McVay’s intensity gets Rams’ attention as offseason work begins

McVay sets a new foundation with Rams this week

GREG BEACHAM

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/coach-sean-mcvay-sets-a-new-foundation-with-rams-this/article_750ee2d8-ace0-5d43-a66e-03e2719aee5e.html

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Sean McVay had been waiting three months to get all of his players in the same room for the first time since he took over the Los Angeles Rams.

As you might expect, the youngest head coach in modern NFL history doesn’t like to wait.

When McVay finally got to say his first words to his new team Monday as the Rams opened their offseason training program, he got right to work building a winner on the wreckage of the Rams’ homecoming season.

“Really right now, it’s about building relationships with these guys,” said McVay, the former Washington offensive coordinator. “It’s very early in the process. We’ve got some time right now, so we want to make sure we do a great job establishing a foundation, so that it can be conducive for that long-term success. But I think today went as well as we could have hoped.”

McVay’s early impact on the Rams includes new T-shirts with the slogan “We, Not Me” on the backs. Almost every employee in the Rams’ training complex appeared to be wearing them, but McVay cleverly said the shirts weren’t his idea: “It was OUR idea.”

When he finally stepped in front of his players, McVay had deeper thoughts than a three-word catchphrase. Linebacker Alec Ogletree described McVay’s opening address as an attempt to create “a whole different culture, just making sure we’re accountable and dependable.”

The Rams’ key players have already met McVay, but they got their first real taste of his oratorical and motivational skills at their team meeting. The 31-year-old coaching prodigy appears to be making a good early impression on the Rams, who are very open to change after last season’s collapse from a 3-1 start to a 4-12 finish.

“He is a young guy,” said Todd Gurley, the Rams’ 22-year-old running back. “But he’s got that energy about him, that swagger about him that you like in a coach, and it’s definitely great to see that.”

Gurley is among the numerous projects facing McVay as his coaching staff crafts a game plan to fix the NFL’s worst offense for the past two seasons.

Gurley rushed for 885 yards last season, but averaged a measly 3.2 yards per carry. It was a sharp decline from his rookie year, when he put up 1,106 yards and 4.8 per carry.

McVay’s Redskins split the carries among three running backs last season, but all three averaged 1 yard or more per carry than Gurley.

McVay also has work to do with quarterback Jared Goff, who went winless as a starter in his rookie season, throwing five touchdown passes and seven interceptions.

Goff has already been in private coaching during the offseason with quarterback gurus Tom House and Adam Dedeaux, and he appeared to be noticeably bulked up. After participating in Kirk Cousins’ growth into a top-shelf NFL starter, McVay is eager to get a chance to coach Goff — and the former No. 1 overall pick seems extremely eager to learn.

“I think there’s some really good, new energy here,” Goff said. “Coach McVay and the rest of his staff have done a great job exuding that energy and really letting us feel it. I think it’s really a fresh start for a lot of people. I think it’s a really good feeling. Just freshness is the best way to describe it.”

Rams missing old faces, but optimistic about some new ones

Joe Curley

http://www.vcstar.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2017/04/11/rams-missing-old-faces-but-optimistic-some-new-ones/100352034/

An offseason of transition on the coaching staff has meant, to a lesser extent, an offseason of transition on the roster for the Los Angeles Rams.

The team has already turned over about 20 percent of the potential 52-man roster in the first few months under Sean McVay, as the team begins to take on the mark of its new coach. Already, 11 free agents have taken the place of 11 departed contributors under previous coach Jeff Fisher. The Rams also have eight picks in the draft later this month.

Organized team activities over the next 10 weeks should clear up how the team expects to fill potential holes, like the ones opened by it waving goodbye to veterans like center Tim Barnes, strong safety T.J. McDonald and tight end Lance Kendricks.

The Rams addressed two of those spots last week by signing veteran center John Sullivan and cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman.

Sullivan, an eight-year veteran, played three games for McVay in Washington last year after missing the entire 2015 season because of a back injury.

“Being around him in Washington, you almost felt like you were talking to a coach,” McVay said. “You talk about your quarterback wanting to be an extension of the coaching staff, the center position is very similar where he’s got to have a big-picture ownership of what we’re trying to get done, what we’re trying to accomplish up front.

“And John is certainly someone that’s shown he is capable of handling that.”

MOVING PARTS

Robey-Coleman, who had two interceptions, including a pick-six in Buffalo’s 30-19 win at the Coliseum on Oct. 9, gives the Rams a pair of solid slot cornerbacks.

McVay was asked whether that means the Rams may try Lamarcus Joyner, who started last season in the slot in the Rams base nickel alignment, at safety.

“Anytime that you add depth like a Nickell does add, where he’s played a lot of football, it gives you some versatility to move a special player like Lamarcus around potentially,” McVay said. “You want to find as many ways to get him on the field as possible.

“Whether that’s him at nickel, which I think he’s one of the elite players at that spot in this league, or the safety, I think you see an instinctual player that has a great feel for the game.

“And I think our coaching staff has done a nice job targeting him as a player that we have to make sure that he’s on the grass, he’s competing.”

Another potential starter could be on the move on the offensive line. Rob Havenstein, who started 28 games over the past two season at right tackle, could move inside to right guard as the Rams attempt to move Greg Robinson to right tackle.

“I think when he was coming out, you looked at Rob as a potential guy to be able to move inside and do some of those things,” McVay said. “I think he and Greg working in coordination, in unison, will be able to help both of those guys.”

McVay mentioned a potential starting offensive line — left to right — of left tackle Andrew Whitworth, left guard Rodger Saffold, Sullivan, Havenstein and Robinson, with Jamon Brown in reserve.

“I think we’ve got some good depth up front,” McVay said. “I’m excited to see how these guys process that information and then translate it to the grass once we get the OTAs started in Phase 3.”

MOVING ON

The Rams officially waived receiver Stedman Bailey on Monday.

The 2013 third-round draft pick missed the entire 2016 season after being shot in Miami in Nov. 2015. He had 59 catches for 843 yards and four touchdowns in three seasons with the Rams.

The team also retained defensive tackle Ethan Westbrooks, defensive end Matt Longacre and defensive tackle Louis Trinca-Pasat. Westbrooks was a restricted free agent and the latter two were exclusive-rights free agents.

Rams players pick up on the new vibe of coach Sean McVay

Gary Klein

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-20170410-story.html

Quarterback Jared Goff described it as “freshness.”

Linebacker Alec Ogletree spoke of “a whole different culture,” while running back Todd Gurley honed in on new coach Sean McVay’s energy and “swagger.”

Those were initial player impressions Monday after the Rams met as a team for the first time since McVay, 31, became the youngest coach in modern NFL history.

As the Rams began their offseason program, McVay, Goff and others at the team’s Cal Lutheran facility sported blue T-shirts emblazoned with a blue and white-horned Rams logo on the front and “WE not ME” written on the back.

The start of the program, which runs through mid-June, was “a long time coming,” McVay said.

“There was full attention, guys were locked in, they were engaged, they were ready to go,” he said of the team meeting, adding, “It was definitely, exactly the way that we wanted to come off as a coaching staff.”

It will take more than slogans, T-shirts and attentiveness in meetings to turn around a franchise that has not made the playoffs since 2004.

But after last season’s dismal 4-12 finish, the Rams are embracing the start of the post-Jeff Fisher era.

McVay might be young, Ogletree said, but the coach who served as the Washington Redskins’ offensive coordinator the last three seasons looked and sounded experienced.

“He definitely seems like a guy that’s been around awhile,” said Ogletree, 25. “You can gravitate toward a guy like that because he’s young, energetic, and you can definitely tell he has a lot of wisdom about him.”

McVay and his staff face a major challenge, especially on offense.

The Rams have ranked last in the NFL in each of the last two seasons. On the positive side, there is nowhere to go but up.

How much the Rams improve will depend in large part on the development of Goff, the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft.

McVay has said that he, offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur and quarterbacks coach Greg Olson have worked to make sure they will provide Goff with a consistent message.

Goff, 22, said he was ready to get started. The Rams, he intimated, are not far from turning around their fortunes.

“I think we’re a lot closer to where we want to be than people may think,” he said.

Goff, winless last season in seven starts, worked this offseason in Newport Beach with quarterback trainers Tom House and Justin Dedeaux. The duo has tutored Tom Brady, Matt Ryan and other NFL passers.

Goff did not identify any particular mechanical adjustments that were made but said he was enlightened.

“Now you know when you do make a bad throw … you know why,” he said. “It’s not just, ‘Oh, that was a bad one,’ and move on. You know why and how to fix it.”

Goff will attempt to assert himself on a team that has gone through numerous personnel changes.

Nine players who played prominent roles last season — quarterback Case Keenum, receivers Kenny Britt and Brian Quick, running back Benny Cunningham, tight end Lance Kendricks, center Tim Barnes, defensive ends William Hayes and Eugene Sims and safety T.J. McDonald — were either traded, released or allowed to pursue free-agent opportunities.

The Rams added eight players who are expected to contribute immediately: receiver Robert Woods, offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, center John Sullivan, running back Lance Dunbar, defensive lineman Tyrunn Walker, linebacker Connor Barwin and cornerbacks Kayvon Webster and Nickell Robey-Coleman.

With a year of experience, Goff said he was now comfortable in everything from knowing teammates to knowing his way around the facility.

“Comfortability,” he said, “you can’t overstate it. It’s really important, as for the quarterback position, and leadership overall.”

Notes

The Rams’ exhibition schedule includes home games against the Dallas Cowboys and the Chargers and road games against the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers. The Aug. 26 game against the Chargers at the Coliseum will kick off at 5 p.m. and be televised nationally by CBS. Dates for the other games are to be determined. The Rams are playing the Cowboys in a preseason opener for the second year in a row. They also will play the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium during the regular season. In Week 2 of the preseason, the Rams will visit the Raiders, who last month received permission from the NFL to move to Las Vegas in a few seasons. The Chargers, who are playing home games at the StubHub Center until they will move into Stan Kroenke’s new Inglewood stadium in 2019, will visit the Coliseum in Week 3. Last year, the Rams traveled to Minnesota’s new stadium for their final preseason game. This year, they travel to Green Bay’s legendary Lambeau Field. … Defensive lineman Ethan Westbrooks signed a restricted free-agent tender. The Rams waived receiver Stedman Bailey and retained exclusive rights to defensive linemen Matt Longacre and Louis Trinca-Pasat.