Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – September 28, 2017

(Opening Remarks)
“As far as injuries, the only guys that missed today was (S) Lamarcus Joyner with his hamstring – did not participate, he’s day-to-day. We’re monitoring him, but he’s making good progress, so that’s encouraging. But, everybody else was back on the field and good to go.”

(On if WR Sammy Watkins and WR Tavon Austin will play on Sunday)
“Yes. They’re good to go. They were full participants today and good shape for them.”

(On C John Sullivan’s status)
“John, you know what? Actually I take that back. John could have practiced today, but because of where he’s at, we would have given him a veteran day yesterday. With him having the groin, we left him off the field today. He took part in a little bit of the individuals, so he was a limited participant and then tomorrow we will get a good gauge to see where he’s at with his hip. Yeah, with John, absolutely.”

(On if he looks at some weeks being tougher than others)
“Well, I think you look at it as it’s the game that we have this week and it’s against a team that won their division, was 13-3, 7-1 (at home). They’re 2-1 coming off of a great road win against an excellent Arizona Cardinals football team. So, I think when you look at what they’ve been able to do the last couple years, you look at this team – I mentioned it yesterday, no weaknesses, great coaching staff, so I think what you look at it is it’s a great opportunity to go compete against a great team and can’t wait to see how we do.”

(On how he thinks T Rob Havenstein has played this season)
“I think he’s done a nice job. I think when we had him playing at the guard position mostly throughout the offseason program, a very conscientious, smart player. I think it almost helped him where things happen a little bit faster inside and then as he moved out to the edge I think he’s got a great understanding of angles, leverage, good posture in his pass sets, I think he’s getting more and more comfortable in the run game. (Offensive Line) Coach (Aaron) Kromer has done an excellent job and he’s been very receptive to that. I also think (T) Andrew Whitworth’s presence here, just having another guy playing that tackle position, being able to give him the ins-and-outs of his mindset in between the snaps – what’s his approach based on the rushers and different things like that. So, I’ve been very pleased with Rob and I think he’s only going to continue to improve as he gets more experience.”

(On how important it is that he will have Watkins and Austin available on Sunday)
“It’s very important. Those guys are extremely important to our offense. We’ve got a lot of playmakers on our offense that we feel good about, but those two especially. I think you look at what Sammy did last week and then the influence that Tavon has on the game in a variety of different ways. That’s a big boost to us and feel very fortunate to have those guys ready to go.”

(On if RB Todd Gurley II winning NFC Offensive Player of the Week was a surprise to him)
“I think there’s a lot of other really great players in this league and a lot of guys that did an excellent job in the NFC offensively, but anytime you get an award like that, we’re very happy for Todd. I think it’s a reflection of the offensive unit as a whole. He’s certainly has done a lot of great individual things, but a lot of that stuff doesn’t occur without great blocking up front, good job by (QB) Jared (Goff) distributing the ball in the pass game, making sure we’re not running into some of those bad looks. Todd will be the first to tell you, he’s got high expectations for himself and what you feel good about with that award is that is a reflection of the unit as a whole and I think those guys have done a nice job. But, it’s three games and we’ve got a lot of football left to be played and we know that in this business it’s a very humbling game where it’s, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ And we’ve got a great challenge against a very good defensive opponent for the offense and for Todd and those guys are doing a good job this week of getting ready for that.”

(On how he thought Gurley would perform this season based on his performance last year)
“I think when you look at Todd, what you want to make sure is that instead of just looking at the numbers, you watch the tape and really see what’s the reason for why you think maybe things didn’t go the way that you wanted last year. What you see when you watch the two years that he’s been in the league, before you get with him is you see an excellent talent and you see a guy that has got great natural run instincts, fearless competitor. So, to say that you’re surprised by this, the way that he’s worked day-in and day-out, you’re not surprised because those are the expectations that you have for a great player like Todd. To answer your question though, you didn’t have any worry that he wasn’t the guy that he was his rookie year just based on the numbers and the production – still had a whole lot of confidence in him and that’s been merited by what he’s done so far.”

(On what about that talent sticks out to him)
“I think the run game, like we’ve talked about before, takes all 11. A lot of times, just like the offensive line has a tendency to get blamed for sacks, I think that’s a misleading thing just like I think the running back has a tendency for getting blamed for maybe the running back production. Certainly guys sometimes create and make free hitters miss in the hole, but it takes all 11 to run the football consistently and efficiently in this league with how good defenses are. I think what you see is when the ball is in his hands he’s a creative athlete, knows how to work edges on people and when he gets in the open field, for a big back, he’s got great speed where he can create those explosive plays – where you’re thinking he’s a power back and he’s got a lot more speed and wiggle to his game than people give him credit for. I think you’re starting to see the complete back where he’s protecting well, making big plays. I thought one of the biggest plays in the game against the 49ers was the check down that he catches on the third and 10 and creates that for an explosive play because at the time, you’re up eight, San Francisco has a lot of momentum, you’re able to finish that with a touchdown to Sammy, but if you don’t get that, you never know how things play out. He’s doing a lot of different things contributing to our offense and he’s showing that he’s a complete back.”

(On if he has sensed that teams are focusing less on stopping the run because of the success of the passing game thus far)
“I think the biggest thing for us is you want to try to stay efficient on those early downs, so you at least have run-pass balance and you have both options up. Certain teams, whatever their core philosophy is in terms of how they want to play things on those normal down and distances when you’re in your first downs and second and eight and less – a lot of times some teams will say, ‘We’re going to stop the run first, play single-high structures and then be ready to play some split safety or some pressures for the pass game in those known passing situations.’ So, I think it’s a week-to-week basis, but the big thing that we try to emphasize is in order to have your run-pass balance options up, your whole offense at your disposal, you want to stay manageable and efficient on those early downs whether you’re running it or you’re throwing it. I think at times we’ve been able to do that and there is some other times where we’ve got ourselves in trouble.”

(On Cowboys DE Demarcus Lawrence)
“Well, I think when you just flip on the tape, he’s a scary player. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Demarcus – he’s had some different things over the last couple years, but when ‘90’ has been available for them you certainly feel him and notice him as an offensive coach. He can wreck a game if you’re not careful. Excellent effort, he’s got a variety of ways that he can get to the quarterback, they move him around, I think he plays the run very well as well. He’s a great player, he’s leading the league in sacks right now and when you flip the tape on, you certainly feel him and a lot of that he’s done a great job just creating by winning his one-on-ones. That’s what the great players in this league do and he’s certainly playing like that right now.”

(On if Lawrence is a speed guy or a power guy)
“He’s both. He’s got the ability to work edges. He does a great job with his hands, he’s got counters, but he can go through you or go around you, he can go up and under. You can see, (Cowboys Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Rod) Marinelli and those guys do an excellent job coaching it. He’s got a variety of moves in his repertoire and you can see the one thing that those natural pass rushers do is it’s a legitimate counter based on the way that a tackle sets him, it’s not a predetermined move. But, he’s also mindful of playing within the scheme. You can see, they do a great job of keeping their gap integrity, but when you’re in those known passing situations where I think you see Arizona in the two-minute the other night, they can really tee off on the snap count, get off the known passing situations. He did a great job and we’ve got to be ready for him.”

(On RB Lance Dunbar’s status)
“Yeah. Once that window where the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) becomes available then we’ll have those couple weeks to be able to evaluate him, see how he’s doing and then you decide whether you want to activate him or not. It’s funny that you mention that – we were talking about it today with (Director of Sports Medicine/Performance) Reggie (Scott) and he was just saying – because he’s in the meetings, has got a great look in his eye, staying up to speed on everything that is going on and I know this has been a challenging time for him, but when you set out those steps and those hurdles that you want to accomplish to try to put yourself in positon to be on track to come back, I think he’s doing all those things right now. Once we get past Week 6, then hopefully we’ll be saying that we’re going to activate Lance Dunbar.”

(On if he taps into Dunbar’s knowledge because of his time with Dallas)
“Yeah, you do. You always want to make sure that you’re using those resources at your disposal. But, I think like a lot of things, you want to be careful especially with his intricate knowledge of their offense of not overloading the information with some of the defensive guys. You want to give them a couple things that they can go on. It’s very similar to kind of when we’ve played some teams in the last few weeks that we’re familiar with, it’s a give and take and then you’ve got to know when they’re doing it and how they operate. But, you can maybe give a couple little tells on some things, but ultimately it’s going to be about our guys executing and it’s going to be fun.”

(On if he’s been able to get into a rhythm as a head coach in terms of his day-to-day and weekly schedule)
“I think in terms of finding your weekly rhythm at work, I think you’re starting to get comfortable. As far as the balance in life, there’s no balance in life (laughs). No, but it’s been fun and I continue to go back to it, what’s been great about it is that you have a lot of great resources at your disposal on our coaching staff that you can use as a reference point for how to handle things, different circumstances that come up. But, I think now the Thursday is always a different week, but now that you’ve had really you look at the Indianapolis and the Washington week and now getting into really the true, third week of the normal in- season rhythm you’re starting to get a little bit more comfortable. I think really it goes not just for myself, but for our coaching staff and our players for what a Wednesday through Friday, those main days of work, how we operate. So, you are getting comfortable with that. I think there’s always things that inevitably come up just based on being in that role and that’s where, when you’ve got great assistants like we do on all phases, you feel like if you’ve got to take care of some of the things that do come up, the team’s in good hands or some of the things that you might have to push aside because those things from a head coaching standpoint become a priority. So, I think you are getting more comfortable with it, but there are certainly things that come up every day, as you know, that you can’t prepare for and that’s the types of things that people have always told us.”

(On how long the process of mapping out the next offensive sequence takes and how much of the game he’s able to watch when his defense is on the field)
“(Rams Senior Director of Communications) Artis (Twyman) told me about that after the game. I thought man, ‘I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing.’ It really is dependent upon how many plays we had in the drive before that, because what you’re looking at is trying to get a feel for, ‘Alright, is this kind of what we anticipated?’ We’re we getting the looks. Maybe if they hit you with the pressure that you weren’t ready for, are the offensive lineman, the running backs, quarterback – are we all on the same page? And then what you try to do is, you preview the upcoming series. So if it’s a four-play drive, that only takes a couple minutes. If it’s a 14-play drive, then it’s going to take a little bit longer. I think you want to do a good job of putting the position coaches…giving them a chance to preview some of the things that you anticipate going into for the next drive to preview, ‘Alright, here’s what we’re thinking so be ready for that. And then that’s when, really, you rely on (Defensive Coordinator) Wade (Phillips) to do a great job like he’s done throughout the course of his career. Because I think when you look at what’s going to be best for our team, in terms of how you manage the game, we’ve got a lot of great coaches. And for me just to feel like I’m going to immediately click over, listen in on the defensive headset – it’s not like you’re going override anything that Wade’s going to call. You want to make sure that you’re there if there’s a reference point or if you want to have a discussion. But I’m not going to sit there and dictate some of the calls that Wade’s made when he’s done such a good job calling the game throughout the course of his career. So I think you don’t want to take away from trying to do the best job you can of calling plays, but then being mindful of there’s still the management of the game element that ‘Bones’ (Special Teams Coordinator John Fassel) is in tune with, that I’m in tune with once you get through that. That’s kind of the process that we’ve mapped out as a staff that we’ve felt more comfortable with and I think we’ve done that for, really in the preseason a little bit, too. We probably just had a couple more cameras where they spotted me sitting on the water cooler.”

(On whether Redskins Head Coach Jay Gruden called plays in a similar manner to him)
“Jay has a great way…Jay’s, very, naturally just had a great vision. Kind of knowing what he wanted to do. I think each person operates differently. The reason that I like to do that is because you can kind of sit down, get in an area where you can kind of block everything out. Whereas when you’re standing and just looking at the pictures and you might want to make a couple notes. You don’t feel like – just for me, it doesn’t mean that’s the right way to do it, but I think that’s the best way to get a good focus and concentration in spite of all the noise going around you. So that’s the only reason that I do that, but I think everybody operates differently and that’s just kind of what I’ve found works for me.”

(On whether DE Ethan Westbrooks is on track to play on Sunday)
“Yeah, he’s still on track to play – still in the same position as we were yesterday.”

(On what challenges the Cowboys defense poses)
“I think the one thing when you look at them in the early downs, they do a good job mixing up their coverages and when they play some of the split safety looks – a lot of variety of movement upfront, peeling your combinations. You’ve really got to be on the screws, because they do a great job knowing what your priority runs are and then they attack it. And then they’ve got a…stuff that fits within the framework of their system. But you can see, based on who their playing, they’ve got some designer things that really do a great job of stressing some of your core runs or the point of attack – where teams typically try to run the football or attack people in the run game based on the fronts and things like that. I think they’ve got really good linebackers that can run really well. I think (Cowboys LB) Sean Lee’s one of the better players in this league. I’ve got a whole lot of respect for him from going against him for a handful of years in the division. I think when you look at their safeties, they can run. They’ve got a lot of young ‘DBs.’ There’s a lot of new players in their secondary. They’re doing a good job of playing a variety on coverages in the back end. They pose a lot of problems, but I think when you look at a (Cowboys Defensive Coordinator) Rod Marinelli-coached defense – great effort, great fundamentals and technique. That’s a sign of great coaching and then the players buying into what they’re doing. And that’s why I think, I want to say they lead the league is rush defense last year, and they’re doing an excellent job again this year, so great challenge ahead.”

(On how the Cowboys defense affects how he opens, expands, closes, or limits his playbook)
“I think when you try to attack people, you always have some specific things that you want to do each week that fit within the framework of your offense. But like we mentioned earlier, I think the big thing is trying to stay efficient on those early downs, because once they get you in the second-and-10s, the third-and-longs – they’re totally in that attacking mode and mindset and they can really dictate the flow of the game. Whereas if you’re able to stay efficient, now you’re in the second-and-shorts, you’re in manageable third downs. You got a better chance of having your run-pass options open, like we talked about earlier, and that’s going to be a key for us. But going on the road, great atmosphere, having to deal with the noise, the elements that come with that. Really great challenge for our offense and we’ve tried to do a good job this week of trying to create those pressure-type of situations, which you know you can’t really mimic and emulate until you get to the game. I think the guys have responded the right way and we know that Sunday will be an excellent challenge.”

***

Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips – September 28, 2017

(On going back to Dallas)
“Going back to Dallas – it’s part of my past. I coached there and enjoyed my time there, obviously. The good thing about Texas is there’s no taxes. But, they still charge you that California tax when you go to Texas, so I don’t understand that deal. That’s another story. Yeah, we spent some good years there. I enjoyed being there, worked hard for three and a half years there and it was a big part of my life at the time. It still is, I have fond memories.”

(On if he has coached in Dallas since he left there)
“No, I haven’t coached in Dallas. I went to (Redskins tight ends coach) Wes’ (Phillips) game, the Redskins played them and if you check out my Twitter, I’ve got a picture of where I was sitting up at the top of the stadium. I saw the Redskins play the Cowboys the year I was out. Really, it’s the only time the team I’ve been on has played against them.”

(On what it’s like going back to a place where he get let go)
“Like most of the teams in the league, it didn’t end well with me (laughs). So, if I had a vendetta against a lot of teams – I mean any team that has fired me, I have a quarter of the league, seven of them. No, I enjoy coaching football. Those things happen. Part of coaching is getting fired. Those aren’t great memories, obviously. But, the good times I had there, the players, a few of them are still there, (Cowboys TE) Jason Witten, (Cowboys CB Orlando) Scandrick, those guys are still there, so (Cowboys WR) Dez (Bryant), we drafted Dez. In fact, in preseason he gave me a hug and he was all sweaty, ‘Thanks Dez.’ (laughs). And,(Cowboys Owner) Jerry (Jones) was good to me. He’s a great family guy. I don’t know if you read my book, you should have, but if you didn’t it’s still available. There’s only a few copies left, but Jerry was great to me and my family. Wes stayed there and coached afterwards. I told the story, I’ll always be grateful that he sent my family down when my dad passed away. He took a private plane and sent Wes and his family down there. So, I’ll always be indebted to him for that.”

(On how confident he is that the defense will get on the right track)
“We’re going to be alright. We’re getting better. It’s good to have (CB) Kayvon (Webster) back this week, he’s been out almost the whole season. And we’ve made some plays in the run game and the pass game. I don’t know if I’ve been with a team that’s intercepted almost three passes for touchdowns in three games and we’ve had some turnovers, so that’s the first part of it. You got to work to get turnovers, you got to play solid defense. Last week it was a very unusual game in that, really five times they had the ball that they wouldn’t normally have the ball. It was fourth-and-two and we were offside, we fumble a punt, we fumble a kickoff. Things that you go back on the field. So we had a lot of – but I thought that we got better in the running game. They only averaged three something a rush and they rushed the week before against Seattle pretty darn good. And we knew they could throw the football, they made some great catches in that game. We were on them and they made some big plays, but we just need to play smarter when we get ahead. We’ve done that twice. We did that against Indianapolis, we gave up a 40-yard pass, ahead two touchdowns. Then, this last game we gave up two 40-yard passes twice when we were two touchdowns ahead in a deep zone defense. But, we’ve learned from that. I think we’ll get better. Hopefully we’re ahead like that, you know, 14 points in games and them to play that way. But, I feel good about our defense. I think we’re going to be fine. I think (DT) Aaron’s (Donald) settling in and we’ve moved (DT Michael) Brockers around, so we think that’s going to help us. We’ve got a good group that works hard and I’m glad I’m coaching here.”

(On what kind of challenges the Cowboys offense presents)
“Premiere challenge. You know, when you’re playing a really good offensive team, that’s when you have to step up and be a really good defensive team. Like I said, I think we’ll get better in some of the areas that we need to, but we’ll find out. That’s why we play the game, to see what happens, but I like our group. They work hard, they’re working to get better and we have some athletes.”

(On what challenges the Cowboys offensive line presents)
“Well, when you have a really good offensive line, you can do more things. That obviously helps your running game and then having a great back, and it helps your passing game because you protect the quarterback longer, those kind of things. We look at it as a big challenge. I think we’ll see a lot about our team this week as far as where we are to matchup with that kind of premiere offense.”

(On LBs Mark Barron and Alec Ogletree adjusting to the 3-4 defense)
“Yeah, I think Mark and Alec have gotten better and better as we’ve – you know, playing a 3-4 is a little bit different as far as finding where you fit in certain plays that were different than a 4-3. I think both of them have a bunch of tackles in the last few games, so they’re getting more comfortable that way and both of them can cover. That gives you a chance to do more things on defense when your, especially your inside backers can cover.”

(On if it would take a couple of games to get going full speed)
“I’ve had it work both ways. One year we started 0-3 at Buffalo and got in the playoffs, so I mean we didn’t start good. But, then other teams, I think Denver our first game we gave up 170 yards or something. So, it’s all about how you play and who you’re playing, too, is important. We’re looking forward to this one.”

(On what he retained from his father that he still uses today)
“Well, he influenced – like I said, read the book and I think you’ll get the whole gist of it. He influenced everything I do in football. He was my high school coach, my college coach, I coached for him for 11 years and he’s my hero, so everything I’ve learned in football, I learned from him. Some other coaches, too, but how to coach, how to be a teacher, I think that’s the part I learned.”

(On if calling a defense is different today)
“I’ve been doing it for 40 years now. I’m in football a lot longer than my dad was, so I don’t know how many games that is, but I’ve coached a lot of games. I think just experience helps you in that situation. I’ve seen a lot of different situations and pressure situations and two-point plays to win. We won two at Denver when we won the Super Bowl. We had two, two-point plays at the end of the game just like we did the other night, the Super Bowl year. So just seeing the things and say, ‘Hey, I think they’re going to do this or I think they’re going to do that.’ I don’t know if I could do as good as Tony Romo does on TV, predict the plays, but no, I just think it’s experience if you’ve done it so many times and you get a feel for – you have to get a feel for what your team can do also. That’s part of this process, really, is see who really plays well and does certain things well and keep them doing that.”

(On his impressions of Cowboys QB Dak Prescott)
“Dak, he’s a – I mean he’s going into the (Steelers QB Ben) Roethlisberger plane of a quarterback that comes in and really plays well early. I think Ben won the Super Bowl his first year, but this guy, he won 13 games last year. It wasn’t just him, obviously, but everybody knows the quarterback’s a big, big part of it. Maybe the biggest in most situations and now they’re 2-1 this year and he’s really playing well. He doesn’t throw interceptions, he makes big plays running the ball or scrambling and throwing it, so I don’t see any flaws in him. You pressure him, they have a good line and that helps too, but you pressure him and he throws to the right people. That’s what I see and then he’s got Jason Witten, who gets open all the time it seems like.”

***

Rams RB Todd Gurley – September 28, 2017

(On if it meant anything being named NFC Offensive Player of the Month)
“Yeah, I mean obviously it’s a great accomplishment. A team award, though, I’ve got to give it to the offense – to the receivers for opening things up, the O-line blocking, (QB) Jared (Goff) for being able to give me the check-downs out the backfield. So, it was an overall team effort.”

(On if the NFC Offensive Player of the Month honor was a sign that last season is truly behind him)
“For sure. Like I said, you have your ups and downs in this game. Every year is not going to be a good year and, obviously, I figured that out last year. All you can do is move forward, just keep working hard, control what you can control and just take it day-by-day preparation, and once the season comes you just let all the anger out that you had and that you worked hard for in the offseason. So, that’s why I felt like I’ve been doing a great job of doing now.”

(On how comfortable he feels in pass protection)
“Pass protection – anybody can do it. It’s just a one-two thing. Obviously (Rams Head) Coach (Sean) McVay does a great job and ‘Sully’ (C John Sullivan) does a great job. It’s easy. The line has the four down and someone else, and you’ve got everybody else or whatever else the protection is. But, at the end of the day…I don’t want to get the quarterback sacked, so I’ve got to take care of ‘1-6’ (QB Jared Goff).”

(On if he’s continuing to do the same things he’s done throughout his career or if he’s doing anything different this season after evaluating last year)
“Yeah as far as, I’ve been doing the same kind of drills that I’ve been doing since I’ve been growing up. The preparation is still there. Obviously, I’ve been doing a lot more third downs, so I’ve been able to work on routes and stuff more this offseason. Obviously the offense is a little different, so they’ve kind of got me all over the place. But other than that, the preparation has been the same – just going out there in practice, finishing runs and just preparing every day.”

(On how the use of WR Tavon Austin in the offense has helped open up lanes for him)
“That definitely helped me a lot. Without Tavon, that’s the extra defender being there or extra two defenders being there, so he definitely helped me out a lot just throughout my whole career. Every yard I got with him on arounds or sweeps, he’s been helping me out since I’ve been here with the Rams, so I appreciate that.”

(On if this year’s offense is type of offense he envisioned coming into the league and if it’s similar to any previous offenses he’s played with)
“That’s a good question. Obviously being a high draft pick, the team’s not doing good if you’re a top-10, 15 pick. So it’s a process at the end of the day. But, I’m just happy. Obviously we didn’t do as well as I thought we would do my first two years here and that’s just a learning process. But just being with Coach McVay and just all of us, it’s just about clicking and timing in this league and for us to be able to do that these last couple games – it’s still early. Teams can come together early and fall apart late. So all we’ve got to do is just, like I said, take it day-by-day and prepare like every game is our last and every practice is our last and just do what the coaches do and not turn the ball over.”

(On where his comfortability of catching the ball stems from and if he’s ever played wide receiver)
“No, but it’s a football. I’ve been doing it for 20 years. If you can’t catch a football, I mean.”

(On getting the ball more in the air this season compared to last year)
“I don’t call the plays, but like I said, I felt like I did a great job of just grinding as far as you know getting into the routes and knowing that I’m going to be on third downs, it makes it a lot different. But it’s football. It’s a ball, catch it. If you don’t, if you drop it – it happens, you just catch the next one.”

(On if there was a sense of relief when got his first 100-yard rushing game of the season last week against the 49ers)
“Well I had three touchdowns at that point, so the 100 yards didn’t matter to be (laughs). I’ll take the touchdowns all day over the yards.”

(On if he believes that challenging opponents, like Dallas, can serve as benchmark games to test where the team is at)
“Most definitely. Last year we started off 3-1 and we went into the Bills week – I don’t know if it was the Bills week or the Panthers week, but either way we lost both of those games – and that’s when it kind of went downhill. Every week you have to come with it. If you can finish…it’s the first quarter of the season. So if you can finish 3-1, 3-1 – you’ll be right where you want to be, you know, in the playoffs. And obviously the goal is to win every game, but going in to Dallas – they’re America’s team. They’re coming off a 13-3 season last year and they have one of the best running backs in the league, lead rusher. They have a great defense. They have the league-leading sack leader right now. It’s an opportunity for us to go up against a great team and see where we are and see how far we came.”

(On Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott’s performance last season)
“Impressive. Everybody tried to say it’s the line. I mean obviously you’re only as good as your O-line, but at the end of the day, he’s out there running the ball. He’s making touchdowns. He’s catching the ball of off screens. You’ve got to give credit the guy, he’s a great player. He wasn’t the number three, four pick for no reason. He’s definitely a great player.”

#LARams LIVE: Todd Gurley https://t.co/QhPzNlw2rT

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 29, 2017

Jared Goff’s Growth

Cian Fahey

link: http://presnapreads.com/2017/09/28/jared-goffs-growth/

It was a running play.

Sammy Watkins lined up just inside the numbers. He was roughly six yards to the left of Jared Goff, who was under center. Todd Gurley was behind Goff. He had just gained two yards on the Rams’ opening play of the season. The plan was to give Gurley the ball again on second down. It was an outside-zone run to the right side. Robert Woods searched out a defensive back instead of running a route at the snap. The offensive line shifted towards Woods while Jamon Brown advanced downfield to take out a linebacker. Everything on the field said it was a running play. Everything except Sammy Watkins.

Goff saw it before the snap. The outside linebacker to Watkins’ side of the field was pressed onto the line of scrimmage. The inside linebacker next to him was too far forward. Assuming Watkins could beat press coverage off the line, a safe assumption, Goff knew that he would have an easy pitch to his receiver on his slant route. Goff sold the run by turning towards Gurley before whipping back around to release the ball to Watkins. The receiver gained an easy 13 yards.

It was a running play. It was also a packaged play.

A packaged play is a running play where the quarterback has the option to throw the ball based on the alignment of the defense at the snap. On this specific play Watkins was running a slant route on the backside of the play. He wouldn’t be involved in an outside-zone run to the opposite side of the field so it’s an added wrinkle that costs the running play nothing. Packaged plays essentially allow you to audible the play without calling an audible. It’s like a read-option that occurs before the snap rather than after the snap. They are typically simple reads for the quarterback.

Sean McVay understands this. While Jeff Fisher probably doesn’t even know what a packaged play is, McVay understands their value the same way Kyle Shanahan did with Matt Ryan last season. McVay understands how to set a quarterback up for success. He sees the value in varying his play calling, working to be unpredictable rather than relying on the same three or four misdirection plays that make the offense predictable the way Jeff Fisher did. McVay features his running backs as receivers, puts his tight ends in different positions to attack different coverages and has put together a congruent receiving corps.

Last year, Kyle Shanahan and Matt Ryan relied on play action more than any other quarterback. Ryan threw a play action pass on 21.99 percent of his passes. The next closest quarterback was Dak Prescott at 18.11 percent, Ryan Tannehill was the only other quarterback to eclipse 17 percent. Goff has used play action on 23.38 percent of his attempts so far this season after using it on only 11.8 percent of his attempts last season.

Ryan gained 31.37 percent of his yards on play action passes, Goff has gained 27.78 percent of his yards on play action passes so far this season.

A good play action passing game is an unpredictable one. It’s one that mixes subtle and hard play fakes while moving the quarterback out of the pocket in both directions or keeping him in the pocket with different play designs. When the play fake is less predictable, the linebackers and defensive linemen are more likely to hesitate. Hesitating linebackers leads to distorted coverages. Hesitating defensive linemen lead to a slowed pass rush. Goff is benefiting from both things in McVay’s offense.

Play action alone can’t create clean pockets. Adding Andrew Whitworth at left tackle and John Sullivan at center gave the Rams something their line has been lacking for a decade: Established starting-quality veteran players. Whitworth is one of the best tackles in the NFL while Sullivan offers Goff a teammate who can help identify blitzes and set protections. Those two pieces ease the pressure on the young right side of the line both on the field with assignments and off the field with continuity/development.

Goff has spent much of this season bailing out of the back of the pocket and breaking into the right flat to throw the ball downfield. He’s afforded those opportunities because of the quality of his protection.

Take Gerald Everett’s 69-yard gain against Washington from Week 2.

https://giphy.com/gifs/26vIefisttt0N0ZKo?utm_source=iframe&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=Embeds&utm_term=http%3A%2F%2Fpresnapreads.com%2F2017%2F09%2F28%2Fjared-goffs-growth%2F

Washington sends a five-man rush after the quarterback, a blitz. The Rams release all five eligible receivers into routes so the offensive line is trusted to win one-on-one matchups across the board. Goff’s processing is slow on this play. Washington is playing a form of Cover-3 with one deep safety in the middle of the field. Goff has an out route open to his left for a first down, then Sammy Watkins’ curl route comes open underneath on the same side of the field. When he works his eyes back to the right seam, he has a chance to hit that receiver if he leads him infield.

As he tends to do, Goff buffers in the pocket. His processing speed doesn’t allow him to recognize his opportunity to release the ball. Doing this against a five-man rush should result in a sack. But Goff’s line holds up so he has time to go through his progression, miss all the receivers, then drop backwards. Everything about this play to that point is bad for the quarterback.

Once he breaks into the right flat, the play has extended passed the point the defense expected it to. Gurley draws the zone defender underneath, the cornerback has followed the other receiver infield, leaving Gerald Everett wide open for a huge play.

This is the quintessential example of a good result, bad process play.

Because of the newfound quality surrounding him in his supporting cast, Goff is now able to be productive on bad process plays. He wasn’t able to do that last year in Jeff Fisher’s defunct, talent-deficient offense. Over the first two weeks of the season, Goff didn’t really do anything spectacular. He had still taken a step forward from his rookie season because he was executing easier plays at a higher rate, but the quality of his opponents’ play had a lot more to do with his success than his own play.

In Week 1 he was accurate on 65.52 percent of his passes, to put that in perspective Goff was accurate on 65.24 percent of all his passes last season and ranked last in the NFL for accuracy. Cooper Kupp catching two inaccurate passes to create 52 yards and the Colts complete lack of coverage and pass rush made him look good. In Week 2 he was similarly inaccurate, 65.22 percent, but showed off better reactions to pressure at different times, peak plays that he hadn’t shown off as a rookie.

Getting excited about that Week 2 performance was still a challenge because of his two worst plays of the game.

https://giphy.com/gifs/l1J9LjMTWHXhQO7xm?utm_source=iframe&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=Embeds&utm_term=http%3A%2F%2Fpresnapreads.com%2F2017%2F09%2F28%2Fjared-goffs-growth%2F

It’s Third-and-11 late in the second quarter, the Rams are trailing by 10. McVay isn’t trying to punt. He sends all five receivers out into patterns again. His four receivers release vertically downfield while Gurley waits underneath for a checkdown. It should become apparent quickly to Goff that none of his receivers will be open. Washington is playing Cover-3. Goff initially looks to Watkins on the left side who has a cornerback above him, another beneath him and a linebacker inside of him. His eyes linger on Watkins too long while he steps up in the pocket.

Goff’s initial movement to step up in the pocket is a good one. He isn’t a fast mover but he does enough to avoid the initial rush. From there he is oblivious to the pursuing defender and tries to locate one of his other receivers. Goff exposes the ball for the strip sack instead of flipping it to Gurley for a modest gain. His center fell on the ball, saving Goff from giving up a turnover deep in Rams territory that would have set Washington up to end the game as a contest with a touchdown.

Washington would eventually end the game, but not until Goff made his worst play of that particular game.

https://giphy.com/gifs/3ohhwwRtyDCGJJy3GE?utm_source=iframe&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=Embeds&utm_term=http%3A%2F%2Fpresnapreads.com%2F2017%2F09%2F28%2Fjared-goffs-growth%2F

Besides being horrendously inaccurate, Goff had three main issues during his rookie season. His processing speed in the pocket invited pressure. When that pressure arrived his reaction was to panic, turn around, drop his eyes and try to run away. Those two things destroyed the design of passing plays, made it impossible for him to throw with any timing and took away his platform to throw the ball. The third issue was a commitment to staring down receivers, leading linebackers to the ball for interception opportunities.

The third issue ended the Week 2 game as a contest.

When asked after the game, Mason Foster told reporters that he anticipated Goff leading him to the ball. It was something he knew the quarterback had a tendency to do. Goff did that on this play but he still could have gotten away with it had he released the ball earlier and shown off greater velocity. Goff isn’t a big-armed passer so his passes can never catch up if he’s late releasing the ball. If you pause the above gif at the moment Goff begins to release the ball, the receiver is already coming out of his break. That can’t happen. The ball should have been arriving at the receiver when he turned, not leaving Goff’s hand at that point.

Monitoring these problems will be crucial to understanding Goff’s development over the course of this season.

Development is the key word for Goff because for as much as his overall numbers are misleading right now, he has taken a step forward. He has gone from someone who didn’t look like he belonged in the NFL, probably the worst starter in a league that boasted Blake Bortles and Josh McCown, to a competent player. He’s likely still a below-average or bottom five or six quarterback, but that’s progress. As a 22-year old quarterback, progress is enough.

That progress can be best measured in Goff’s accuracy. While his accuracy percentages in the first two games of the season were poor, Goff’s performance against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3 was undeniably excellent. He was accurate on 21 of 25 qualifying attempts while primarily working in the 1-5 yard range, 13 of his passes went into that range. More significantly, Goff was accurate on all three of his deep attempts in the game.

Goff’s deep accuracy has been excellent so far this season. It’s a relatively small sample compared to a full season but he is pushing the ball downfield at a high rate. 15.58 percent of his passes have travelled more than 20 yards downfield, that would have been the second-highest rate in the NFL last year.. He has almost doubled his eight percent rate from last season. Goff was accurate on eight of those 12 attempts, a 66.7 accuracy percentage. The best deep passer in the NFL last year was Sam Bradford at 65.85 percent.

It’s not just that he’s been accurate either. At least three of those eight accurate passes have been throws into tight coverage.

https://giphy.com/gifs/3ov9k4ywWG3HXjF70s?utm_source=iframe&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=Embeds&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Ffeedly.com%2Fi%2Flatest

Again, the first thing we have to note on this play is the quality of the protection. Goff gets a completely clean pocket with Whitworth perfectly repelling the defender trying to get to his blindside. Goff uses that pocket to deliver a pass into Tyler Higbee. You could nitpick the placement and say it wasn’t completely perfect but it did hit the window. Importantly, Goff showed off a command of his velocity to push the ball past the trailing defender confidently. He cleared that defender without overshooting his tight end.

Higbee drops the ball but there’s nothing the quarterback can do about that. It was still an impressive throw.

That was a good throw. The next throw is a great one.

https://giphy.com/gifs/l378oZE8eYuNJEG9W?utm_source=iframe&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=Embeds&utm_term=http%3A%2F%2Fpresnapreads.com%2F2017%2F09%2F28%2Fjared-goffs-growth%2F

Watkins does a phenomenal job on this play. Tracking this ball through the air and controlling your body to catch it the way he did is extremely difficult. Even though it’s a difficult play for the receiver, it’s still a great throw. Goff puts a lot of air on the ball but he pushes it deep to nullify the cornerback who Watkins has beaten through his route and he pushes it wide towards the sideline to nullify the safety. Goff made sure that this ball would be caught by Watkins and nobody else while putting it in a spot where his receiver had the best chance of catching it cleanly.

Furthermore, Goff didn’t have a completely clean pocket this time. The pressure was closing in around him. He had to get rid of it and he had to do so with bodies engulfing him.

It wasn’t a Tyrod Taylor type of deep ball or a Ryan Tannehill type of deep ball. It didn’t sustain huge velocity to travel on a lower trajectory, but the placement and timing of the throw made it an accurate one. Goff didn’t show this kind of quality last year. He was a 26.67 percent deep passer last year, only Blake Bortles was worse than him. The league average was 44 percent. Goff has been 40 percent more accurate on his deep passes this season, obviously it’s a tiny sample but at this point we should still consider it growth.

Goff’s accuracy was abhorrent as a rookie. When you have so many other problems with your process in the pocket it’s very hard to be accurate. He was a bottom three passer to every level passed the line of scrimmage last year. He was dead last in the 6-10 and 11-15 yard ranges. He was the only quarterback in the league who missed more than half of his throws that travelled further than five yards downfield. It was so bad that it was hard to imagine it ever getting better. But, so far at least, it has gotten better.

Because of that performance against the 49ers, Goff is three percent more accurate in the 1-5 yard range, 16 percent more accurate in the 6-10 range, nine percent more accurate in the 11-15 yard range and 40 percent more accurate on deep throws. He is only worse so far on throws behind the line of scrimmage (where he ranked sixth in the NFL last year) and in the 16-20 yard range (where he has only thrown four passes).

He is now accurate on 61 percent of his passes that travel further than five yards downfield, far more than half of his throws.

The sustainability of Goff’s efficiency is unclear. He is gaining more than 50 percent of his yards after the catch, only seven quarterbacks did that last season. Todd Gurley’s success out of the backfield has been a source of easy offense while Robert Woods has been missed on a couple of open throws that should have been made. He has only lost one reception to receiver error, that Higbee play, and has gained three receptions on inaccurate throws that resulted in 75 yards gained. He only has one interceptable pass at least, which is promising.

What gives you pause about Goff’s performances so far is the opponents he has faced. The Washington defense dismantled the Raiders on Sunday Night Football in Week 3 but that wasn’t close to how they played in Week 2. The soft schedule and Goff’s need to take at least another step forward in his development to become even an average passer as an individual allows for skepticism.

The Cowboys secondary has been disastrous over the past two weeks so Goff should be productive this week. It’s after that game when the real tests begin. The Seahawks at home, the Jaguars in Jacksonville, the Giants in New York, the Texans at home and the Vikings in Minnesota is a combination of the best defenses in the NFL. Should Goff perform adequately over that stretch, the Rams will really have reason to get excited about their young quarterback.

Zooey wrote:

I just came across this one last night. This is exactly what I’ve been thinking, but this is the first time I’ve heard anybody say it.

http://www.foxsports.com/watch/undisputed/video/1054207043815

Yeah that’s an impressive one. He dropped being an opinionated sports talking head /slash/ clown and put on an entirely different face. He could run for office with that face on.

Why Puerto Rico is being denied shipping deliveries of fuel

USA TODAY

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/27/trump-administration-denies-request-ease-shipping-fuel-deliveries-puerto-rico/707448001/

Some members of Congress want the Trump administration to suspend shipping restrictions that would allow more fuel and emergency supplies to reach Puerto Rico.

The Jones Act prohibits foreign-flagged vessels from picking up and delivering fuel between U.S. ports. That act was suspended from Sept. 8 through Sept. 22 to allow shipments to Texas and Florida after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Puerto Rico was included under that waiver for petroleum products.

Since that suspension needed Sept. 22, the Trump administration hasn’t issued a new one for Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria struck. That hurricane wiped out the power supply, destroyed cell towers and led to massive fuel shortages on the island that relies on diesel for much of its power.

President Trump, who plans to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday, said the administration is studying the waiver request, but that shipping interests are opposed.

“Well, we’re thinking about that, but we have a lot of shippers and a lot of people that work in the shipping industry that don’t want the Jones Act lifted, and we have a lot of ships out there right now,” Trump said. “And I will tell you the governor was very generous yesterday with some statements and so was the mayor of San Juan; very, very generous with their statements.”

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote to the Department of Homeland Security urging a waiver and ultimately “a full repeal of this archaic and burdensome act.”

“These emergency waivers have been valuable to speed up recovery efforts in the impacted regions,” McCain said. “However, I am very concerned by the department’s decision not to waive the Jones Act for current relief efforts in Puerto Rico, which is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis following Hurricane Maria.”

Any request formally goes to Customs and Border Protection and the secretary of Homeland Security.

There was “sufficient capacity” of U.S.-flagged vessels to serve Puerto Rico, Gregory Moore, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, said in a statement.

Waiver requests must be in the interest of national defense. The Defense Department, which made a request for Hurricane Harvey, hasn’t made a new request for Puerto Rico yet. If another agency or shipping company makes the request, it must also be reviewed by the U.S. Maritime Administration.

The Defense Department said in a statement Wednesday that the sea-based response to the disaster will shift to a land-based approach for a longer-term recovery, led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the local government.

“Fuel distribution remains the top FEMA priority,” the statement said. “Multiple DOD elements delivered fuel and continue route-clearance operations.”

Elaine Duke, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, told a Senate panel Wednesday that when she spoke with Puerto Rico’s governor at 1 p.m. Tuesday he had no unmet emergency needs. The problem is getting supplies across the island cluttered with debris and landslides, she said.

“First of all, we don’t know of fuel shortages on the island of Puerto Rico,” Duke told the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “The challenge for us today is getting it distributed.”

Charlie Papavizas, a Washington-based maritime lawyer and partner at Winston and Strawn LLP, said Jones Act waivers before 2005 were typically granted for specific vessels, not for general purposes such as a fuel shortage. But more general waivers have been granted since then for hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Sandy and Irma, he said.

“I do not believe there is any precedent at all for waiving the Jones Act for general purposes,” Papavizas said. “There has to be a national defense justification by law for a waiver, and the only economic related national defense justification acceptable to date — since at least 1950 — has been related to regional fuel shortages.”

The U.S. Virgin Islands, which were hit by multiple hurricanes, have a permanent waiver to the Jones Act under the law, but Puerto Rico wasn’t included in that provision.

For House members to seek a waiver is unusual, but the department is considering it. A decision was not expected Wednesday, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on background in a conference call with reporters.

wv wrote:

I would love to see how a great DC attacks this offense

We have already had a glimpse of that.

Washington is 5th in total defense, 9th in points allowed, 2nd against the run.

That’s after playing the Eagles (9th on offense), Rams (6th), and Raiders (23rd).

BTW a little “Rams perspective” historical note. Washington is 8th in total offense. Their coordinator is Matt Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh was one of the 2 coordinators Vermeil interviewed in 99 before choosing the other one of the 2, Mike Martz.

It’s the kind of startling coincidental connection that makes you wonder if the universe is governed by an intricate series of spooky hidden agendas.

Goff videos by Matt Waldman.

J Goff on the pocket and the skill of baiting pressure

A post shared by Matt Waldman (@mattwaldmanrsp) on Sep 21, 2017 at 5:57pm PDT

Confident, aggressive, anticipatory from Goff and its in the feet.

A post shared by Matt Waldman (@mattwaldmanrsp) on Sep 21, 2017 at 6:04pm PDT

Goff deep accuracy under pressure

A post shared by Matt Waldman (@mattwaldmanrsp) on Sep 21, 2017 at 7:16pm PDT

Goff under pressure

A post shared by Matt Waldman (@mattwaldmanrsp) on Sep 21, 2017 at 6:57pm PDT

Example of what T Romo had to say about T Brady

A post shared by Matt Waldman (@mattwaldmanrsp) on Sep 21, 2017 at 6:48pm PDT