McVay … 10/5 … transcript

Head Coach Sean McVay – October 5, 2020

(On any update on LB Micah Kiser)
“He’s got a minor strain in his groin and his pec. He’ll be day-to-day. He would be a guy that if we practiced today, wouldn’t be ready to go. I would imagine we’ll be smart with him on Wednesday. So, he will be day-to-day. (LB) Kenny Young just had a little knee inflammation, we’ll see where he’s at on Wednesday. Then (OL) Bobby Evans in field goal protection, got his shoulder (injured). We’ll see where those guys are at on Wednesday, but those are the only guys that (if) we had some stuff going on today would potentially be out. But Kiser, I would imagine we’ll be smart with him on Wednesday and then with Kenny and Bobby, we’ll reevaluate them on Wednesday as well.”

(On the approach to rotate running backs with Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson Jr. on Sunday against the Giants)
“(RB Darrell Henderson Jr.) is good. He got a got a good shot where we were just making sure he’s feeling good. He came back in, but really it was kind of a physical downhill kind of a dirty-type running game. We weren’t really able to run. We didn’t get as many opportunities. Really because we weren’t as efficient on third down that led to a lot of the lack of success, if you will just all offensively overall. I think you look at what a small margin for error it was. To answer your original question, and then I’ll go on a little tangent myself, we wanted to rotate those guys, but the way that the game kind of ended up playing out, (RB) Malcolm (Brown) ended up getting more touches. It was hard to get into any sort of rhythm. I think when you just look at what a fine line it is between playing well and then it not really feeling like you’re getting nearly the production that’s expected of this unit and that what we’ve been accustomed to is, you have your first series go 12 plays go right down the field and ended up scoring a touchdown. Second series, you end up fumbling on the first play that then gives them a little bit of momentum that they end up getting a field goal out of. You go three-and-out on a situation on the third series, where we got a play-action, that we would typically hit on a second down that’s there and they’re place that we’ve made. We end up taking a sack on third down where uncharacteristic plays by our guys that we just really haven’t missed. Then, we ended up getting a 14-play drive that because of a red-zone mistake, probably ends up resulting in a field goal instead of a touchdown when you take a sack there. So, that’s all of our drives in the first half. You have a couple of things that happened in the second half to the guys’ credit, here’s what I liked the most – we’re not ever going to take for granted a win. What I thought was the most impressive thing about the group yesterday, was I like the fact that we can win different ways as a team. But, ultimately it’s kind of like a jump shooter that’s having a tough day. They found a way when it was the most important to be able to hit their shot. That’s what that eighth drive of the game reflected. Just wasn’t a lot of opportunities as a result of some good things they did. But I think in a large part, a lot of things that we’ve got to just execute better and I expect us to be able to do that moving forward. Ultimately, Malcolm got the majority of the work, but it was really just split. We just didn’t have a lot of chances.”

(On if he expects S Jordan Fuller back this week)
“I expect (S Jordan Fuller) and (RB) Cam Akers both to be back this week. So, that’s a good thing being able to have those guys back out on the field with us will definitely give us a good boost.”

(On if it’s difficult to use the old Washington nickname, even in private conversation)
“It’s different. I mean, you get accustomed to saying it. Even when I first got here sometimes, because I was there for so long, you almost have to correct yourself from saying the old ‘R word’ instead of the Rams. So, it’s different. What also is different is the team. There are very few players that are still left on that roster that I was with. It’s a very small number. It shows you the turnover that occurs in this league. Not many
people on the coaching staff, there’s still a couple people in some different departments. But, it’s amazing. You just realize how much things change in this league year-after-year and sometimes for good, sometimes for not good. It’ll be good to go back there, but it’ll feel very different because so many of the people that are there now, I don’t really know.”

(On his thoughts about the issues with Washington’s name)
“I would say this – anytime that there’s a possibility that somebody is offended by it, I’d always err on the side of being sensitive to those feelings and circumstances. It wasn’t something that I am probably educated enough on to really speak on, other than, I always want to empathize with people if there’s a soft spot on it. And if there is, I don’t think you can ever be too cautious about being considerate to people’s feelings, if it is something that they deemed offensive. So that’s why I think it is what it is right now.”

(On if he knows what happened between CB Jalen Ramsey and Giants WR Golden Tate at the end of Sunday’s game and if he’s talked to Ramsey about the situation since then)
“Yeah, I spoke to him. Just making sure that we’re all on the same page of we can’t allow some of those things to get in the way of whether it ended up being something bad that happened for you or for our football team. (CB) Jalen (Ramsey) is a smart guy, there’s a lot of emotions. As far as the specifics, you know, these are grown men, I didn’t get into the, ‘He said, she said.’ It was really more along the lines of let’s be smart. Let’s make sure we don’t let this take away from what we just were able to accomplish as a team. And I think the play made on third-and-three is a good way to get out some of that frustration within the confines of the game. One of the greatest plays you’ll see from a defensive player, they try to throw a little throwback screen to him, he blows up the back, and goes through (Giants WR) Golden Tate for a huge third down stop, all within legal parameters of how we play football, that gave us a spark. And then that led to the offense scoring on the next drive. So, that’s how we can get out some frustration, if we have it.”

(On if there is a heightened sense of concern with the postgame incident since Ramsey is one of their highest paid players)
“I would say the contract status, no it doesn’t have (anything to do with it). It’s about our players. Anytime that stuff occurs. You know, it caught me off guard. You’re kind of shaking up, seeing some people and then you look over your shoulder and it’s melee. Those are things we want to avoid, and I’ve seen that occur a lot in these types of settings. It doesn’t make it okay and we have to be above that and we have to avoid that. I think you guys know how important it is for us to reflect the type of caliber of team, but also the way we want to handle some of those adverse situations and that’s not in alignment with how we want to do it. I expect us to be better as we move forward.”

(On does the team’s 3-1 start this year feel different compared to last year)
“It feels different. What I’ve been encouraged with is that this team has shown a resolve, a mental toughness, and an ability to win games in different ways. And I think at the end of the day, when you look at how much football we have left, I mean, we have 75 percent of our season for sure left – well, we’ll see, hopefully. I’m hopeful that we’ll have 12 more games, at least, but I think so much changes. But what I do think we’ve seen in the first quarter of our season is that we have found a way to win three games in three different ways. I have seen contributions. I’ve seen improvements steadily from our team. I’ve seen a defense that it is capable of giving real problems. I think we’ve played outstanding in the second half of games. And then I’ve seen an offense that is capable of being efficient down in and down out. Even when we weren’t efficient at all, we found a way to make a play when we had to, in a game that the defense really did carry a lot of the momentum throughout. And so, that’s what I’m encouraged about. I expect us to just continue to improve, but there’s a resolve, there’s a feeling about this team that I do feel good about. And, you know, those are good feelings right now, but we’ve got a long way to go.”

(On winning games in different ways and if he sees any similarities with the 2018 season)
“I think so. I think there’s a lot of different ways to win games. What I expect us to do, is continuously improve in all three phases. I’d like to see us put together a full, complete game. You just know what a momentum game this is and you can’t go back and say, ‘Well, what if?’, but I do believe that you have a chance to shift the momentum of the whole dynamics of that game with a couple of plays in the first half that we didn’t make and ultimately they did, that allowed them to kind of stay in it. I would agree with (OL) Andrew (Whitworth) and what he was saying, and it’s about finding a way to get it done as a team. That’s the most important thing and I think that was what was reflective, is that we did that as a unit, putting all three phases together, just getting a feel for the flow of the game yesterday.”

(On what it means in the NFL to close out games mentally and physically and how does he coach that)
“I think it’s a mindset that the players have, and I think there’s an understanding that occurs when you aren’t really having as much success or the efficiency that you’re accustomed to. It’s not about starring at the iPad and feeling like, ‘All right, I’m just going to look harder at this’, it’s about executing your role within each play and understanding that if we just stack those blocks, usually good things happen. We talk about it all the time, that this is the best team sport that there is, relying on the other 10 players around you in the huddle to be able to do their job and how much is reflected when all 11 do their deal, and then what that can lead to. I thought there was a couple of things that we had talked about and ultimately the guys made it come to life, but they had, kind of, shown a couple of things they wanted to do and we felt like if that was the answer, maybe something that we could have done a little bit sooner, but the control that our defense had and then when it got to 10-9 and that momentum play that Jalen had, we felt like it was time to put the foot on the gas and we always talk about attacking those wins and I thought that was indicative of it in a relatively conservative approach that we had offensively throughout the course of the day.”

(On if he has heard from the league on if the team or Ramsey will receive any penalties)
“I have not. I haven’t heard and any of that stuff, we handle internally. There’s so many things that ended up occurring. I think it’s more about, ‘All right, let’s understand it and let’s make sure that we learn from this situation,’ because what I don’t want to do, is ever get into that, ‘He said, she said,’ there’s so many different things. I just see it. I’m interested in solving the problem and moving forward the right way and I think that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

(On if he was on the call with the League concerning COVID-19 protocols and if the facility will be making any changes)
“So really the big thing is, is just the understanding of the heightened sense of urgency, making sure that they’re going to have, us wearing our masks all the time. It’s really just being exactly in alignment with all the protocols, but having a heightened sense of urgency and awareness, knowing just how volatile this situation is. I think it was really just getting that communicated, making sure that there was clarity on the understanding of what we all need to do to, to be able to play a full season and get to a Super Bowl. I think that’s everybody in the league’s goal and it’s not necessarily anything changing, but probably just being a little bit more buttoned up in everything that we do, specific to the risk mitigation and, as you like to hear me say, the ecosystem.”

(On if they will activate OLB Terrell Lewis this week)
“There is a possibility of that, especially given the situation. There is a possibility of that. We’ll get a feel based on some of those injuries and things like that. I think that’ll help kind of steer the direction of that decision. But there is a possibility of that this week.”

(On his impression of Washington’s head coach Ron Rivera and how he feels about him coaching football while battling cancer)
“I’ve gotten to know (Washington Head) Coach (Ron) Rivera. It’s actually funny, when I first got hired out here, I met him with Frank Luntz and he was unbelievable to me. I really have so much respect for Coach Rivera and the man that he is, the caliber of football coach, but what he’s about. Even just watching him, I got a chance to meet his wife, as well and his daughter. He has a couple of daughters, but he’s a great man. Watching the way that he’s handled this is reflective of exactly what you would say, ‘This is a guy that represents a lot of the things that are right about football and perseverance and being a man of character and integrity and leading and caring about people.’ So, I know him in some of those casual settings, where he has been nothing but first class to me, but other than those settings, haven’t gotten a chance. But everybody that’s been around him and then the people that I still do keep in contact with back in Washington, have nothing but great things to say about the human being, the coach, and everybody loves him.”

(On the idea of what it would be like to have to coach through COVID-19 and cancer at the same time)
“I can’t even imagine, because I’ve been so fortunate and blessed to be able to really not have to worry about some of those things. But I’ve seen people go through that adversity and it just makes you realize, what a blessing your health is, how you never take it for granted, but then the perspective of how much you just admire the people that can have the ability to overcome it and just continue to fight it and be a demonstration of, ‘We talk about mental toughness all the time and physical toughness. This is real. life stuff outside of just sports and he’s living it, he’s demonstrating it.’ I got a chance to see a little bit about kind of what they did with some of the people on the stands, or some of the cutouts and in terms of whether it was his brother, that was pretty special. I think that’s a credit to just who he is as a man.”

(Clarification on Kiser’s injury and if it is the same side the he’s previously injured)
“That’s a good question. I’m not exactly sure. This is a separate deal. This isn’t like a reaggravation. But he had a strain of both the pec and the groin. They were separate injuries, but that’s it.”