Head Coach Sean McVay–October 16, 2020

(On any injury updates)
“(LB) Micah (Kiser), we’ll list him as questionable, but he’s feeling good. (OL) Bobby Evans will be probable. So, we expect both those guys to be ready to go. As far as any sort of imminent roster moves, I would imagine that we will put (LB) ‘Obo’ (Obgonnia Okoronkwo) on (injured reserve), but it’s not something that there’s a real urgency to get somebody else up because we feel like we’ve identified our guys that’ll be active for this game with our 48. So, if there was somebody that we needed to get up that would immediately replace ‘Obo’, that would be active, that would be something that we would have probably already made that move. But, you can anticipate that whether we end up doing it later today, tomorrow. As far as actually getting somebody else up that’s not something that there’s a huge sense of urgency on (inaudible)…we’ve identified the 48 that we’ll have up for this game.”

(On Running Backs Coach Thomas Brown’s injury)
“Golly, man. He is such a stud. I mean, if you guys see him moving around, the urgency. He’s so sudden that he unfortunately blew out his Achilles yesterday doing individual drills. I mean, walked right off and didn’t flinch. He was out there today. He’ll end up getting surgery early next week, but just sick for him. This guy won’t miss a beat. It’s more of an inconvenience than anything for us as coaches at this point, but he’s so active and so involved with those guys that you definitely missed out on those kinds of things. Hoping and praying for a fast and safe recovery for him.”

(On if he’s looking forward to a shorter flight this weekend)
“It really doesn’t make a difference to me. In some instances, I kind of like getting on those flights and I don’t even connect to WIFI so then no one can reach me (laughs). I do kind of like that element of it, but that’s just purely selfish approach. I think it will be better just having a shorter flight. I won’t miss the long flight, but it’ll be exciting to be able to get another good night of rest and then travel a little bit later. But, either way we’re ready for a great (inaudible) on Sunday night.”

(On the similarities between his offense and 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan)
“I think there’s some similar foundational principles. They’ll mix up personnel a little bit more. They do a lot of great stuff and I I’d be lying if I said a lot of this stuff that we’re doing has not been heavily influenced from what I learned when I worked for (49ers Head Coach) Kyle (Shanahan). I have tremendous respect for him and what they do offensively, but I’d like to think you’re going to see two, hopefully, offenses that are sharp, have an identity. Hopefully, we don’t make them look to sharp and our defense is rolling. There’s some similar principles in terms of the marriage of the run and the pass, play-action, your movements, some of those things. They do a great job of using their players and we’ve tried to do the same thing. That’s kind of where I think you’d see some similarities.”

(On what’s something that he holds onto and takes from his wins against the NFC East despite not being able to control who they play and on the competition level of that division)
“I think you just said it, we don’t control who we play. We’ve had five guaranteed opportunities. I think the film always tells the truth. Sometimes the records can be misleading. We know what we put on tape through five games, but we also know it’s only five games and you write the story and the narrative every single week. We’ve got a great opportunity to do that for Week 6 against a great football team, regardless of each record, especially in division play where there’s a lot of familiarity with one another. We’re excited about it.”

(On Running Backs Coach Thomas Brown being a good fit for the NFL)
“What I would say is that he’s just a great coach. I think there’s a lot of great coaches at all levels. I don’t necessarily think the NFL is indicative of ‘that’s where the best coaches are.’ I think there’s great coaches at all levels. I’ve always just really been impressed with the way he’s handled himself from afar, going back to when we competed against one another in high school. But he’s a man’s man. This guy has great command of everything. I mean, there’s certain people that you just feel, ‘Hey, this guy has got some stuff to him’. He’s pretty impressive, has a great way about himself in terms communicating to players. He’s an impressive human being. And then, you know, when you talk ball with him, the command was just through the roof. He’s a guy that’s coordinated at a high level and he’s got an extremely bright future. We’re very fortunate to have him here.”

(On what it was like to compete against Brown in high school)
“I mean, he was the best running back in the country, one of the top running backs in the country, had offers everywhere, committed to Georgia. You know, we were rivals. I went to Marist; he went to Tucker. We played each other year in and year out and then fortunately they got beat in the semifinals, so we didn’t have to play them in the state championship because I think he was going to get back, he had hurt his ankle. (inaudible).”

(On if ILB Micah Kiser will start if he’s healthy and how he plans to balance that with ILB Troy Reeder)
“He will start if he’s able to go. But (ILB) Troy (Reeder) has definitely shown how capable he is. Depending upon some of the different personnel and things like that, that we want to be able to activate the plan is to be able to get all those guys involved.”

(On if he believes Coach Brown is on track for a coordinator role)
“Yes. I think that there’s no limit for this guy. I’d be so happy for him if he continues to ascend but sad for the Rams. I think he can do whatever he wants. I think he’s definitely a coordinator. I think he’s got head coach potential, in terms of his leadership and the way he relates to guys. This guy’s a great coach. I don’t think there’s any sort of ceiling or limitations on what he’s not able to accomplish at this level (inaudible).”

(On how he assesses the NFC West this season)
“I think it is a great division. I think this league, as a whole, is so competitive. I think at the end of the season is when we can really make that determination. That’s why I love these preseason power rankings or the weekly power rankings, because nobody cares about it until it really matters. I think at the end of the year, you can say if we’re the best division, but I know that we’ve got three really good football teams in this division that we have to face two times each, still remaining on our schedule and we get our first crack at one of those three this Sunday. That’s what we’re looking forward to, but I just think, at the end of this season is when you can truly say where teams fall, but what I think you see week in and week out is, 32 teams that are extremely competitive from top to bottom and that’s why people love this game, is because every single week you’re looking at a score saying, ‘Can you believe that?’ and that’s what makes this game great. That’s what makes it fun for us and why I probably sleep very poorly during the weeks (silence).

“That was supposed to be funny (laughter).”

wv wrote:

I wish the Rams played Belichick this year. I’d like to see if McV could do better this time.

They do. Thursday night game, Dec. 10th. In LA.

Rams. Niners. NFC West showdown. #LAvsSF | @Gatorade pic.twitter.com/JR6G4wNCMa

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 16, 2020

Rams Wire@TheRamsWire
Aaron Donald not basking in glory of 4-sack game: ‘That’s last week’

=

– Could we see more Burgess this week due to the Jordan Fuller injury?

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
I think that’s a possibility, but keep in mind that Jordan Fuller and Terrell Burgess are two different types of safeties. It sounds like Staley wants to see what is possible for Burgess in more of a strong safety/hybrid safety role, and less of a traditional center-field role, and that is kind of what John Johnson already does for them. Burgess is a really smart player and has gotten opportunities when the Rams need extra defensive backs on the field. I think we’ll see him quite a bit, just not in that role we had seen with Fuller.

– What has been the biggest reason for improved offensive line play?

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Health and consistency/continuity. Also, repping against Aaron Donald in training camp didn’t hurt at all. One of my favorite days all year was when McVay told us that Donald was getting a rest day in training camp … so that the line could also get a break.

– Troy Reeder really got involved in the action this Sunday. This rotation at linebacker must get easier with some of these guys really standing out, or is there still no concrete plan for who to consistently put in behind the defensive line when Ramsey plays the nickel?

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
I think the Rams would want to have Micah Kiser in that role full-time, with Kenny Young coming in on some downs to complement him based on scheme. Troy Reeder was really successful Sunday, (11 tackles, three sacks), but don’t forget that what the Rams were specifically doing in their scheme helped him find his way a lot easier.

For example, the defensive line created a few “green dog” opportunities for him, in which Donald took on a double team, the rest of the guys were singled and they were able to open rushing lanes. The plan then for Reeder was for him to wait back a half-step because his “man” was trying to help block and therefore didn’t need to be tracked across the field, and Reeder was able to easily step up into the pocket and sack the quarterback.

Because the Rams had Ramsey in the slot and extra defensive backs on the field with Fuller playing, they had the flexibility to play Reeder closer to the line of scrimmage, where he is better, and less in coverage, where he is not as good. Kiser is a more complete linebacker, so they’ll really want him to be in that role permanently because they won’t always be able to scheme their linebackers in the same way they did Sunday.

– What led to McVay deciding not to script the first drive? Is this the first season they have not scripted the first drive?

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
It was interesting to hear this week that the Rams don’t script their opening drives and, from what it sounds like, never have done so under McVay. Part of this is a “feel” thing — he and quarterback Jared Goff prefer to operate without a script — and part of this is because they have so much versatility at their skill positions on offense that they don’t want to remain rigid within a script and limit some of the things their players could do. McVay also noted this week that the maturity and savvy of their offensive players means they don’t have to lean on the structure of a script to get a feel for game flow.

The Rams assemble their priority calls based on how the installation periods went against the scout team in that week of practice, and then pull from them as needed on an opening drive. So I would probably describe what the Rams do as less of a script and more of a charcuterie board. Their plays are breads, crackers, cheeses, dips, various meats and even pickles. All of these are the Rams’ most delicious items in singularity; it’s up to them how to assemble each bite.

Double team rate (x) when pass rushing as a defensive tackle by pass rush win rate (y) as a defensive tackle.

Grady Jarrett has the highest win rate, Aaron Donald has been doubled more than any above average pass rusher. pic.twitter.com/QcVlzbQ8ZI

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) October 16, 2020

PARAM

going forward, they are going to have to be much sharper and much more consistent on offense. The last two weeks, albeit against two lousy football teams, the defense has averaged allowing 202 total yards and 9.5 points. San Francisco, banged up or not, will be their first true test. Division opponent. Arch rival (you can throw out the records, etc). Defending NFC Champions. McVay vs. Shanahan. Prime time. This game is huge and they need a complete game on both sides of the ball.

Albert Breer@AlbertBreer
Colts announce that they’ve closed their practice facility for the time being after multiple positive COVID-19 tests.

Dianna Russini@diannaESPN
I’ve communicated with sources in Indy and with the league this morning. My sense is the Colts are being very measured and conservative by closing their facility today. I’m told the game is still on for this weekend. #Colts #Bengals

Colts had one player and three staff members with troubling initial tests, but all four came back as false positives after the rerun, per sources.

Bengals at Colts, Sunday, 1 pm.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 16, 2020

PFF’s Top-5 offenses this season:

1. Seattle Seahawks – 86.8
2. Green Bay Packers – 86.2
3. Cleveland Browns – 84.7
4. Los Angeles Rams – 84.0
5. Minnesota Vikings – 81.0 pic.twitter.com/DPfLHWADwk

— PFF (@PFF) October 15, 2020

Fun play, especially because the Rams set this up by running the ball out of the same formation a few times prior to this. https://t.co/rnyuz6ff5d

— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) October 16, 2020

Fun to watch how the Rams have schemed 1v1 matchups for Donald on 3rd downs by rushing five, using games opposite him, and occupying the other four OL. pic.twitter.com/HOKcC01Y9t

— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) October 15, 2020

Where's Tyler Higbee been since that 3 TD day in Philadelphia?

At least in the @RamsNFL Week 5 at WAS, he was holding the fort on two of the biggest plays: Woods 56y TD & Everett 40y pickup.

May not be winning fantasy matchups, but he's definitely helping win games. pic.twitter.com/T8OtYF3vSR

— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) October 15, 2020

The @Browns come into week 6 with the highest rated offensive line in the league in adjusted line yards (5.08).

The @steelers come into week 6 with the highest rated front seven in the league in adjusted line yards allowed (1.97).

This is gonna be an all-out WAR at the LOS…

— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) October 15, 2020