McVay, O’Connell, Donald … 12/24 … transcripts

Head Coach Sean McVay, Offensive Coordinator Kevin O’Connell and DL Aaron Donald–December 24, 2020

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Head Coach Sean McVay

(Opening statement)
“Happy holidays, Merry Christmas to everybody. Hopefully everybody’s doing great. What a great time of the year and something to reflect back on all the blessings that we have. I’m excited for our guys this weekend too.”

(On Seahawks QB Russell Wilson taking more risks and if that creates opportunities for the Rams defense)
“I think there was a phase where there was a couple of games. In some of those too, I think you got to take with a grain of salt. I know against the Bills before we played them the last time, it’s a fourth down, they’re going for it, he’s keeping the play alive. I think you’ve got to kind of really look at each one and understand where it’s coming from. But this guy’s a great player, he’s playing at an MVP level. What I think they’ve done a great job of, especially over the last five games since we’ve seen them, is really be able to kind of balance up their identity. When the ball’s in his hands, good things happen, but getting (RB Chris) Carson and (RB Carlos) Hyde going as well has been reflective of I think some of the things that make them multidimensional and really difficult to defend. I’ve always just thought he is such a great competitor, I’ve loved the mental toughness that he possesses. You can see, the one thing I think you look for in your quarterback is, is there a belief and a confidence, does he make people around him better? Certainly (QB) Russell (Wilson) does that and that’s why it’s going to be such a great challenge for us.”

(On K Matt Gay’s range)
“I think he’s comfortable from over 50 (yards), right around those low 50 (yard field goal attempts). I mean, he could knock it down in a comfortable atmosphere from 60. I think when you talk about where would you feel good about activating those types of kicks. If you’re kind of (alluding) to the other day, it was something that we were kind of playing for the win. We’re on the 37-yard line. Looking back on it, you’d say maybe. But in the midst of the moment in a lot of those instances, you kind of trust your gut. I felt like we had good momentum and we were down a field goal. I felt like we were playing for a touchdown, didn’t think that would be the last possession that we would have. You always reflect back on it. But in the moment, I did feel good about the confidence I had in our guys and our ability to execute and try to go play for a touchdown there, but something that you’d maybe think twice about if it comes up again.”

(On Gay mentioning that it was in some ways harder to kick with no fans because you can hear the opposing team)
“I would say that’s totally at the player’s discretion in terms of, do they like it? Do they not? What’s their rhythm and routine, especially as you’re approaching a kick. So, (K) Matt (Gay) is much better equipped to answer that. I know as a coach I miss people yelling. I love going to Seattle, there’s a handful of people that’ll say some really mean things, I kind of like it in a messed-up way. So, I’ll miss that.”

(On watching match-ups like CB Jalen Ramsey and WR DK Metcalf unfold for the second game in a season series)
“I mean, two great players. I think everybody makes a deal about two great players going at it, which clearly it is in the situations where they’re lined up across one another. You’ve also got to take into account, ‘Okay, what are each of these guys being asked to do within the framework of their role on the given play?’ It’s not like they’re always just isolated one-on-one and we’re just having the quarterback look at him and those two are going at it. It’s two great players. I think what we’ve talked about that makes (CB) Jalen (Ramsey) so special is he’s got the ability to play star coverage on an elite player, like a (WR) DK Metcalf. He can bump inside. His versatility really helps out. I think (Defensive Coordinator) Brandon (Staley) does a great job of being able to mix it up. So, it’s always fun when you look at it, especially with the caliber player that they really have on their offense from a skill players, because Metcalf is a phenomenal player that’s really coming into his own, but (WR Tyler) Lockett is a guy that I think has been underrated as one of the better receivers in this league, as well. So, this is really my first experience in this role where you’ve had kind of that match-up that you’re really all eyes are on that and in a divisional game since I’ve been here.”

(On how Run Game Coordinator/ Offense Line Coach Aaron Kromer has been a part of the run game success this season)
“He’s been great. I think the first thing that says as much about (Run Game Coordinator / Offensive Line Coach Aaron) Kromer as anything is the development of these players. As a coach, one of your number one goals and objectives is to help players reach their highest potential and to develop them. He’s the epitome of that when you look at what he’s done over the course of his coaching career, just in general, but especially here with younger players playing at a high level and figuring out how to get the group to collaborate and play as one. Then schematically, he has great ownership and understanding of what the best ways are to activate certain run schemes to attack defenses. He has a plethora of experiences doing different run schemes at a really high level. I think his agility and flexibility has been a real trait. I’ve learned a lot from him. I really enjoy working with him, we have a great rapport and that’s something that we felt like since we started working together back in ‘17. But he’s done a great job, those guys have really played well. I think that’s a great reflection of him.”

(On was he referring to crazy fans when he said he’d missed the people in Seattle)
“Yeah. There’s a very special fan that has a sign right in the corner when you’re walking out of the opposing locker room. He said some mean things to me, but I loved it (laughs).”

(On increasing their game-winning chance by two percent when going for it on fourth down against the Jets late in the game and if analytics are things that they look at)
“You do you have an understanding of where the analytics fit in, but I think there’s a real feel for the flow of the game. The match-ups, the kind of things that you’re anticipating from a defensive-coverage, fronts, what’s the down-and-distance and what’s the time left in the game. What’s the feel for the flow of the game? I just think that’s such a big part of it. Somebody asked me this and you talk about going into the New England game. If you said, ‘Hey, you’re going to get a fourth down and one of the first drives of the game, would you go for it?’ Well, the answer is easily yes when you see what the first six plays of that drive reflected. We’re getting good knockoff, there was a good feel and momentum. That was really what went into it. I think you definitely have that as a part of it, but I do think to say that’s the end all be all, I think it minimizes the work that we do throughout the course of the week and some of the things that take part in a game with 22 moving parts on every single snap. I’ll never have that just exclusively guide my decision-making. That doesn’t mean that’s the right approach, that’s just what I believe is the best. Certainly I know that’s not for everybody.”

(On how in-depth they break down the analytics and use it as a tool rather than the only thing they study)
“We have a great analytics team that does an excellent job with those kinds of things. I think what you try to do is keep up with what the landscape of the league is and just have an inventory that’s kind of in your mind that’s ongoing to just catalog things and get a feel for the flow of the game but also some of those decision-making. It’s a small part of it, but in that instance the other day, to me, if you said, ‘What dictated and determined why we went for it?’ I felt like we had good momentum, I felt good about some of the different things that we could activate on fourth-and-four based on the coverage principles that we anticipated being able to get. Just knowing how that game had gone, you’re saying, ‘Hey, let’s go play for the win’ instead of just trying to kick a field goal that I do think Matt would hit. But that was just kind of the thought process there.”

(On injury updates)
“The only thing was (OLB) Natrez Patrick was sick and missed today, but everybody else is feeling good.”

(On OL Rob Havenstein)
“Big (OL) Rob (Havenstein) is feeling good. He’ll be ready to roll.”

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Offensive Coordinator Kevin O’Connell

(On what he saw on the last two throws for QB Jared Goff against the Jets and his progression through the down)
“I think the fourth down call, kind of a similar throw that we’ve had, kind of to that tight end match-up a couple of times this year in different varieties that we’ve been able to hit in a couple other games. We just missed it. That play, we’re going to allow (TE) Gerald (Everett) to try to make when we get those one-on-one match-ups and we’ve got a lot of faith in (QB) Jared (Goff) and Gerald to make that play. The third-down play is the one to me, going back to that third-and-four, been some discussion about that play, there had been in the game amongst us, the quarterback group on the sideline. We had talked about progressing, depending on how the down played out, if that play were to be called. That was a play that I thought Jared very easily could have progressed through the down. He’s just got so much faith when we call some of those one-on-one opportunities that things are going to play out a certain way sometimes. We’ve talked a lot about continuing to just play each snap as its own, compete through the down. If that means progressing with great ball security in the pocket, or like he had the opportunity to do a couple of times in that game on other downs, to possibly try to create something potentially off-schedule in kind of a critical time in the game where we needed a play there and it would have helped us have a better chance to win the football game. We just didn’t get it done.”

(On if he sees anything different about the Seahawks four-man pass rush)
“I think they’re really finding their groove defensively, getting to the quarterback in a lot of different ways, whether they rush four, maybe it’s (LB Bobby) Wagner or (LB) K.J. Wright pressuring. Then obviously everybody knows how much of a factor (SS) Jamal (Adams) can be around the line of scrimmage. We’re well aware of that, they like to activate all kinds of different rush patterns or blitz patterns, however they like to bring it, it’s something that they’ve always been really successful at. I think they’ve done a really good job the last few weeks really kind of honing in on some things that we’ve got to be ready for – both personnel based and also just matching their intensity, because we know they’re going to play really hard and they’re going to try to get after us. We’ve got to match that and execute on those critical downs, where we may drop back and try to convert for first downs.”

(On how he thinks not having RB Cam Akers will impact the game)
“Well, I know for me, it’s been really awesome to see (RB) Cam (Akers) really come on and start to catch a groove, as far as just his comfort and what we’re asking him to do, not only running the football, but catching the ball out of the backfield. So obviously, it just stinks for him. You know how hard he’s worked and we’re hoping to get him back as soon as we possibly can. But at the same time, like we’ve talked about all season long, (RB) Darrell (Henderson Jr.) and (RB) Malcolm (Brown) have all had their moments throughout the season. We knew going into the year that all three of those guys would have different types of impacts at different times. In some cases during individual games, we’ve seen one guy or another guy, we go back and forth and kind of ride that hot hand. I think it’s a matter of trust in Malcolm and Darrell to be able to go out there and have a lot of success while also, we hope to get Cam back whenever we can. That room has done a really good job this year playing well off of one another and being a big-time role in our offense for both our run game and at times for our pass game as well.”

(On how much harder it is for a quarterback to make the right decision in desperate situations)
“I think you recall and you call upon your experience in similar situations, but at the same time, it is so important to treat every one of those snaps and situations as its own. We spend a lot of time talking about progressions. Progressions for (inaudible), to where we have clear expectations of how we want to operate and execute. Then it’s about trusting Jared to go out there and he’s the one with the ball in his hands at the top of his drop, being great with his feet, being great with his eyes and fundamentally doing things the right way. And then, simply saying yes or no, is a guy open when you’re going through a progression. It’s easy sometimes to sit back on the sideline or with the clicker in your hand the next day, but we trust Jared to continue to make the right decisions, to continue to progress through downs. He’s done it really well at times and some big moments for us this year. As we go on and things kind of continue to ratchet up and we’re playing two division games, nothing’s more important than the opportunity this week against a really good team, playing good defense. Jared’s going to have to have some snaps where he’s aggressive with his arm. He’s going to have to have other snaps where he’s got to progress through the down and be smart with the football. You ask a lot of a quarterback in any NFL offense, but in ours, that’s a major role.”

(On if Goff has shown that he does make the right decisions in those moments)
“I mean the big picture thinking, I would say yes, absolutely. The other answer to that question is if I know me personally and in my dealings with Jared, if we start looking at things from a 30,000-foot view of big picture right now, that’s not going to help us improve and fix whatever there was to be fixed coming out of that game. We got to look at things, be detail oriented in our mindset, trying to make sure that we can grow from those situations and allow a negative outcome that happened last Sunday to only be a positive for us moving forward with the opportunities we have moving forward.”

(On balancing the quick-throw game versus progressing through the reads)
“That’s a great question, because that’s what makes this position and the quarterback position in the NFL so unique, because there’s a lot of pre-snap information sometimes that can help you kind of eliminate some of the post-snap decision-making, as far as the amount of options. You’ve got five eligibles on a lot of downs, when you can get the running back out. We like to have progressions where we clearly define the expectation based upon the information sometimes we can gather pre-snap. But a lot of times, it just comes down to having great eyes throughout the sequence of the drop back. Whether you’re holding underneath coverage, or holding a secondary, post safeties, things like that. But, then at the top of your drop, being set to eliminate any wasted movement and wasted time, so that if No. 1 is there, we pull the trigger and we want to be aggressive to No. 1, because we expect those guys to win when they get their ops. We’ve got so much confidence in all of our guys that we target on third-down. Then those downs where maybe, hey, the separation isn’t what we thought it would be. Maybe the look didn’t play out as we practiced. Let’s progress through the down. Let’s go to one A, one B, let’s go to two, three, whatever it is, eventually checking the ball down. Our backs do a great job getting out and making themselves available. We’ve seen some big conversions to those guys as well. I know that’s a long answer and it’s because it’s such a difficult question to answer, because of all the factors that go into it. That’s why we spend the time we do preparing. It’s just about taking that preparation to the game. I got a lot of confidence in Jared this weekend.”

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DL Aaron Donald

(On preparing for Seattle with RB Carlos Hyde and RB Chris Carson back)
“They’ve got two more of their playmakers on the team. So obviously things are going to be a little different for them as far as what they’re able to do running the ball. We know what to expect, we’ve played those guys before. We kind of got a feel for what’s going to happen or what’s going to be coming our way.”

(On if it makes it harder to prepare for Seattle with Hyde and Carson)
“Yeah, they are good football players. So, you definitely got to get ready for those guys, because they are two similar backs, but at the same time they run two different ways. They are definitely solid football players.”

(On if he feels relief about having kicker stability on the roster)
“For sure. We’ve seen in at practice, he was there kicking consistently, making it. So, he’s helping us win games and helping us put points on the board, obviously we’re going to be happy about that. When he does things like that, we’re going to be on the sidelines cheering and giving him love just like that.”

(On the mindset as a defense going into Seattle)
“Dominate. It starts with this week against Seattle, in Seattle. We know what kind of game that’s going to be. We’ve just got to be prepared, play better than what we did last week, play more consistent, everybody be on the same page. If we do that, we know what we can do as far as the defense.”

(On DL Sebastian Joseph-Day’s growth)
“‘Bash’ (DL Sebastian Joseph-Day), he grew a lot as far as definitely his production on the football field. As a rookie, I wasn’t there in camp with him, but seeing him doing it through the season, always asking questions from older guys, at the time was (Tampa Bay DL Ndamukong) Suh, ‘Brock’ (Dl Michael Brockers) – always just trying to find ways to learn and get himself better. He’s still the same way today. Obviously, he’s in that starting role, but he’s still asking questions. He’s a big help out there for us, as far as the D-line getting us set and certain looks and things we get. So, the sky’s the limit for him. He’s going to continue to get better. He’s a big, strong guy, he’s playing with a lot of confidence this year. When you got a guy that that’s taking coaching and learning from the older guys around them at the same time, he’s dominating just from what he’s able to do. He’s got no choice, but to continue to get better. Just to see his growth from and where he’s at right now, definitely been good.”

(On what it will be like to play in Seattle without the fans)
“Just like the rest of the season has been, quiet in the stadium and just out there playing ball. It’s something that we kind of got used to, playing this season as far as not having fans. It’s going to be just like that.”

(On if he sees anything different from Seahawks QB Russell Wilson since the last game in Week 10)
“He’s doing similar things to what he’s been doing. I think they’ve been running the ball good, even a little bit more mobile. He’s still playing good football.”

(On how to be a more consistent team)
“I don’t know. We just got to be more of a consistent team, that’s what it comes down to. We just at times have been inconsistent. To get to where we’re trying to get to and get to the playoffs and play win it all, we’ve got to be more consistent as a team overall. That’s on all of us from offense to defense to special teams, because at the end of the day we win as a team. So, we’ve just got to fix that, we will. Things happen for a reason. So, we’re going to correct those things get better and come back that much better.”

(On how he’s seen this team grow from training camp until now)
“Honestly what I saw in camp is similar to what I’m seeing now, just guys flying around, making plays. There was a lot of guys that was young guys that had to make a name for themselves, you didn’t really know what to expect going into the season. From what they did in camp, as far dominating to translating that to week-to-week and each game, they’ve been doing that. This defense has been playing great and we got to continue to do that. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”

(On his involvement with Watts Rams)
“I just reached out to a couple of kids, I talked to them. I’m just trying to do my part to mentor or help kids that are struggling with certain things. I just reach out to them and talk to them a little bit, motivate them. Anything that has to do with kids, as far as motivating and helping them, I’m always down for that. The youth is important. We want to continue to build them up and push them to strive for great things.”

(On what about the matchup against Wilson brings out his best)
“I just play. I just go out there, play the game and what plays present themselves to me, I just take advantage of it. I don’t think it’s an extra amped up or anything like that. I’m just going out there playing ball and some days it’s good, some days it’s not. So that’s all I can do.”

(On the type of mentality needed to play against Wilson)
“You keep it every week. The mindset is to try to dominate, try to affect him in any way you can, as far as just your presence or making him feel uncomfortable. When you play against great quarterbacks, if you allow them to be comfortable or confident in the pocket, it can be a long day for us. My job as a defensive lineman, and definitely as a pass rusher, is to affect him some way and somehow to slow that down.”

(On what it means to be named to his seventh-straight Pro Bowl)
“It’s a blessing. Anytime you’re rewarded and you accomplish something from the body of work you’ve been putting in, you’re going to be happy about, but we have a lot more football left. A good accomplishment, but the ultimate goal is to be holding that trophy at the end of the year, so that’s what my focus is right now.”

(On ILB Troy Reeder)
“He’s been making some plays, coming up and hitting. Making some good calls for us. He is going to continue to get better as well and continue to help us.”

(On if OLB Leonard Floyd and DL Michael Brockers are playing well together)
“Yeah, they’re playing good together. That’s the best thing about going through a camp and getting to feel five guys playing. Then, you see it during Week 1, Week 2, and as the season goes on the more comfortable you get playing with somebody and the better feel you get for how they play and the things they do. They’re playing good like that, as far as working games or learning how this guy rushes or why I had to rush a certain way inside. So, when you have two veteran guys like that, playmakers that understand the game and understand how to play off each other, good things come out of that.”

(On if Floyd has brought an added physicality to the edge)
“100 percent. He plays the run solid, strong, and a lot of knock-backs, TFL. He’s been out there flying around, making a lot of plays for us, and we can expect him to continue to do that at a high level.”