McVay, Snead detail how Rams have turned the page to 2019

Myles Simmons

https://www.therams.com/news/mcvay-snead-detail-how-rams-have-turned-the-page-to-2019

INDIANAPOLIS — Losing the Super Bowl is like a real punch to the gut.
As a passionate fan or even a casual consumer of sports, you probably don’t need to be told that to know it’s true. But Rams general manager Les Snead described it in somewhat visceral terms when speaking to the media at the Combine on Thursday.
“It’s tough,” Snead said. “I think, if I put it in this perspective — I’ve told many people that I would wish everyone who is a part of the NFL to get a chance to win a conference championship and then prepare to win a world championship.”

“I don’t know if I’d wish upon my worst enemy the piercing sting of losing the game,” Snead continued. “It a little bit lingers because, No. 1, there’s no next week. The season is over and that’s what you do. … There’s a physical pain when you replay things in your mind, like, ‘Oh, if we had just done…’ I remember saying, OK, what I’m going to do is journal all my thoughts and then I’m going to count how many days that I can actually have a flashback and not actually hurt physically. We’re at that point. You got through that.”
Head coach Sean McVay described a similar sentiment when discussing the feeling of losing the Super Bowl since there is no “next week” at that point.
“It took a day. I would say the night was really disappointing,” McVay said. “There’s such a finality. We went into that game with a confidence and an expectation to go win and finish it the right way. The thing that’s so different about that — and really, it was the same way in the playoffs the year before — is usually you get a chance to respond the next week, and that’s what you love so much about football. Well, when it’s over, it’s over.”
“Like you guys just heard us talking about,” McVay continued, “if you’re going to ask your players to mentally tough, to be resilient and have the ability of moving on, you’ve got to be able to live what you’re saying. I think it’s important not to be naive to the fact that, yeah, that stings, but you can’t allow it to just linger, where it doesn’t allow you to move forward. And that really is whether we had won or lost.”
McVay noted that he addressed the team back in L.A. the Tuesday after Super Bowl LIII, expressing his appreciation for all that had transpired during the 2018 season. And then after doing some evaluations on the club’s own players, he gave the coaching staff a couple of weeks off in order to decompress. The famously studious McVay even took some time to get away.
“The thing that you love about it is, this is what I would do for fun, too, whether it’s reading things or kind of learning about some of these guys with the draft process,” McVay said. “So, you don’t ever really feel like you’re working, but I think it is important, even if it’s just for a few days — [my girlfriend] Veronika and I went to Hawaii and I wasn’t until the last night that I woke up sweating, so that was good.”
But especially now that the Combine has come around, the focus has shifted to ensuring that the Rams are the best they can be heading into the 2019 season.
“The things you’ve got to do is, you’ve got to rejuvenate and that’s mind, body, soul, and get ready to go,” Snead said. “When you have natural rejuvenation, now you’re fired up again. I don’t know if the pain is going to keep you from — the pain will lead to more motivation. I do think what you’ve got to be really careful of is, 2017 was ’17, 2018 was ’18 and 2019 is going to be very different. We know what we’re capable of, but you’ve got to go do it.”

And a big part of that is ensuring there won’t be the dreaded so-called “Super Bowl hangover” — which McVay appears to have a good plan to combat.
“I think the biggest thing is, you want to make sure that as a coaching staff — and me specifically in my role — is you want to demonstrate that mental toughness, that ability to move on like we expect our players to,” McVay said. “And you understand, I think when you get a chance to reflect back on the season, a lot of really good things that we can take away from it. But the focus for us is going to be, we learn from the past, we produce in the present, and you want to prepare for the future. But every single season is a new opportunity.
“And I think the thing that’s exciting for me specifically, and for us as a coaching staff, is you love the process of what the entire year entails,” McVay continued. “And that’s the Combine, that’s evaluating your scheme, that’s evaluating some other things, that’s looking at, OK, what can we do as coaches to get better, implement a plan specific to the offseason program and how we attack that process to get better, to emphasize our players’ strengths, and then hopefully put ourselves in a position — the way that we do the offseason, training camp — to go compete and win our opener. And that’s really what our focus and concentration will be on. And I think you never let the complacency set in. And I think we share that as players and coaches.”

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Watched some of the bench-pressing at the combine. Oddly fascinating. Guys lifting. Other guys cheering for guys lifting. Coaches watching guys lift and cheer. Plenty of grunting, mostly from guys lifting.

One of the most chilling statements from Michael Cohen today: “Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power, and this is why I agreed to appear before you today.”

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) February 28, 2019

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The testimony of Michael Cohen alone suggests the president could be guilty of:
—Conspiracy to defraud the United States.
—Lying to the DOJ & the Special Counsel.
—Campaign finance violations.
—Encouraging perjury.
—State & local tax fraud.

Let that sink in.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) February 28, 2019

What do we think Rams fans? Difficult to add value with the picks but I'd be ecstatic with this haul. pic.twitter.com/SgiKAGE1ld

— AJDraftScout (@AJDraftScout) February 28, 2019

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Meet Eric Henderson: Three things to know about the Rams’ new defensive line coach

https://www.therams.com/news/meet-eric-henderson-three-things-to-know-about-the-rams-new-defensive-line-coach

The Rams will bring on Eric Henderson to lead defensive tackle Aaron Donald and company as the defensive line coach in 2019. Henderson’s home field will now be a drive up Interstate 110 at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum after two seasons with the Chargers in Los Angeles.

Here are three things to know about the Rams’ new defensive line coach:

1. Undrafted Standout

Henderson joined the Bengals as an undrafted rookie in 2006 after an impressive career at Georgia Tech. Henderson, a three-time All-ACC defensive lineman, became the Yellow Jackets’ all-time career leader in tackles for loss, with 59.5.
Henderson recorded 24 of his record-breaking tackles for loss during his breakout sophomore season, which also featured 11 sacks. Henderson’s 25 career sacks rank No. 4 in school history.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in management from Georgia Tech.

2. Experience with Star Power

Depending on what happens in free agency, Henderson may have a couple of NFL superstars on his hands in Donald, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, and whoever could join the pass-rush party in L.A.
Henderson offers a bit of experience coaching All-Conference and Pro Bowl players as he joins the defending NFC Champs. He served as a defensive quality control coach at Oklahoma State in 2015, when now-Browns defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah earned All-American honors and was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Most recently, Henderson spent two seasons as an assistant defensive line coach for the Chargers, working closely with Pro Bowl defensive ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. The Chargers posted 43.0 sacks in 2017 and 38.0 in 2018.
Bengals-Henderson

3. A Former Teammate

Henderson will join former Bengals teammate and Louisiana native Andrew Whitworth in Los Angeles, should the 37-year-old left tackle return to football for a 14th professional season. Henderson shared a rookie season Whitworth in 2006, before spending time on and off the club’s practice squad until playing in two games in 2008 before he was place on the injured reserve with a season-ending neck injury.