COURTESY OF LOS ANGELES RAMS MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
(On the first day being out on the field) “It felt good, man. It felt really good. It was exciting, all this energy built up until this point and finally were able to let it go. I saw a lot of guys out there in our walk-thru that were going a little bit faster than a walkthru tempo, and understandably so. Everyone was. It was fun and it was a good day.” (On the first team meeting occurring outside of the facility in the big tent) “Yeah, it was great. It honestly wasn’t drastically different from our regular meetings, other than just being outside. But, we’ve got the big screen up front and we’ve got (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) talking to the whole team and it was very easy to hear him. It’s very similar. There isn’t much of a difference.”
(On the difference in feel with the team social distancing and wearing masks)
“I mean yeah, that’s definitely different as well. We were a little bit further apart and wearing our masks and being as safe as we can.”
(On how he’s feeling right now, his weight and his approach this offseason)
“I may have put on a couple of pounds. I don’t know if that’s muscle or a couple of cheeseburgers, I’m not sure (laughs). But I feel good. I just right weight as I am right now. I feel good putting in a lot of work this offseason. I had a lot of time. I had a lot of time to really reflect and figure out what you want to get better at and really focus on what you want to get better at. We had the whole offseason. So, hopefully we come out this year and put the right foot forward.”
(On anything specific he worked on during the offseason)
“It’s always footwork. That’s something I’ve always said – it’s my footwork trying to clean that up and keep it as sharp as possible. A lot of the posture stuff in the pocket, the way my body is positioned in the pocket and maneuvering, whether it’s O-linemen or D-linemen within the pocket. A lot of that was emphasis. And then, just keeping my body healthy. Getting stronger. Getting more fit. Whether that’s core or lower body, is mainly what I focused on. A lot of stuff.”
(On his level of concern about playing football surrounding the pandemic)
“You know, we’re taking every precaution that we can here. It’s obviously a serious thing and we’re taking it seriously. We’re wearing our masks. There’s hand-sanitizer everywhere. There is different ways we’re able to walk in and out of the building – there’s so much precaution be added by our guys. It’s really, really a testament to (Director of Football Operations) Sophie (Harlan) and (Vice President of Sports Medicine & Performance) Reggie (Scott) and all the staff members here that have been able to put this together. And I said this today – I know it’s maybe shocking – but honestly it doesn’t feel that much different. I know we’re wearing masks and being socially-distanced, but as far as the rhythm of everything goes and with the flow of everything and the flow of the day, it really felt good.”
(On any takeaways from how the coronavirus has affected Major League Baseball)
“I don’t think it changes anything that we’re doing. It’s a different situation, and I could be wrong, but I think they’re testing differently than us. We are testing every day, nasally. I don’t know if (the MLB) is doing that. It’s a different situation and I think what’s been stressed with seeing some of the fallout from that is – we’re not only affecting each other by the decisions we could possibly make off the field, we’re affecting each other’s families, each other’s kids and potentially parents as well. It’s something we’ve talked about as far as being smart off the field. Guys are going to live their lives, it’s going to be hard to keep guys from going to dinner at some point this season. But, the same time, it’s about being smart and taking care of yourself.”
(On how players are being tested everyday)
“It’s actually not that far up there anymore. It’s pretty low to mid-nasal, they call it, and it’s not too bad.”
(On Hard Knocks returning to the Los Angeles Rams training camp)
“It’s good. It’s fun. It’s a much different vibe, obviously, this time around. I actually said this to (Senior Director, Communications) Artis (Twyman) a few minutes ago, it doesn’t feel like they’re there as much as it did in my rookie year. I think for whatever reason, it felt like they were always around. And this year, it feels like they’re in the background a little bit. It’s probably a testament to our team, the way we’re focused, and focused on the right things and being really dialed in on football. It feels good. It hasn’t been an issue at all. I think they’re using it as more of a fun thing this time around.”
(On if he is having more fun with Hard Knocks this time around because they have to maintain social distance)
“It’s because they are not allowed in the building, we have a little bit of a buffer there (laughs). But no it’s been good. They’ve been really good with us, and really good with everyone. I think it’ll be a different experience I think this time for everyone hopefully.”
(On not being on the field as much in comparison to previous training camps and if it is a little weird right now that they’re not out there working out and doing drills)
“I mean, today was our first day out there, so we started to kind of get that rhythm back in. Like I said, it was kind of like a buildup of energy, like everyday kind of felt like the first day. You know, the first day we got tested. You get this excitement for the first day and then, ‘Oh, okay, it’s not actually the first day.’ Then yesterday we had our meetings, and you’re excited about meetings and then, ‘Okay, well it’s not actually, you know, the first day.’ Today really felt like a first day and then I’m sure when we’re actually allowed to practice, it’ll feel again like a first day. But we’ve just been taking it day-by-day. Today was good to get on the field and actually move the ball around and be with your teammates, break the huddle and call plays, all that stuff was good.”
(On his first time practicing on the field with Offensive Coordinator Kevin O’Connell and how his influence will help him the Rams offense this season)
“He’s been great. He’s been really good. We’ve, obviously, pretty much all communicated through Zoom up until today. Just getting a feel of his demeanor, the way he talks, the way he communicates – he’s played the position. He understands the little intricacies that go along with playing it and I’m super excited. I couldn’t be more excited. I mean, I was excited when they hired him. I’ve always heard his name. I know a lot of people that have played for him, a lot of people that know him. When we hired him it was exciting, and it’s been exciting today that you kind of get to communicate with him and everyday it makes my job a lot easier.”
(On if he anticipates the offense changing much after adding a new coordinator)
“Yes and no. I mean we have our wrinkles just like we do every year. The core values remain the same. Sean (McVay) is still calling the plays. It’s still all his offense. So, there will be some new things definitely, but the core of it will remain the same.”
(On how he feels about WRs Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp and the rest of the receivers collectively)
“Yeah, they’re both obviously tremendous. This will be my fourth year with both of them and it’s exciting. We’ve got such a good rapport at this point and are getting to the point where you don’t really have to talk to each other. You kind of just look at each other and you know what each other are thinking and have such a good feel for each other. I think Robert, specifically, is starting to really, show why he’s such a pro. He’s entering the later parts of his career, but he hasn’t shown any sort of drop off, and if anything has shown his accelerated level of play. And I think Cooper, in the same way, is continuing to accelerate his level of play towards the beginning of his career and it’s exciting for both of them. They both feed off each other. They both work extremely hard and they still set a big standard for our offense and that receiver room.”
(On how his relationship with Woods and Kupp has grown on and off the field and if he can detail when he first met each of them)
“I’ll go with Robert when we signed him. I was coming in my second year. I was already here. I think I came down when we signed him. Just early on, just kind of throwing the ball to him and feeling him out and getting that rhythm. He’s just such a friendly target, I think that’s the best way to describe him. It’s easy to throw to him. A lot of guys, it’s not a knock on some guys, but some guys are not easy to throw to. They’re either too fast, or too small, or whatever. Robert’s just kind of got that good feel about him. You’ll watch him this year and the way he’s able to speed up and slow down to adjust to the football, it’s a quarterback’s dream. He’s been incredible for me and I expect that to continue. Then with Cooper, I met him pre-draft. We actually have the same agent. I was able to meet with him and just talk with him. Kind of joked around like, ‘Hey, man, we’re going to get you, obviously I don’t know where we’re going to go with the draft that year, but hoping it was towards a receiver,’ and sure enough, we took him in that third round and it’s been great. He’s been a really good asset for us, obviously, and I’m excited about his level this year as well.”
(On what it will be like working without Falcons RB Todd Gurley II and his impressions of RB Cam Akers)
“First of all, Happy Birthday Todd (Gurley II). I hope you see this, Happy Birthday. It was good. (RB) Cam (Akers), (RB) Darrell (Henderson Jr.) and (RB) Malcolm (Brown) all did a great job stepping in there and really doing their job. They were good. Malcolm and those guys did a really good job and they’ve always been good. I am excited about Cam this year, excited to see him really come into his own, he’s a rookie obviously, but it’s going to be exciting.”
(On the Hard Knocks teaser of Coach McVay in his face shield in a meeting with the coaches and if he did anything funny in the first meeting)
“He didn’t wear it. He told us about that, but he didn’t end up wearing it for us.”
(On any memorable moments from first meeting with Coach McVay)
“No, not really. It was very business. I mean, we’re taking it pretty seriously as far as wearing the masks and what not. I think we want to display that to everybody. We’ve talked about it, the way that we handle it from the top, it starts with him, then down to myself and the rest of the leaders, the way we handle it and the way we go about it every day is the way our team is going to go about it. Those are the discussions we’ve about how to handle the challenges.”
(On any new modifications to uniforms)
“No.”
(On his thoughts of Defensive Coordinator Brandon Staley’s new scheme)
“Yeah, we’ve seen it and there is a little bit of familiarity just with systems that he’s been in. So, we can kind of draw off that, but it will be all new. It will be a good challenge for us. It will be somewhat of, us approaching it as preparing for a new team in a way. Like Sean said, we got a lot more time in one week, but there will be a lot of that as far as maybe how we want to game-plan them for one day if we’re going to do a scrimmage or stuff like that. But, it was good today to see them out there and see a different defense and a lot of different wrinkles. It will be a challenge for us at first, and then hopefully we’ll figure them out.”
(On reactions to the NFL Top 100)
“It’s always fun to see. I don’t put much stock into it. I think it’s fun to see where you are voted and see where your peers have you. Obviously, congrats to those guys at the top, they deserve it, but I don’t put much thought into it.”
(On is the NFL Top 100 motivation)
“If I am never in the top 100 and win a Super Bowl, I couldn’t care less.” (On reactions to Chiefs QB Pat Mahomes extension and if it makes him wish he waited another year) “No. I am excited for him. He deserves it, every bit of it. It’s easy to root for good people and he is a good person. He deserves it.”
(On thoughts of SoFi Stadium)
“It was amazing. It was really amazing. I know I kept saying the same thing about how amazing it was and wow, but it truly was. I don’t know if you guys have been able to be in there yet, but it’s so big and it’s so monstering when you’re in there and seeing the Oculus on the inside, it’s really cool and it’s going to be a really, really fun time when we are able to be in there with our home crowd and really enjoy it.”
(On the importance of getting used to the Oculus)
“It will definitely be part of it. I think there’s going to be shadows in certain places that we are going to want to know and there’s going to be certain ways that we’re going to want to look at the scoreboard like you’re saying – where is the play clock, where is the game clock, where is the scoreboard – different things like that will definitely come into that and be important.”
(On crowds being piped in during the NBA and MLB and how that will work for the Rams)
“I don’t know. I’ve heard some different things about how they would do it. We obviously have some time to decide. If they do decide to do that, I’m sure it would be fine. It’s another challenge that everyone’s going through. So, it’s a level playing field and we will approach it as it comes. I think the NBA’s been a good product on TV at least. It’s been fun to watch and it really hasn’t felt like much of a difference.”
(On further discussions on the topic of social justice)
“We haven’t had any discussion on what we are going to do necessarily or if we will do anything in regards to any of that, but we have had a lot of really good discussions through our team and through our organization and a lot of really good discussions driven by (Chief Operating Officer) Kevin (Demoff) really at the top. He’s started a lot of these off with a lot of stuff and the organization RISE came in and did a lot of really cool things with our team over Zoom throughout the past couple of months and it’s been really cool. Like I said before, just the kind of eye opening of it, for me at least, and hearing people’s stories and being able to have empathy and be an ally and that’s the most important thing for me. We will have those discussions though I’m sure, as time goes on but no, we haven’t had them yet.”
