Los Angeles Rams Transcripts - Head Coach
Sean McVay - Monday, January 1, 2024
Head Coach Sean McVay
(On the decision to waive K Lucas Havrisik)
“Yeah, I think getting into the playoffs definitely changes a little bit of the
dialogue in regard to what we know we have coming down the pipe so wanted
to get somebody in here that had some experience. We’ll end up bringing (K)
Brett Maher back. He's a guy that has had experience. I think when you look at
some of the earlier situations he was in, we asked him to attempt a lot of long
field goals. He was fairly consistent when you're talking about some of those
field goals from under 50 (yards) and in. And so we've got to get him back in
here and we'll get him going and you never know what's going to happen with
Lucas. When I talked to him, he is a guy that you do have confidence in. He
has a lot of ability. You look at some of the background of these kickers and it
sometimes takes a little bit to be able to settle in and play as consistent as you
want. There's been a lot of successful guys that have navigated through some
early struggles or early challenges and had great careers.”
(On the potential of LS Alex Ward returning from IR during the playoffs)
“Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to be the case. We've got to be able to
continue to figure out some things for him as it relates to his neck and so that
doesn't look like that's going to be the case.”
(On the decision to sign K Brett Maher and if the team looked at anyone
else)
“Yeah, there are options out there and then there are guys that have kind of
had some familiarity with it. And so there's not a perfect scenario, but I think
when you look at just the landscape, some of the options, this is what we felt
like was going to be the best opportunity to move forward the way that we want
to. So that was kind of how we settled on Brett.”
(On the decision to potentially rest starters against the 49ers after
clinching a playoff spot)
“Yeah, we're working through those things right now. The interesting thing is,
different than in the preseason and stuff like that, you have a lot more numbers.
You still have 53 guys on your active roster. You got to have 48 up on game
day. You have the availability to flex some people up so that's something that
we're working through. That could be a possibility. But we still have to be ready
to go and put together a good week of preparation and try to do a good job of
playing well on Sunday. But those are things we're working through and I'll
have some more clarity for you guys on Wednesday there.”
(On OL Alaric Jackson’s status and if he’ll return this week)
“Yeah, it was a family situation. If he feels comfortable to share that with you, I’ll
let him do that. I found out, spoke with him late Saturday night and then we
obviously notified you guys and the league on Sunday that he was not going to
be participating in the game. But I have spoken with him, and we expect him to
return tomorrow and get back into the mix for us.”
(On the reaction to clinching a playoff spot)
“It was great. We held the takeoff a little bit so the WiFi couldn't get us. We
watched the end of the game. What a great job by Pittsburgh and a really
impressive win by them. We'll have to send (Steelers HC) Mike (Tomlin) T a
nice Christmas gift.”
(On if special teams issues are fixable late in the season or if the
offseason is needed to address them)
“I think you've got to look at it. I do think there are plays that we're not making
that we are capable of. There's been a lot of moving parts as it relates to our
field goal operation. When you have a totally new snap, new holder, new kicker,
and we've had multiple kickers, we've had multiple snappers so that does play
into it. You try to do the best you can and I'm confident that Brett will help with
the overall efficiency. I thought (LS) Carson (Tinker) had a better day yesterday
than he did in the previous week. I also think some of the coverage things, we
got to tackle better. We need to play better. We're capable of doing that. I've
seen moments that it can be better but we've got to play better, especially in
those crunch time moments. That's going to be a huge point of emphasis. And I
think as you look at it, when you continue to build teams and there's different
things, you feel some of those things where guys can play better and I think it
shows in that phase a little bit. But we're going to continue to pour into these
guys. I do have confidence in a handful of those guys that are out there. And
some of the plays that we didn't make yesterday are ones that we have to be
able to make if we want to be able to move forward in these playoff games. We
can't make those mistakes. I know that we have the right kind of mindset and
mentality as it relates to, all right, how coachable, how accountable can we be?
And this is coaches and players in this thing together to be able to perform
better for a football team. And fortunately it didn't cost us the game yesterday.”
(On an injury update for NT Bobby Brown III)
“Yeah, I'll just go ahead because I know probably the next question will be
about the injuries. Bobby, we're fortunate that he just hyperextended his knee
but he should be okay. We were fearful that it might've been something worse.
He might be limited in practice but we expect him to be good to go this week.
The guys, (OL) Joe Noteboom, he ended up getting his right heel but he
pushed through it. This guy has pushed through so many different things this
year. He started at multiple spots and he really battled. It'll be Joe Noteboom
with his foot. So he ended up hurting his right heel. It's kind of a plantar fascia
but he's a tough guy, man. He ended up aggravating that thing really early in
the game and continued to push through. We'll see what that looks like. I would
imagine that will leave him out for practice this week. (TE) (Tyler) Higbee
actually got his shoulder. He got a posterior sublux of his left shoulder. We'll
continue to see how that affects his game status for this week. (Dcool smiley Jordan
Fuller had an ankle sprain. He'll be day to day and then (DE) Desjuan Johnson
came in with a little turf toe. He'll be day-to-day as well.”
(On when the decision is made to rest players for the game and how that
affects game planning)
“We can make that decision as late…I think the thing that's important ideally
when we get our players back on Wednesday, that's when we'll have that
clarity, we've still got to take steps in the right direction regardless of if we play
everybody, if we have the luxury of a couple people. But there's never a perfect
answer because you just don't have the numbers. We had some similar
situations like this before but you still have to stay sharp, you still have to stay
crisp. But if there are some guys that could use the time or that actually need it
based on their injury situation and that kind of makes those decisions for you.
But when I talk to you guys on Wednesday, I'll have some clarity. I started
thinking about this on the flight home last night and there certainly isn't a
perfect answer, but what we will come to is what we think is best as it relates to
not just this week, but more importantly the Wild Card weekend.”
(On if the decision to release K Lucas Havrisik was because of slimmer
margins for victory in the playoffs)
“I think it was what we thought was going to be for us to be at our best and so
there were some opportunities when you want to have some patience, you
don't want to rush to judgment. I think there were some good things that Lucas
did but I think the overall consistency, especially when you're talking about
some of those shorter range kicks that we expect to be at a higher percentage,
we just weren't coming through enough and we felt like the move was going to
be in the best interest of our group. So yes in a way, but that was kind of the
totality of the decision.”
(On rookies making an impact and how that impacts roster building in the
future)
“It makes a big difference and a lot of it… what's interesting about this year is it
was by necessity. You don't even really have a choice because of some of the
situations that we were in. These guys got to go. They've got to mature and
they're going to get opportunities that maybe some of the other rookie classes
weren't afforded because of the depth that we previously have had. So I think it
was great and I think these guys handled it really well. When you look at what
they've done through 16 games and then you start to mention (OL) Steve Avila
and (WR) Puka Nacua, you're talking about four guys that have started every
single game for us on offense and on defense that are four pillars for years to
come. And there's a lot of other really good guy s that we're excited about, not
exclusive to those four that I just mentioned.”
