ready to
potentially go up to possessions this seventeen thirteen game, we
(16:47):
had to have it. And then for that was great
complimentary football and display. We get the turnover, and then
the offense, you know, takes the ball down the field
and scores and and you know, to just be able
to finish it out again some of those great teams,
that'll be one that we'll learn from and we'll use
it and we'll apply it the right way.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I don't want to be the guy who put you
in a position to sound like sour grape, So please
take this in the spirit where it's intended. But now
that you kind of got the Competition committee leadership role
within the league, how do you feel about what we've
done with the overtime rule, even though you're on the
losing end of it.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Yeah, I mean I felt for Indianapolis last year. Here
here's what I would say. It's tough when you go
back and forth. And I understand it because over the
course of a seventeen game season, you're trying to say,
let's not extend it.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
But it is tough.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Whether it's you know, obviously it's why they change the
playoff format to be the way that it is, so
that it least each team's guaranteed a possession. That was tough,
you know, for a game to go back and forth
like that and to not get an opportunity to go
match it. And I'm sure Indianapolis felt that way last
year when we you know, they get themselves back in
a game, we're up with a big lead, we take
(17:50):
the ball in overtime and we score and Pooka ends
up having a walk off. And so now you know,
in consecutive years seeing it from both angles, you.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Know, I do, it's tough.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
You know, you would like to be able to get
you know what, I have liked another shot, of course.
Do I think that Indianapolis, you know, probably deserved another
shot based on the way the game on fold of
last year, Yeah, of course I do. And so but
that's what the rule is, and unfortunately, you know that's
that's where we're at.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Funny, I didn't care last year.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, well, you never know how the end of regulation
leads into that too, Like your defense is on the
field for a long time exactly, and they get a
coin flip and a quick time out to get right
back out there, no doubt. So there's something about this
trip to face Arizona. It seems like in your career
they've been the Rams have been shorthanded at times, needing
to bounce back at times. Maybe the back against the
wall a couple of times, and then you go see
(18:39):
red and find a way. I hope that's the case
again this week for it.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I do too.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
It'll be a great challenge. I mean, they went toe
to toe, wire to wire. They're really well coached. They've
added some new additions. I thought they looked excellent yesterday.
I'm going to jump into the tape when we finish up,
but we better be ready to go.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
I don't know how you could ever sleep on Kyler Murray,
no matter what they're doing. How do you sleep on
the guy?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
You don't?
Speaker 4 (18:59):
You don't and he is dangerous and they do an
excellent job and then defensively, they pose a lot of
different problems that you have to prepare for.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
I see you sliding in sleep, sliding in sleep. Yeah,
I can't sleep on Kyler. They can't all three of us,
especially every time of the Los Angeles Rams. Good to
see you, Sean, great effort and learn a lot about
your four rams in Detroit.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Thanks Sean.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Me Faye DeMarco far I'm JB. Long. This the debut
episode of the Coach McVay Show, always presented by Microsoft
Surface
Hello, and welcome to a new season of The Coach
McVeigh Show, presented by Microsoft Surface. I'm JB. Long with
Super Bowl champion DeMarco Farr, the head coach of your
Los Angeles rams Sean McVay. Coming off in overtime loss
to the Detroit Lions. Next up week two in Arizona. Well,
that was a nightmare scenario. Last night in Detroit almost
turned into a dream victory.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I was proud of the way that our guys battled. JB.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
You know, there was a lot of adversity that we
had to overcome, and I don't think you really learn
about groups until you go through those storms. And to
be in a situation against an excellent football team, and
make no mistake about it, that's a really good football team.
Well coached, they got great personnel, great scheme, they're checking
all the boxes. Their expectations, I believe is real, and
that atmosphere was real. But we go down seventeen to three,
(00:52):
and there was a lot of reasons for our guys
to not feel like there's a belief, there's a confidence
to just play the next play, and you don't reel
off seventeen in a row to get to twenty to
seventeen with four and a half left, without mentally and
physically tough players, without the coaches just staying nice and steady.
We came up short. We had some real injuries, and
we had to make some real adjustments, and there had
(01:14):
to be some necessary flexibility and fluidity from our players
and coaches, and I thought that was on display. But
ultimately it's about how we move forward. You know, you're
not used to sitting here. We've been very fortunate to
win a lot of our openers, but it's the one game,
and we got sixteen of these guaranteed left, and whatever
happened yesterday, we've got to be able to move forward accordingly.
(01:35):
And I do trust that we have the right men,
coaches and players to be able to do that, and
I'm looking forward to doing that with these guys.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
I heard you postgame. You said, I learned a lot
about this group. And I know you guys preach about
mental toughness and how to finish football games, But when
you see it play out in front of you, does
it kind of surprise you?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Like? Wow, they do believe in what we do.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
It doesn't but I see better than I hear you know,
and I thought it was powerful to get to experience
the things that if you were to say, were you
going to bet on that group responding that way, say yes,
I am going to bet on that. You can't ever
mimic and emulate those types of scenarios or situations unless
you're actually in those moments. And so there was a
lot of reasons for me to be encouraged. But it
(02:16):
is about how we move forward. You know, we're banged up.
You guys are gonna ask me about these injuries and
they're very real and we're going to miss some good
players for significant amount of time. But that that offers
opportunities for other guys to be able to step up.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
And you know, whether you look.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
At as fortunately or fortunately, I feel for the players
because of the work that they put in. But we're
going to pour into the guys that are going to
get an opportunity to take steps forward. And it's not
going to be anything you know that we're not capable
of handling. For the players and the coaches, even though
you hate it, for the guys that are going to
be missing some time, do you.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Want to rattle them off? You'll me to kind of
walk you through one by one injury wise, what's.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
What's your preference? How would you want to do this?
Just joyous exercise.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Let's start with Pooka. I guess injury reserve who is going.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
To probably go to IR. He's got a Grade two
PCL sprain. It's the same knee, it's the same injury.
It's just a little bit more significant. And it's a
shame for him because he's worked so hard to get himself.
I thought he had a great week of preparation and
you can see his impact on the game is immense.
He had four targets, four catches for almost fifty yards
in the minimum max he had, he.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Had a jet sweep.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
He's competing without the ball, he attracts attention and so
that's a big loss.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
But guys did step up yesterday.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
We have guys that are capable, that have played a
lot of meaningful football for us. But that is you know,
that's a deal that you hated for him because when
you're with him and he gets the information and you know,
you know how bad he wants to be out there
with his teammates to contribute and to be a part
of this. It hurts him. He's going to be back
at some point though, So that's a positive. When that
is at what point, I don't know, but that is
(03:51):
why I our is the most likely scenario because it'll
at least be.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
For a month.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Steve played every snap as a rookie, unfortunately heading the
same direction. It sounds like with us.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
You know, he got he got his MCL pretty good.
He's a tough guy and uh, and he's been resilient.
You know, you're looking at it. Both of those guys
were iron man in their own right as rookies and
uh and unfortunately, you know, they go down, but they'll
be back and and we'll get them back and we'll
be better when we do get them back. But in
the meantime, it'll offer opportunities for other guys to be
(04:20):
able to develop, to mature and to be positive contributors
for this football team.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
And we'll see exactly what that looks like.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
God, he wanted to keep playing hard.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
I know, Yeah, it was cool. It was pretty cool.
I mean, Reggie Scott didn't think it was very cool.
But you know, at halftime he ended up. You know,
where they're telling me is that he's going to be
out for a few weeks and then I see him
in the huddle for our first snap of the second half,
and fortunately it was at a clock stoppage and so
you get them off the field, but it shows you
how much he wanted to be out there. And sometimes
(04:49):
you have to protect these guys from themselves.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
So sean a couple of you know, real NFL world
dynamics here. One, there is a limit to injured reserve
per season, right like eight per year.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
And yeah, in terms of the guys that you can
put on for the DI you know, designated to return,
you know, where they're only missing four weeks or whenever
you decide to be able to bring them back. And
you know you're talking about you started kat Leviston on that,
you know, and you don't have to once you put
guys on APT you know, kt Leviston is an exception.
You put him on that at the very beginning. So
he's one of those guys. You know, you have Larol
(05:20):
Murchison on there with the expectation to be able to
bring him back at some point. Darius Williams is one
of those guys as well, and so you know, you
start to look at it and before you know it,
they start building up and you're sand man, we're only
in week one when you only have really eight of
those for the whole year. But I think it's more
than reasonable to expect why Pooka and Steve are guys
(05:41):
that would fit into that criteria if we need those
roster spots, which which we will.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
And the other thing is a week six by which
when it comes out in the spring, you're like, oh,
that's earlier than Seawn's ever had. It Probably not best,
you'd love to have it down the schedule. Maybe it
kind of plays to your advantage here here you can
get five price.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Of four weeks.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
You know, what I've tried to do JB is be
really disciplined and it's so hard about worrying about the
things I can control. And that's one of those deals
that in this situation, that's a glass half full approach
where you're saying, all right, you don't want to be
in these types of situations, scenarios or circumstances, but if
you are an early buy, does benefit where you're stealing
a week in terms of some of the things that
(06:17):
we're talking about right now.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
So that is a positive.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
But I think the most important thing for us to
do is let's really focus on the progress. Let's really
focus on the things we can't control. And I thought,
I do believe if we do that, it's going to
give us the best opportunity to hunt up the results
that we want. So we're sitting here feeling a little
bit better about it. But there are just there's so
many things that take part in a game that you
(06:42):
can't control. And I think I've gotten more discipline and
I think our team is pretty disciplined in regards to
let's look at it.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Let's have no regrets.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
Let's really focus on the part of the process that
we can control and the things that we can't.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Let it go and keep it moving.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Man, who do we miss on the list? Boom, you
know Boom and.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Da Kobe Durant and the other guys that are you
know Joe note Boom. You know he got his ankle
on the first play of the game. You could see
he gets rolled up on and he's battling through it.
He played a few handful more snaps, but you know,
at for st aj Currie to step in and you
know he battled. But but Joe is you know, I
feel bad for Joe because Joe is tough. U Joe's
(07:21):
just had some unfortunate luck in terms of his availability.
But he is a very important part of this team.
He can play left tackle, he can play right tackle.
We can play left guard, he can play right guard.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
He's uh, he's.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Done those things. But missing him. We missed him a
lot yesterday and that altered the way that we were
able to play. But he did he got his ankle
pretty good. Now, whether or not that's an IR guy
or not, there's a possibility, but you know, we'll see.
But he'll be out for a little bit of time.
I do know that much.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
So speaking of the way you play, that's three offensive
guys that are major contributors. When you lose that many,
how what do you do game plan wise? Like what
can we run? How do we run it?
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yeah? How does that work for you?
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Well, you know, it's tough.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
And then you're not even mentioning that we already had
Robin Allericau.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, you know, And so here's the thing. It is challenging.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
But I will say this, I was really proud of
bo Limmer the way that he came in. He is
a mature rookie. It's not too big for him.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
He's tough, he's guts, he's gritty, he's one of our
kind of guys.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
So I thought he did a really nice job Jonah
to be able to play basically center for two weeks
and then let's go back to guard.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
You know, you're doing that in the middle of a game.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
And and he battled and competed, and I love, you
know what he's all about, thought k Dot. And you know,
you look at him, he's he's got an ankle injury.
He's going to be day to day. He battled and
finished the game. But it was uh, and I thought
Warren mc clennan, you know, held his own Warren. Warren
has really made tremendous growth in progress. But it is, uh,
you know, it feels similar. I know we all know
(08:54):
this to what some of the you know, challenges that
we navigated in the twenty two season, but I think
we're better equipped to handle it in terms of let's
worry about the things we can let's develop, let's really
focus on, you know, how we move forward and instead
of you know, what we can't do?
Speaker 3 (09:11):
All right, what can we do?
Speaker 4 (09:12):
What's the best way to accentuate these guys skill sets,
what's the necessary flexibility and fluidity that we have to
have as coaches, starting with myself, and then how does
it put the players in the best spots to be able.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
To go shine?
Speaker 4 (09:23):
And that's why once we get done with this, there's
going to be a lot of hard work and deep
thought process that goes into, you know, trying to have
that come to life throughout the course of this week
and then ultimately on Sunday when we play the Cardinals.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Could it be Rob at Wright and McLennan flipping the
lass of possibility?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
You know that that's a possibility.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
But here's the thing I don't want to put any
I think expectations can sometimes be a killer, and when
they're not met, there's disappointment. And what I mean by
that is Rob's done a great job of putting himself
in a position to make progress. Whenever he's ready, the
doctors will tell us that and if that is this week, man,
I'll be really happy. But I think I don't want
to put the cart before the horse. I think we'll
(10:03):
see how the rest of this week goes. I know
that he's chopping at the bit to be able to
get back out there and to lead and to be
a part of this thing. You know, on the field,
he certainly has been leading in his own right. But
we'll see that could certainly be a possibility JB. But
that's still to be determined.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
He told me this morning walking and we got back late,
so I didn't watch the whole game film, But Cooper
had twenty one targets. Yep, I was standing out there.
I didn't know it was twenty one targets. But it's
nice to have that guy back, that one consistent thing
that you know can win for you.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Yeah, and he caught fourteen of them, you know, and
that's the thing, and some of them there'll be some
opportunities where you know, he was out He was outstanding,
and we asked so much of him and it wasn't
too much for him and he I thought he and Matthew.
I thought Karen Williams played really tough. I was really
impressed with Kobe Parkinson. You know, we mentioned some of
the guys up front, but I thought I and Matthew really,
(10:56):
you know, came to life in some of the most
critical moments to be able to get us back in
that game and in the crunch time you know situations.
They did that and you know, I was I thought
Cooper was Cooper was the Cooper that we know. He's
feeling good. And I thought his body of work where
he could just go trust to go, cut it loose
and play was on display that.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
Little quick out. People say it's easy. That ain't easy.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
If it's easy, everybody would.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Know, no, those are those are hard and you know,
and those were things that we kind of had to
resort to just based on some of the other things
that we had discussed. And for those guys to consistently
execute that and for him to have as many catches
where he's catching it with his back to the defense,
you know, there were some challenges, but.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
He just kept swinging and he kept delivering and did
a nice job.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Those are essentially your early down runs. I mean, those
are first and throws, right. It takes elite arm talent
to have the time and the precision to make sure
that's not a touchdown going the other direction. There were
a couple of hold your breath moments there.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
There were how.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
About the twenty yard toad drag swag?
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Yeah, that was great.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
You know, that was we had hit him on that
same play earlier in the game when he had gotten
Arnold flipped on our near sideline and came back to it,
and you know, Matthew delivers a great ball. You know,
you could see Brands as an underneath defender was kind
of in no man's land. There was a big cavity
in between, and and you know he put it over
the top. And then Cooper to have that, you know,
(12:14):
I think the other thing too, is amazing catch. But
just you know, there's certain guys that have just great
sideline awareness, you know, to be able to make that play,
to really understand, you know, there's just there's a subconscious
feel that these great ones have, and certainly Cooper's sideline
or back end line awareness in the end zone as
has always been one of his great traits, and I
(12:35):
think that's consistent with some of the great players. But
that was a big explosive that we had to have
on a drive that Matthew went eight for eight that
ended up giving us the lead there.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
He said, Stafford, so now I can talk about the quarterback.
See they think I'll talk about him too much. Just
unreal just what he can do and how he's doing it.
Just special player. Just one more gush about your quarterback.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Yeah, no, I mean just gutsy, resilient, standing in there,
keeping his eyes down the field. I thought he made
some off schedule plays. Thought he was at his best.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
When he when he when when we needed him, you know.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
And he's so hard on himself. He'll be talking about
the couple opportunities that he wants back. But you show
me a great quarterback and a great game from a quarterback,
they'll always want a couple of plays back.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
He made some.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Plays that we'd have no chance of being in that
game without him. You know, when we did get the
ball back with four and a half minutes, the throw
to the Marcus Robinson to be able to convert on
the third down to give us a fresh set of
downs was magic.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
You know.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Some of the plays that he made on that you know,
on the eight throws that he did have that I
alluded to on the you know, the drive that put
us in front, they were great throws and they were
you know, he really pulled out every club in his
bag to be able to make some of those different
throws and we just came up a little bit short.
But as a competitor, if I'm him, he's got nothing,
but uh, he should be nothing but proud and uh
(13:49):
and he'll come back and he'll be ready to attack
this week.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
But he instills a belief.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
In everybody around him, regardless of the circumstances. And I
think that's as big a compliment as you can give
to your quarterback.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Had chance to sit down with Tyler Johnson today, What
a what an impressive young man he is is He
seems so ready for this moment too. He's been on
a championship team, He's worked with Tom Brady, he's been
a part of your organization. Now he and Jordan Whittington
ready to step up in phill Pucas cleats.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
I think so, And I think two two is ready
to get some more opportunities. You know, two two's a
guy that's delivered for s JB. There's a lot of
different reasons when you put together certain you know, game
plans if you will, that can sometimes help guys get
in the flow. And then sometimes they just the way
the game unfolds it, it doesn't allow it to be
illustrated that way. And so the answer is yes on
both the guys that you asked about. And then I
(14:34):
also think two two is going to be a factor,
and you know, once we finish up here, that will represent,
you know, getting going and figuring out how to maximize
that room. Because you've got Cooper, You've got the Marcus Robinson,
and then you got three other guys that I just
mentioned in too two and Tyler Johnson and Jordan Whittington
that are smart, tough, physical football players I mentioned are
(14:55):
kind of guys, and then they all fall in alignment
with that, and they all have kind of complimentary skill
sets that we've got to do a good job of
figuring out how to accentuate that.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I hope Jared versus your type of guy.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
I haven't watched the entire defense yet, but the mental
reps that I have is him walking tackles back, Cam
Curll knocking the hell out of everything.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah, I thought the defense played like Gangbusters.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
I did too. I was really pleased. And that's an
excellent offense. DeMarco. I mean, you look at it.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
I mean these guys, I think they challenge you from
personnel with the skilled players. They've got a quarterback that
knows exactly what they're trying to get done, and he
can play on time and in rhythm with accuracy. They're
excellent on the offensive line. They have great design in
the run game, so it's a combination of scheme and personnel,
and you're checking both of those boxes, and when you
do that, you're really challenged.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Thought our guys did a great job. You know. They
they fought there.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
You know, they fought their tails off. I was really
proud of them. You know, we have a couple of
things that we want back in that overtime period, but
for the most part, I thought there was a lot
of positives, a lot of things that we can take away.
And I think our players know that too. You know,
they wanted to be able to finish that deal. They
have high expectation. I think a lot of people were
probably surprised, but I don't think they were. And nobody
(16:04):
in this building was just based on the body of
work that we've seen. I thought Chris and our defensive
coaches did an excellent job. I thought they had some
great flexibility based on some things that they were doing
that allowed us to get off the grass and some
known passing situations. And and I thought a lot of
the young guys are the new additions that you mentioned
showed up and I think a lot of the you
know guys that we're familiar with, whether it's the Quinton Lakes,
(16:26):
John Johnson's, you know, Kobe Turners. I thought Byron Young
showed up, and I thought Kobe Durant had a pretty
complete game as well. What ai oh in that moment
to shoot, I thought he knocked himself out. But that
was such a huge play when they're getting ready to
potentially go up to possessions this seventeen thirteen game, we
(16:47):
had to have it. And then for that was great
complimentary football and display. We get the turnover, and then
the offense, you know, takes the ball down the field
and scores and and you know, to just be able
to finish it out again some of those great teams,
that'll be one that we'll learn from and we'll use
it and we'll apply it the right way.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I don't want to be the guy who put you
in a position to sound like sour grape, So please
take this in the spirit where it's intended. But now
that you kind of got the Competition committee leadership role
within the league, how do you feel about what we've
done with the overtime rule, even though you're on the
losing end of it.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Yeah, I mean I felt for Indianapolis last year. Here
here's what I would say. It's tough when you go
back and forth. And I understand it because over the
course of a seventeen game season, you're trying to say,
let's not extend it.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
But it is tough.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Whether it's you know, obviously it's why they change the
playoff format to be the way that it is, so
that it least each team's guaranteed a possession. That was tough,
you know, for a game to go back and forth
like that and to not get an opportunity to go
match it. And I'm sure Indianapolis felt that way last
year when we you know, they get themselves back in
a game, we're up with a big lead, we take
(17:50):
the ball in overtime and we score and Pooka ends
up having a walk off. And so now you know,
in consecutive years seeing it from both angles, you.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Know, I do, it's tough.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
You know, you would like to be able to get
you know what, I have liked another shot, of course.
Do I think that Indianapolis, you know, probably deserved another
shot based on the way the game on fold of
last year, Yeah, of course I do. And so but
that's what the rule is, and unfortunately, you know that's
that's where we're at.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Funny, I didn't care last year.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, well, you never know how the end of regulation
leads into that too, Like your defense is on the
field for a long time exactly, and they get a
coin flip and a quick time out to get right
back out there, no doubt. So there's something about this
trip to face Arizona. It seems like in your career
they've been the Rams have been shorthanded at times, needing
to bounce back at times. Maybe the back against the
wall a couple of times, and then you go see
(18:39):
red and find a way. I hope that's the case
again this week for it.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
I do too.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
It'll be a great challenge. I mean, they went toe
to toe, wire to wire. They're really well coached. They've
added some new additions. I thought they looked excellent yesterday.
I'm going to jump into the tape when we finish up,
but we better be ready to go.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
I don't know how you could ever sleep on Kyler Murray,
no matter what they're doing. How do you sleep on
the guy?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
You don't?
Speaker 4 (18:59):
You don't and he is dangerous and they do an
excellent job and then defensively, they pose a lot of
different problems that you have to prepare for.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
I see you sliding in sleep, sliding in sleep. Yeah,
I can't sleep on Kyler. They can't all three of us,
especially every time of the Los Angeles Rams. Good to
see you, Sean, great effort and learn a lot about
your four rams in Detroit.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Thanks Sean.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Me Faye DeMarco far I'm JB. Long. This the debut
episode of the Coach McVay Show, always presented by Microsoft
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