Rams Press Conferences after beating Cards … vids & transcripts

Head Coach Sean McVay, QB John Wolford — January 3, 2021

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Head Coach Sean McVay

(Opening Remarks)
“Great team win right there. I just can’t say enough about the defense, the way that they played. To be able to come away with a safety, a scored touchdown that gave us the lead, to be able to get the blocked field goal, they are unbelievable all day. They’ve been unbelievable all year. They’ve really been the strength of this team and I thought they showed up in a big way. Offensively, I think we’ve got to do a much better job of finishing drives in the red area. I liked the way we moved it. I thought after the first throw of the game, (QB) John Wolford was the star offensively. He made plays. We have to continue to make plays around him. I just thought his movement, his athleticism, some of the things where he recognized coverage, he’s hitting (RB) Cam Akers, he’s hitting (TE) Tyler Higbee down the sidelines when corners are kind of coming off and not honoring the deep part of the field. This guy’s resilience showed up in a big way. I was really impressed with him. But I was proud of this team. I thought (P) Johnny Hekker came up in a big way, being able to just pin them deep, kind of playing a field position game. But ultimately, we’ll take the win. I’m really proud of this team. They responded the way that I thought that they would and to be able to get 10 wins and then to get ourselves a chance to get in the tournament, that’s all you can ask for.”

(On if quarterback John Wolford will be the starting next week when they play the Seattle Seahawks)
“You know what, we will talk about that, but I thought he did a great job today. He made plays. I know there is guys around him that are capable of making some of those and I expect those guys to be able to do that but I thought that he really gave us a chance offensively with the amount of plays that he made in the pass game with his legs, athleticism, being able to extend things, I thought he was outstanding against a really tough defense that came ready to go. I was really pleased with John.”

(On how much quarterback John Wolford’s running changed the game)
“I thought it really got us going. You look at the one drive where we ended up having to settle for a field goal. The thing that really is disappointing, but the guys continue to battle, is when you end up having two red zone drives. We’re, in essence, inside the two-yard line and you only come away with 3 points total. We’ve got to be better than that. But I thought on the first scoring drive that we did have, (QB) John (Wolford’s) ability to extend on the 3rd down and 10, convert with his legs, that’s a big winning edge for us. That was a factor all day and you can just see some of the different things that you’re able to do with him really showed up and I thought he did a great job.”

(On when quarterback John Wolford was off schedule, what he saw from him)
“I think his ability to see the field and extend plays. The one that stands out to me is the first 3rd down and 10 conversion, where he dropped back, he kind of gets flushed, they play a split-safety zone, gets flushed to his left and then ends up being able to put his foot in the ground and convert. Some of those things are bigtime deals. Even just being able to extend some of the bootlegs where he finds (WR) Van Jefferson on the cross, or where typically those things, the ball kind of has to come out. So, I thought it showed up in a big way really on all three downs. He gave us a chance in a big way today.”

(On quarterback John Wolford giving energy and life to the sideline)
“Yeah, you heard the way the guys talked about him all week. I think the one play that I really felt the sideline was in the four-minute when he ends up running the zone, when he ends up running the zone read and puts his shoulder down and gives us a first down. So that, in essence, when they get the ball back there’s 29 seconds and no timeouts. He did a great job, but those were the kind of plays that he made really all day. I thought it was impressive the way that he responded. Not the ideal first pass for him, but I did think that sometimes you can really learn a lot about guys with how they respond. I thought he settled in nicely. In essence, we really put the game in his hands offensively and I thought he did a nice job. We want to come away with more points but sustaining drives, keeping the defense off the field with the way they were playing all day, I was really pleased with John.”

(On how much it changed his confidence when quarterback John Wolford threw the quick pick to start the game)
“It really didn’t. He has a nice way about himself. He thought he saw something. It was just a little mistake. And then we came back to a very similar play and he got the look that we wanted and ripped it to (WR) Josh Reynolds on a bigtime slant from the two-spot in an empty. So, I think it didn’t change much other than putting our defense in a tough spot to start the game after they end up getting the first stop of the game. He learned from it, but it didn’t change my confidence in him, and I think you could see that with the way that we called the game.”

(On how he feels about playing the Seattle Seahawks next week)
“I think they’re a great team who I respect, but I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to go compete and see if we can put our best game plan together, go lay it out there in all three phases, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. I can’t wait to get started on it.”

(On how he feels they ran the football today)
“Really outside of (QB) John (Wolford), I didn’t think we ran the ball particularly well. I didn’t think we got great movement. I have to do a better job of making sure that I’m activating certain plays. (QB) John (Wolford) averaged 9.3 per carry. Other than that (RB) Malcolm (Brown) had 3 for 20. He had a big-time 3rd and long conversion and then the other ones were kind of in those longer yardage situations. But, (RB) Cam (Akers) had 19 carries, some tough yards, but we have to do a better job of creating movement and giving a little bit more space and that’s not exclusive to the players. It starts with me with some of the play selections.”

(On if it’s important to get rushing attempts)
“I think so. Running the clock, being able to keep our defense off the field with the way that they were able to just get them off the field on third down time in and time out, the way they were really able to hold them, kind of became more of a possession-type game. But like I said, we expect to win some of these games moving forward, going to Seattle next week, we have to finish those drives in the red area. That was something that hurt us when we played them the previous week and that’s going to be a big focal point, point of emphasis, and I trust that we’ll get it fixed.”

(On if he expects quarterback Jared Goff will play next week)
“I’m not sure on that right now.”

(On what it means for his team to get back to the playoffs)
“It’s great. I love this team. It has certainly been a lot of highs and then there has been some tough times that we had to really navigate through, but I love the way that the team handled this week. I love the way they rallied around (QB) John (Wolford). Some of the absences, you talk about missing (WR) Cooper Kupp, (DT) Michael Brockers, (RB) Darrell Henderson going down, (QB) Jared (Goff). So, those are some big shoes to fill. We’ve had (OT) (Andrew) Whitworth absent for the last handful of weeks since the first Seattle game. I just love the way guys have stepped up, raised their level of play. They did that today and it ultimately enabled us to get our 10th win to get in this thing. Now let’s go see if we can do something special.”

(On going back to Seattle, and what kind of opportunity that is)
“Unbelievable. I don’t think you can ask for much more. Great team in our division, we know each other, and I’m excited to be able to go up there and give it our best shot.”

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QB John Wolford

(On how he was able to bounce back from the early interception)
“That was a bad throw, bad decision. I held my eyes for a second trying to get an in-breaker on some leverage. You can’t make that throw but it was almost like once I threw it, I settled in. Learn from that, watch the film and then move on.”

(On what his experience was like in his first NFL start)
“I had a lot of fun to be honest. A little anxious going in if I’m being 100% honest. Once I got rolling, I was just playing football again. It was fun that we got to the win. There’s obviously a ton of room for improvement. I missed a few throws, got to convert in the red zone, but overall, I’m just happy we got the win. We’re in the playoffs and moving on to the next game.”

(On the third down run shortly after the interception)
“Once I came out after that pick, I felt good. I told them on the sideline ‘Hey, I’m good, don’t worry about me.’ I had that throw to (WR) Van (Jefferson), missed him by a foot but I was seeing the field better and then converted that first down. They were in two man and didn’t have anyone for me. Just got in a rhythm and we were just moving the ball efficiently throughout the day. Obviously, again I keep saying this, we have to convert in the red zone. I felt good out there. I felt comfortable. I didn’t feel overwhelmed.”

(On the frequency of empty backfields in the game plan)
“Yeah I enjoy being in empty. I like being able to see the field, how bodies disperse so that was something we felt like was an advantage for us so we activated it a good amount today and it worked out well.”

(On what family was watching the game and what conversations we like leading up to the game)
“Obviously my parents, my aunt and uncle, who I’m extremely close with, my brother and my sister. I think everyone in my family. I’m the third youngest of 18 cousins. I’m sure everyone was tuned in. I had texts during the week. I have to respond to my texts. I have like 350 texts that I haven’t responded to so I’ll do that on the ride home.”

(On if his mobility helps him settle into games)
“I think getting hit is a good thing sometimes to get you settled into a game. When I activated those runs, got a first down there on that 3rd down, it just felt good. It’s something where I have the athleticism to do it and if it helps us win, I’m going to do it.”

(On his expectations for what happens next week with the starting quarterback situation)
“No. I’m here to do a job. I have no idea where he’s at. I’m just trying to enjoy this win and then I’ll put my head down and work on Seattle starting tomorrow but no info on that.”

(On the celebrations after making the playoffs and if it was different than it would be for any other game)
“Well I’ve never won a game, so I don’t know what the normal congratulations feels like. If that’s my first one, then I’ll use that as a barometer and let you know if it changes.”

(On what gave him the composure to tell his teammates that he was good on the sideline moments after throwing his first interception)
“I just knew that I prepared well. I felt good throwing the ball. The ball was spinning out of my hand and it almost like settled me in, in a weird way. I remember when I was in high school, we were playing a good team and I threw a pick the first play of the game and then came back and played great, so I was kind of thinking about that. That’s football, there is ups and downs, you’re going to make bad decisions. (QB) Jared (Goff) always says this thing to me, he says, ‘Pace, it’s performance after a critical error.’ You just kind of reset yourself and move onto the next play because you can’t change what just happened.”

(On if he can tell how much his teammates rallied around him today)
“Absolutely, yeah. I think the defense played unbelievable. We got a block on special teams, guys were fired up, we had energy throughout the entire game. I’m grateful for all the guys that stepped up and made plays. It was a team win across the board and I just love this organization. I’m happy they have given me a shot.”

(On if he has decided if he’s going to delete his LinkedIn account)
“You know I said that almost as a joke. If I’m being smart, the reality is football ends at some point, hopefully it’s in 20 years. So, I’ll probably keep it active. I’m 1-0 with it active so we’ll just keep it up.”

(On how the team fixes the red zone inefficiency and what was working for him on deep passes to complete three 20-plus yard completions)
“To your first question, red zone efficiency, we’ve got to go back to work. We can’t have penalties, we’re on second-and-1 on the one and then we take two penalties to go to second-and-11. When you get on that 10, 11-yard range, it’s hard because the field condenses and then it’s like, ‘Do you run it on first down and then it’s second-and-8.’ I have to be better down there. I had a misread there. I threw one out the back of the endzone where I had (TE) Gerald (Everett) when they were in cover zero and then there were things that I could have done better to make us more efficient. You go back, you watch the film. You learn from it and then you move on. There were a few times where their corners were a little jumpy on some out-breakers, trying to make some plays off my eyes and I had a pretty good feel for it and I saw them trigger and both times we were able to hit (TE Tyler Higbee) ‘Higgs’ on one and then (RB) Cam (Akers) on the other down the sideline. A few throws I wish I had back, but all in all we got the win and I’m happy with that.”

(On what winning a regular season NFL game with a lot on the line does for his confidence going forward)
“It definitely helps with the anxiety before the game. I just feel like you’re always like, ‘I can play, I can play, I can play.’ But until you do it, there’s a little bit of apprehension, if I’m being candid. I felt great out there, started making plays. It’s one game, but I know the next time I play I’ll have half the amount of nerves and I’m grateful for that to be honest.”