Transcripts: McVay, Staley, Goff – – September 30, 2020
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Head Coach Sean McVay
(On if the team is hydrating more or doing things differently in practice today due to heat conditions)
“Just what you said, it doesn’t change anything for our day. They have to drink up and have some mental toughness.”
(On if they will practice in full pads this week)
“Tomorrow, we will.”
(On if he has spoken with his team to remind them of being careful about COVID-19 considering what’s happening in Tennessee)
“Those are the things that we talk about consistently. So, it’s really unfortunate what’s gone on, but our messaging has been consistent.”
(On if the team has made a decision on if OLB Terrell Lewis will be activated anytime soon)
“Yeah. So, he’ll start the 21-day period this week, where he can start practicing, but it doesn’t affect anybody else’s status. And then that enables us to be able to make a decision accordingly.”
(On if Lewis will practice today)
“I’m not sure actually.”
(On it seeming as though the NFL world has gotten a handle on COVID-19 and if he ever wonders why can’t the rest of the world do the same)
“No, I don’t think that’s something that I’ve thought about. I think more than anything, to your point, I’ve just been really impressed with the protocols and the guys’ willingness to follow everything to give us a chance to play football. It’s been about as normal as you could hope with the exception – we kind of get used to doing stuff like this and wearing the masks. Even though there’s nothing quite like being able to communicate with people in person, have the fans at the games, but can’t imagine not playing football right now. So, I am grateful for that and hopefully we continue on this trajectory and the things get resolved quickly that’s gone on in some of those other places that we talked about.”
(On if RB Cam Akers will practice today)
“He’s going to be day to day. He’s not going to be ready to participate fully, but he is making progress. He was doing some stuff with (Vice President, Sports Medicine and Performance) Reggie (Scott) and his group before during the walk-thru, but he will not be able to practice today.”
(On how concerned he is with Akers falling behind as a rookie and how he helps him through the process of dealing with his injury)
“I think you just take it a day at a time. I’m not concerned. I have trust in (RB) Cam (Akers) and (Running Backs Coach) Thomas Brown that he’ll stay up to speed. Would you love for him to be able to practice and stay sharp and get all the reps that he can actually being a rookie? Of course, but I have to play the hand that you’re dealt, have to deal with the circumstances and not allow it to be an excuse for why he’s not ready to regain some of the form that he had shown on that first drive against Philly (Philadelphia Eagles) where he was looking good, and we’ll see whenever that time is that we get him back.”
(On how S Taylor Rapp has played up until this point)
“He’s done well. He’s done a nice job. (S) Taylor’s (Rapp) a good football player, stepped in and made a handful of plays the other day. So, Taylor’s done a nice job.
(On if Rapp will take on an even bigger role depending on the status of S Jordan Fuller)
He’s done a nice job. He’s a really good football player, has a lot of versatility where we can play him in a lot of different spots. As far as exactly what this week will look like, we’ll see as the game plan comes together, some of the packages and we’ll see how Jordan’s feeling. He’s making progress. He’ll be limited today, so we’ll see how the week goes.”
(On takeaways from Week 3 that need to be applied to this weekend’s game against the Giants after watching the film)
“It’s the same. I’d like to think that in a lot of instances. You go back and you look at the details, but you have to have a feel for the flow of the game and understand. Usually a lot of the things that we say right afterwards, even though you want to be careful of being too emotional or be accurate in terms of some of the things that I mentioned, I have to do a better job of. What you do take away is a lot of the good stuff that came out of that and what you learned about your team when you face real adversity for the first time. For those things, you could be proud of the guys. Then you’re also saying, ‘Hey, it’s time to move on.’ Whether we end up winning that game or not, you have to be able to get up and move forward accordingly, and that’s the beauty of the NFL. Whether you have a good performance or a bad one, you get an opportunity to compete next week. You can’t dwell on the good ones or the bad ones too long.”
(On what he learned about the defense in the Bills game)
“Well I’ll tell you what I learned, is that they can make a lot of turnovers in a hurry that can enable us to be able to get back in the game. There’s (resilience), there’s a fight in them, we’re very tough, and (DL) Aaron Donald is a freak.
(On if S Jordan Fuller will practice today)
“He’ll be limited.”
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Defensive Coordinator Brandon Staley
(On the last series against Buffalo)
“It’s certainly a heartbreaker. Things like that happen in the NFL. I felt really strongly about our group going into that series. We certainly played a really good third and fourth quarter. I felt like we had all the momentum. I feel like we have a really good two-minute operation, really good players to thrive in two-minute. It was one of those two minutes that we’ll never forget, for sure, but there was just a lot of things that happened that are just kind of uncommon. A lot of just weird, just a strange chain of events. But, it felt like we certainly were operating how we wanted to – packing them up in those third-downs. I mean, it happened twice where we got outstanding pressure, really the whole drive we had outstanding pressure, throughout the game we had outstanding pressure on the quarterback. He was making some big plays. We felt like we got them in exactly the type of situations we wanted them in. On the first, third down we were in a coverage that we play a lot that really eats that concept alive. Our rush plan wasn’t executed well on that particular play. We had a guy slip and then we lost the edge to the quarterback’s right. If we keep that edge, I think (DL) Aaron (Donald) probably finishes the game there, because he was coming free. But, when the quarterback moved, it kind of distorted some of the coverage and he was able to get it up and down. I thought we responded after that. I felt like we got him again, in obviously, a favorable down in distance, we almost sacked him twice. He had the penalty, got him in another third-down and long and we’re in a really good coverage and we just had a player slip. I think that if he doesn’t slip, if you look at that play closely, he’s either finishing the game with an interception or certainly a pass breakup at the minimum. It’s just one of those things that, we were unlucky on that particular play. Then on the fourth-down, we were in a call that we really loved and got outstanding pressure, forced a throw way before he wanted to. Unfortunately, we got the call against us and then we still had a chance to respond after that and they made a good play. There are a lot of things to learn from on that last series. I know that it’s going to bring us closer together. We know that we take full ownership for what happened, and we’ll learn a lot moving forward.”
(On dealing with the mobility of Bills QB Josh Allen to prepare for Giants QB Daniel Jones)
“(Bills QB) Josh (Allen) is a unique player. This will be the fourth quarterback in a row, like you mentioned that has legs. (Giants QB) Daniel (Jones) is an outstanding mover in the pocket. He’s got real speed, he’s a 4.5 (second 40-yard dash) guy and he’s big. He’s got good size. Josh has certainly earned his way in this league, as you guys saw. We had a lot of free shots on the guy, we had consistent pressure throughout the game. I think that’s one of the things we look back on, if we had finished better on the quarterback then that game is certainly going to be a lot different. But with that being said, you’ve got to give credit to Josh Allen. He earned a lot of that stuff and he did it to everybody down the stretch last year, New England, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Houston in the playoff game. He’s an outstanding player. I thought we made it tough on him. He made a lot of good plays. This week, we’ll learn a lot from that. There are definitely some circumstances where we can tighten up our rush plan. Maybe add a fifth rusher at times six rusher to help with that. I take full ownership of that and moving forward, we’re really excited to get better.”
(On whether giving up 35 points at Buffalo is part of growing pains on a new defense)
“I think, we’re not going to be using being a new defense or the offseason as excuses there. We certainly wouldn’t do that. We’ve just got to execute our stuff better. I think that some of the big plays were Josh making a play, but we gave up too many where we missed the tackle. I didn’t think we tackled very well in the first half. That led to kind of us getting out of rhythm and led to some of their momentum. We had a couple of miscommunications for sure. I personally need to do better for these guys and things that our guys know. I think that that was the good thing. The positive after the game was being able to look at the tape and being able to say, ‘Hey, we sure this up and we’re on our way.’ And you know what? We did a lot of good things in that second half, playing our brand of ball that was able to contribute to us making that comeback. But, as you mentioned – explosions and takeaways when the day in this league and we didn’t do a good enough job limiting the explosions in that game.”
(On adjusting following a player’s injury)
“We’re fortunate we’ve got safeties that are really interchangeable, that they can do a lot of the same things. So, we felt very comfortable moving forward with (S) Taylor (Rapp) and (S) Terrell (Burgess) stepping in as well. Then, we know (S) JJ (John Johnson III), we know how he is and his versatility and his command, so we felt confident. Any time you lose player like (S) Jordan (Fuller), it stings, but we have full confidence in those guys to play equally good football and (Safeties Coach) Ejiro Evero does a really good job coaching those guys. I felt like as the game went on, we played clean ball and we expect to improve every time we go out as a defense right now. But, every time we go out, we get better and I think that that’s the goal. I thought that that’s what happened throughout that game and we’ll make sure that whether Jordan’s available or not, that those safeties are ready to go.”
(On the approach with Head Coach Sean McVay towards defensive game planning)
He’s (Head Coach Sean McVay) heavily involved getting the plan ready on offense. So, we kind of are separate to begin the process on a Monday certainly. Then most of Tuesday, and then we connect usually at the beginning of the evening or the later evening and talk about, ‘Hey, this is where we’re headed. This is what we like.’ Make sure that we’re connected on both sides of the ball and how we want to play the game. That’s equally as important is how do we want to play this game as a team? It’s not just two different sides of the ball, it’s three sides of the ball playing together. So, we kind of talk to each other about that and then make sure that practice and walkthroughs are ready to go for today.”
(On how empowering it is to have Coach McVay put that trust in him)
“Yeah, I’m so grateful for our relationship. I feel like, as I’ve mentioned before, I think we see football the same way. I think that if he was a defensive coordinator, I think that he would call the game similarly to how I would and I think I would call the game similarly to how he would, if I coached offense. I think that that’s what kind of brought us together. I think that he’s such a great voice throughout the week and on game day to be able to bounce things off of and we’ve got a tremendous coaching staff who are as equally connected to Sean. That’s why we feel really confident in our thing, but certainly, going into a game plan and going on game day, we’re completely connected, and I benefit tremendously from his partnership.”
(On what he credits second half play improvement and adjustments)
“I think the relationships with our guys is big, because you have to adjust quickly and I felt like in the first half, it was more our finishing. I think that we did not tackle well after that first drive. We had plenty of opportunities to get into negative-play situations throughout that first half. If we can execute a finish on a tackle or finish an assignment and I think that kind of got us out of rhythm. I think in that first half, it was kind of a weird field-position game as well and we never got into that rhythm and I think part of getting into a rhythm is getting your cleats in the grass and making sure you’re finishing plays. The more plays you finish, the more momentum you create for yourself and I thought we were a little uneven in that first half and then in the second half, we just said, ‘Hey, man, let’s just hit this reset. Let’s play the way we know we can from a fundamental-technique standpoint and assignment standpoint,’ and that ultimately brought us back. It wasn’t a lot of magic in the game plan per se. It was just our execution improved and then our results improve.”
(On what that’s like to find that type of mental fortitude)
“I can’t say enough about the makeup of our team. I think it starts with our personnel people here and our ownership, bringing in the right type of players and coaches and the belief that we have in each other. The belief we have in the offense, the offense’s belief in the defense and in our kicking game. I felt like you saw that in the second half and we really got it rolling and you could feel it. Now we just have to do that from the first kickoff. I know that if we do that, then good things will follow.”
(On describing CB Jalen Ramsey’s performance in the game)
“He didn’t get a lot of action. He’s playing really well. The stat line doesn’t express itself that way. He hung in there and did a good job with the other guys throughout the game. But again, (Bills WR Stefon) Diggs is a great player. We really limited him in the deep part of the field and Jalen was responsible for that. Then on the touchdown, it was just one of those bang-bang deals. It was a great throw. I know that he wishes he would have that play back. Otherwise it’s a perfect game for him, but he is playing outstanding football for us – covering, tackling at a high level, communicating and we’re excited about where his game is right now.”
(On how he deals with veteran plays not making plays that they want to)
“I think we do it with honesty and care. Guys like Jalen Ramsey, guys like (DL) Aaron Donald, you just deal with them directly. We don’t expect, even though those guys are superstar players and the two best players at the position in the league, they’re not perfect people. They have perfect intentions. They’re trying to be perfect out there, giving their best, but I think you just deal with mistakes honestly and with care and I think tell them the truth about what happened and then also take ownership as a coach. We can certainly do better for them, I know that I can moving forward. So, I think we do it with honesty and care and that’s what they appreciate. Jalen and Aaron and all of our guys have been outstanding that way.”
(On dealing with Giants QB Daniel Jones as a runner)
“It’s a real strength of his. Against San Francisco, he had three carries over 15 yards, he was able to get the edge a few times. Then against Pittsburgh, Chicago – those are pretty good defenses. So, this guy has got real athleticism. I think that it’s a big part of them moving the chains, especially on third down. As we’ve seen these first three weeks, and as you’ve seen throughout the NFL, the mobility and the creativity of these quarterbacks is where defensive football becomes really challenging and I think you’re seeing it throughout the NFL. It’s tough and a guy like Daniel, he certainly presents challenges for you.”
(On diagnosing the areas that didn’t go well in run support)
“On the first, third-and-two, we had a gap-control issue and at the point of attack and then we had a safety end up outside of a crack-block and then it was compounded with two misses tackles, so that was the first one. And then, the second run, on that last drive or towards the last drive, we had an unblocked defender and he kind of went in to one place and the ball went in to another place and it was because the guy in front of him made a late decision. If he makes a quicker decision, it makes it easier on the DB, who is unblocked. Those are things that are completely correctable, but certainly were untimely per se. When things like that happen, it’s normally a combination of things. It’s normally a combination of assignment and technique and we need to improve.”
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QB Jared Goff
(On if he agrees on the sentiment that the game against Buffalo was his best of the season)
“I mean, probably that I wonder or Philly, we got a small sample size. But, I felt pretty good out there. I think other than that one interception, I thought we were able to move the ball pretty well, were able to spread the ball out pretty well. Then that second half, I thought we really hit a stride and was able to spread it around and make some plays.”
(On if his work in the offseason contributed to his performance on Sunday)
“I think there was a few examples of me doing that for sure in that game. But, I think I’ve always done that well. But yes, it is something I work on and in the offseason and definitely something that was an emphasis this offseason of being sturdy and being able to make those throws from not a great base and being accurate.”
(More on the mechanics behind his offseason work)
“I think it’s more muscle memory than anything. I don’t know if there’s like a certain mechanical or biomechanical reasoning I can give you other than just muscle memory and doing it a lot and practicing it and being off platform and doing it every day. Not just dropping back into a clean pocket and throwing routes on air every day. Just working on it and making it a point of emphasis.”
(On if Head Coach Sean McVay prompted the offseason work)
“No. I think it was just part of the progression, part of what we wanted to work on this offseason, was just moving and just being able to throw it from different platforms. It didn’t come from anyone other than myself and Adam (Dedeaux), who I work with in the offseason and just wanting to be a little bit more active and be able to throw from not necessarily a perfect pocket all the time. We were so used to that for a long time and just not being reliant on that. Not having to rely on perfect pockets to make all the throws I need to make.”
(On the biggest difference in the run game this year)
“I think I’ve said it a few times, but up front we’ve been really solid. Those guys are really starting to gel. I think (OL Austin) Blythe is really starting to come into his own as a leader up there and really communicating well. Then I just think the level of play by those guys and their level of ownership right now is at an all-time high and still trending up. It’s really exciting to see young guys like (OL) Joe (Noteboom), I know he got injured, but he was doing such a great job and (OL) David (Edwards) stepping in and doing such a great job. Our veterans that have always been there on the edges that are obviously doing a great job and it’s (inaudible) to see. Then our running backs are running well. They’re seeing everything well. It’s been good.”
(On having a full-time offensive coordinator and if there has been a difference with the way Coach McVay interacts with the offense)
“Not really. It’s been almost the same. I would say that (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) is extremely happy with what (Offensive Coordinator) Kevin (O’Connell) has been able to provide us, for sure. I think he’s been another voice, not only for Sean on game plan and stuff, but for me, and being there every day for me and being able to bounce stuff off him and I think it’s always interesting and good. I mean, I’ve been with a few different quarterback coaches at this point, but guys that come from similar but different systems, it is kind of good to hear their point of view. Just to hear someone that’s not inside your inner circle of what me, Sean and whoever else has been here for three or four or five years. Being able to hear a different perspective at times, I think can be really good and that’s what he’s provided, is being in a similar but different offense for a long time outside of the Rams, but being able to put it in to our terms, as well, for stuff that’s worked for him.”
(On if that has allowed Coach McVay to take a step back)
“I think that’s a better question for him. I don’t know. I think he’s done a great job and he’s been calling plays really well. I think again, like he’s very happy with Kevin and everything he’s done, as am I. I think right now we have a good thing going and we’ve got to keep it going.”
(On the mechanics behind being a quarterback and throwing)
“I can do this for an hour – I think the best thing is, it’s kind of like where do you want your weight and energy going? I think what we really focused on is keeping it going forward towards the throw. At times through my career and every quarterback in the league, when you’re throwing, your energy and momentum is either going to go towards it or it’s going to leak away, or it’s going to leak in, and as much as we can get to go towards it and stay on that plane and get as much power from the ground as possible, while keeping a base that is not perfect. I think that’s where it becomes tricky and why some people are good at it and some people aren’t and why I’m really trying to do my best to be as good as I can at it. But I think just keeping that energy from the ground through your feet, moving in the right direction in a bad base really, and not a perfect base.”
(On if he thinks that is why Coach O’Connell wants their base to be so activated before a game)
“I think a lot of stuff that Kevin does in practice has been awesome. Game day stuff is mostly what I’ve been doing, I haven’t changed much of that. He’s been there for all of it. I think in practice, a lot of this stuff that we do pre-practice that you guys are able to see of us out there, I think has been beneficial.”
(On the COVID outbreak with the Titans and if it’s a conversation among players)
“No. I don’t think so. I think we’ve been handling ourselves the best we can here and doing everything we can. I think something like that is somewhat inevitable through a 16-week season in the NFL. We’ve been handling ourselves really well here and have been able to be on the right side of that and you hope to continue to keep going. I think it does maybe make it a little bit more real. At the same time, it’s always there and can affect everyone.”
(On if he feels like he knew what to expect in regard to COVID heading into the season)
“Up until this point, it’s been pretty good. Again, we’re just going to try to do our jobs as players and as personnel. In L.A., I think we’re in a unique situation – we can’t really do anything anyways. It makes it easy for us.”
(On no crowd and the TV broadcast picking up a lot of communication at the line of scrimmage)
“I think we change some stuff and we don’t change other stuff. There’s some things that mean nothing and there’s some things that mean something. If we feel like a defense has gotten a bead on something or we’re playing a team we have previously played, maybe we can change some things here and there. For the most part, they’re worried about what they’re doing. They don’t know what’s coming or going sometimes and we’re just trying to get lined up. A lot of these words are fake and a lot of them are real. I did watch the broadcast and a lot of the stuff was on there. We will use some of it and we won’t use some of it. Some of it will be there still.”
(On his sliding evolution on his runs)
“I think in the last year or two, that rule has changed where you can go forward now and still be considered defenseless and consider yourself down. I get caught in between sometimes. I get so used to going feet first, feet first – I have been my whole career. And then, in the last year or two, I want to go head-first because I don’t want to lose those three yards, but at the same time you’re kind of trying to figure out where your momentum is. I’ve always felt like I’ve been pretty good at it. I was a baseball player so I can slide pretty good. Going forward, I’m still working on it a little bit. As long as we get those yards and stay safe, I’m good.”
(On making sure the team isn’t in a slump coming off an emotional game)
“We’ve always been good at that. It’s just moving on and moving past. It starts with Sean and everything he preaches to us. Today we had a great practice and there hasn’t been a word about it all day. It’s just part of the game. Part of what goes on and we’ve always been really good at moving on and getting on to the next game, whoever it may be, whoever they are, we’re ready for them.”
