McVay, Goff, Kupp, Ramsey, Donald … 11/17 post-game … transcripts

Rams Postgame Quotes – November 17, 2019

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Head Coach Sean McVay

(Opening Remarks)
“First and foremost, with (WR) Robert Woods not being there tonight – it was a personal matter. That’s all we are going to say about that. We love him, respect him, we are with him and his family all the way and that’s really where we will leave that at. As far as the game tonight, really pleased with our team. To be able to find a way to win as a team, that was the goal, that always is the goal. It was a little bit different than typically what we are accustomed to seeing, but a win is a win, we will take that. I love this group, love the way that they continue to battle. I thought our coaching staff did a great job. Hats off to the Bears. They are a tough, physical football team. We were pleased to come away with a win tonight.”

(On what point did he know Woods wasn’t going to play today)
“A couple hours before the game.”

(On if he made a conscientious effort to put the ball in RB Todd Gurley II hands)
“That was part of the gameplan tonight and I thought he did a great job. What I loved the most about what (RB) Todd (Gurley II) did, is after we put the first carry on the ground, he didn’t flinch, he came back and had some good, tough, physical runs and made some good catches out of the backfield and he was a big-time contributor tonight. I thought our offensive line as a whole – I can’t say enough about (TE) Johnny Mundt and (TE) Tyler Higbee battling through, where they were banged up, they were questionable coming in to the game. For Johnny Mundt to be able to play really his first extensive action like that and do a great job battling against a really physical front – with some of the personnel groupings that they were playing on defense – I thought was a real impressive night for those guys. Just kind of grinding it out had to be patient and a lot of that is a result of being able to play as good of defense as we did tonight as well.”

(On holding the Bears to seven points and how good the defense played tonight)
“Unbelievable. They continued to make stop after stop. I though (DB) Troy Hill’s interception was big. The thing that I thought was as big as anything is when offensively, when we turn it over the first two possessions – for the defense to be able to stand up and not let any points come off those turnovers was huge. Really, our defense was outstanding and that’s what we expect from them. I thought they did a great job.”

(On if he was committed to more of a conservative approach on offense)
“Yes, and really I thought at the most timely spots our guys rose up. To be able to see (WR) Josh Reynolds make some timely catches, I thought the third down, where he ended up having poor leverage on (Bears CB Kyle) Fuller, broke that leverage, (QB) Jared (Goff) delivers him a good ball. What a play by Jared Goff in the empty formation to recognize kind of a trap-type coverage where Fuller comes off on the out-break from Josh and he opens up the hole shot from (Tight End) Gerald (Everett). I hate that the one big play to Josh came back, but really I loved the way that our guys overcame it. To see (RB) Malcolm (Brown) end up punching that one in was big and then to be able to close out the game in a four-minute situation and be able to take a knee, that’s always a good thing for us.”

(On if he expected this good of a performance from the offensive line)
“Yeah, it is. That’s what we expected. That was the type of game that we thought it would be and I thought those guys did a great job. Until you go back and look at the tape, it’s hard for us to say but I did think there was a lot of situations where you are a little bit more conservative. I thought they did a great job just continuing to battle. It was a physical football game and really pleased with those guys as a whole.”

(On which point in the week he decided he was going to use Gurley heavily in this game)
“I think you always have a plan as the week evolves, but you certainly never know exactly how a game’s going to unfold and sometimes it changes. I thought our ability to stay in some manageable situations, the efficiency we had specifically early on in the game was critical for that, and like we talked about, I didn’t think I did a good enough job against the Steelers of kind of recognizing the way that he was running and you don’t want to make the same mistake twice.”

(On if he recognizes the way that Gurley is running now, and if we will see him featured more during the remainder of the season)
“I think so. That’s an ideal situation, but we’ll continue to look at this film and we’ll see how we want to put together our next game plan. Anytime you get Todd involved like that, it’s usually always a good thing for our offense.”

(On what he liked about CB Troy Hill’s performance, which included six tackles, a sack, and an interception)
“All those things you just mentioned, and I thought he just continued to compete. He’s a complete corner and if he gets his opportunities, he’s got the ball skills to be able to deliver. That was a big play right there if he’s coming up in run support, but a lot of different coverage principles that we activated tonight and I thought (CB) Troy (Hill) did a great job in addition to really the 10 (players) around him and all the different personnel groupings we activated.”

(On if he expects to get some clarity on when WR Robert Woods will return in the next day or two)
“Yeah, it’s hard to say. I don’t want to give a finite answer on that. I most importantly want to be able to talk to him afterwards. I talked to him before the game, but want to be able to check with him and out of respect for his family, that’s why we’re just kind of leaving it at what it is.”

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QB Jared Goff

(On Rams Head Coach Sean McVay putting the ball in RB Todd Gurley II hands to control the offense)
“I think we kind of knew what type of game it was going to be. That was the type of game it was it was to run the ball and it was specifically (RB) Todd (Gurley II) the way he was moving the ball and the way he was moving, it worked. It worked really well. I just couldn’t be more proud of the guys who stepped up today. It doesn’t happen everywhere in the league where you have two O-linemen go down, you have (TE) Johnny Mundt, who’s banged up you have (TE) Tyler Higbee who’s banged up and we are going to play you guys the entire game almost. They stepped up and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

(On what was the challenge knowing WR Robert Woods wasn’t going to be available for the game)
“He’s a stud for us and we want him out there. We are thinking about him right now, but I thought (WR) Josh (Reynolds) and (WR) Cooper (Kupp), the same reason. We learned before the game what was going on and needed those guys to step up and they didn’t flinch. I can’t stress enough of how proud I am of my teammates – specifically the guys that had to step up today.”

(On Kupp not having a catch last week and how nice was it to have him contribute to the offense this game)
“Anytime I can connect with him is great. We were able to get a little bit more on the same page this week, we weren’t throwing the ball as much as we usually do. It was the way to win the game today. We had to handle it that way and I thought he did a great job.”

(On how he was able to turn it around and keep it together after back-to-back turnovers)
“It’s never ideal and never something you want. I was really kicking myself – just knowing that, like I spoke about, that was the type of game it’s just, ‘Don’t turn the ball over and take care of the football.’ Just a bad throw by me. Again, I can’t stress enough the ability to overcome and how you see these guys just consistently fight, and fight, and fight. And those young guys in the huddle the way that they are locked in, it’s so special. It was a big win for us.”

(On if he could sense a feeling of urgency around the team knowing they needed a win to stay in the playoff hunt)
“I don’t think we’re thinking that big-picture right now. We were really focused on beating the Bears today and I think that you could feel the urgency with that coming off last week’s disappointment, just knowing that we needed to get this done today a few plays go here, there, the other, you never know what happens. We were able to make somethings happen and those guys up front stepped up and did their thing. We were able to run the ball and you could see what happens when we get that going.”

(On McVay’s ability to adjust his gameplan based on what the team had going)
“It was tremendous. Again, I think he is only going to continue to grow as a coach and I think tonight was a perfect example of him knowing what type of game it was going to be. Really relying on Todd and really relying on me to make good decisions and I let him down on that one. Just consistently taking care of the ball. Again, knowing what type of game it was going to be we wanted to do that, and I thought he did a great job.”

(On the interception he threw in double coverage and how he puts plays like that behind him)
“That one was tough, that was just a blatant bad decision and bad throw. It’s going to happen, you don’t want them to happen, but it’s bound to. I think, for me personally, I’ve always had a good way about myself to get over that stuff pretty quickly, but that one ate at me for a little bit. Like I spoke about, I knew this game was just take care of the football and we would win the game. As soon as I did that, I’m like, ‘What are you doing? throw the ball away.’ Glad I learned from it, made some good plays the end of the game. I just been doing it my whole life and have to. You have no other choice.”

(On if the defense playing well gives him confidence that he is going to have a chance)
“I think the way that they’ve been playing – specifically the last few games – like you’ve mentioned, it’s given us so much confidence and given us so much ability to go down the field and try to make plays and do different things. We need to be better for them, there is no doubt about that. I think tonight was a unique game and I think we’ve could have been a lot better, especially early on. I think the way that we kept responding, kept responding, we would go three-and-out, we’d punt it away, het the ball back and maybe again, and eventually, kept chipping away, kept chipping away, kept chipping away, and I think that last drive we got our mojo back, we were rolling. It felt like how we usually are on offense and it’s a good feeling right now.”

(On if him saying how he usually is involved Gurley II)
“I’m speaking more specifically in the pass game, of course the way he’s playing was tremendous. I think on that last drive, we don’t have the best look and we’re just getting open and I’m able to make some throws to the guys and they are making great catches and we are making stuff a little bit off-schedule. That’s how we should play, that’s the rhythm we need to play in and I think that Todd, like you mentioned, being able to run like he did, was able to get us into that rhythm.”

(On him being emotion with Gurley II coming off the field)
“I told him he fights, he fights, man. He’s been through the ringer and that dude fights and I couldn’t be more proud to be his teammate.”

(On Gurley II getting a season-high number of touches and how that affects the passing game)
“Yeah, anytime we can run the ball like that it’s going to open things up, especially in the play-action game, and I think that’s kind of what you’ve seen from us the last few years – when we’re at our best is when we’re running the ball really well, and there have been games where we haven’t and we’ve overcome it throwing for a million yards, but that’s not usually how we want to do it. Today was a game where we leaned heavily on him, leaned heavily on him and (RB) Malcolm (Brown) and I thought they both stepped up. You see the type of players they are and the type of people they are. It’s special and again, couldn’t be prouder.”

(On how good the offensive line was given the changes made in the lineup)
“Huge. Huge. Can’t stress it enough. You think about (T) Bobby Evans making his first start against (Bears OLB) Khalil Mack, who’s arguably the best rush-end in the league and it was a non-factor. He did his thing. He stepped up, he did his thing. We were doing different things to help them out, but not that much, to the point where he was just playing well. And then (OL) David Edwards continues to get better, continues to do his thing. I thought (OL) Austin Blythe directed the offense, directed the O-Line like a champ up front, and then (OL) Austin Corbett stepped in as well. Last week was his first time playing, and this week to just come in there, the way that all of them are just so non-reactive, every single play is just so dialed, so focused, so steely-eyed, and just ready to go. And obviously (T Andrew) Whitworth is who he is and we know that, but I just thought those guys just stepped up so well and I couldn’t be prouder. Couldn’t be prouder.”

(On if winning with only 11 completions was the way he wanted to win the game)
“It’s one of my favorite wins as a Ram, no doubt. I think with all the circumstances, being at home in front of our home fans and the way that the game was going, I don’t care how many times I throw the ball, how many times we run the ball, how many completions, attempts, yards, touchdowns, interceptions. The way that game went, and the way that we fought, and the way that we continued to fight all the way until the end in that last drive, the way that that exemplifies that, I think it’s up there in the top of my head as one of my favorite wins as a Ram, and again I couldn’t be prouder with the guys on this team.”

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WR Cooper Kupp

(On what they need to do to see more of an explosive offense)
“We just got to seize the opportunities. They’re there we just have to do a better job executing, starts with us at receiver. There’s some stuff that we did today, I mean even me specifically. There’s some stuff that I did that cost teams games and at the end of the day that’s what it is. You talk about being process driven over results driven. It’s really easy for us to walk out of here feeling good because we got a W. Obviously, you love getting a W. If we’d be process driven and understand the things that we did today, some of the things that I did today really cost teams games and the things that I can not do are inexcusable.”

(On if he feels extra pressure to help out the defense that’s been play so well)
“No, no pressure. We don’t have to make a push or anything like that. They’re playing lights out. I love seeing those guys compete. We just have to go out there and execute. That’s the bottom line. We keep saying, ‘We got to be better, we got to be better.’ We will be better, well it’s time for us to be better. We just have to execute. We have to execute, the stuff’s there. We just have to be better.”

(On how great it was to see RB Todd Gurley back playing)
“Man, that was great. You see the O-line, some of those guys stepped up huge, especially early on the run game was popping. Getting some good chunks. you see that kind of stuff should open up things in the pass game as well with play actions. It was great to be able to move the ball like that. We love being able to run down hill and see Todd lowering his shoulder again. It’s fun stuff.”

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CB Jalen Ramsey

(On his perception on how the Rams got the win against the Bears)
“I think the team played well — enough to get the win, basically. The defense played extremely well. We’ve been stacking up some good performances lately – tonight was another good performance. We let them get one ‘tud’ (touchdown), but that was OK. We never doubted, we had confidence throughout the whole game, through all the adversity. We had the offenses is back and then the offense came up big towards the end of the game to, you know, finish out the win, basically. It was a good team win.”

(On how much the Rams needed to win tonight’s game to stay in playoff contention)
“We weren’t really thinking about it. It was just the next game on the schedule and the most important because it was the game that was right in front of us. That’s about it.”

(On how much of an accomplishment for the defense it was to hold the Browns to seven points)
“Yeah, I would think so. In the past however many weeks, we’ve played well defensively. I feel like since I’ve been here — not saying it’s because of me – but I’m saying since I’ve been here, I’ve noticed the defense is really good. The defense performs well and we are just going to keep on trying to build off of that.”

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DT Aaron Donald

(On holding the Bears to seven points)
“We just played good as a defense, everybody flying around and, you know, played solid football. We gave up two plays, but at the end, I feel like we played strong.”

(On if they had a different mentality going into the game as a defense considering all of the personnel changes on the offense)
“Well our mindset every week as a defense is to try to dominate and do everything we can. I feel like we’ve been doing that week to week. We’ve got to continue to do it, clean up the little things we’ve been having mistakes with. But overall, I feel like we’ve been playing good football.”

(On what he liked from the defensive effort against the Bears)
“I feel like we made good plays. We got the ball back to the offense, we had turnovers, we made big plays when we needed to do it, and we came away with a win.”