Sean McVay bluntly criticized Jared Goff during the season, let him twist in the wind during the playoffs, then urged the Rams’ front office to trade him away.
But when it came time for the coach to explain his breakup with the quarterback, McVay softened his tone and chose to recall “a lot of things you can smile on,” like the Rams’ 2018 Super Bowl run, three playoff appearances in four years, and Goff’s two Pro Bowl seasons.
“All I can go back to (is) appreciation for the times we did have, and wishing him nothing but the best moving forward,” McVay said Thursday in a video conference.
Speaking publicly for the first time since Rams general manager Les Snead agreed Jan. 30 to swap Goff for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, McVay seemed intent on erasing the impression that he blamed Goff for the offense’s shortcomings since the NFC championship year.
That would be a natural inference, though, after McVay faulted Goff’s fumbles and interceptions at a low point in the Rams’ 10-6 season and was reported by the NFL Network’s Peter Schrager to be “giddy” about replacing Goff with Stafford.
“I think the unfair narrative has been that some of our decrease in production is exclusively on the quarterback. That’s not true at all,” McVay said, returning to his default mode of taking blame for himself.
“I think certainly I have a big hand in that. I have to be able to look myself in the mirror and acknowledge and be able to evolve, improve and take ownership in that,” said McVay, who said he was talking about play-calling and communication.
“As a coach, as a leader, your job is to try to make situations and people around you better, and there certainly were some moments when I know I could have done better for our team and Jared in particular.”
Goff, the 2016 No. 1 overall draft pick who signed a four-year, $134 million contract extension in 2019, told the Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer earlier this month that that he came to feel “not wanted” by the Rams and that the feeling became mutual.
McVay said Thursday he and Goff talked “open and honestly” after the season, but wanted to keep the details “between myself and Jared.”
It’s unclear if McVay gave Goff the “it’s not you, it’s me” routine, or if that was reserved for Thursday’s press conference.
Ostensibly, the press conference was called because McVay had named his 2021 coaching staff Tuesday, with new assignments and seven new hires replacing eight departed assistants.
Under NFL rules, McVay can’t specifically talk about Stafford or the trade until it becomes official with the start of the free-agent and trading period March 17.
But the coach made off-hand references to the trade.
He made clear that adding explosiveness to the NFL’s 22nd-ranked scoring offense remains an offseason priority, even though acquiring Stafford’s strong arm is a big first step.
“I think it’s (having) guys that can make things happen with the ball in their hands,” McVay said of increasing big plays. “I think that’s something that we’ve definitely got to do a better job of, starting with me, this next season.”
On other topics, McVay:
• Indicated restructuring contracts for “some of those guys that have some of those bigger deals” will be one way the Rams get under the NFL salary cap. They’re about $35 million over, third-most in the league.
• Said Kevin O’Connell will have a bigger role in play-calling after the Rams exercised their right to block their offensive coordinator from interviewing for a lateral move to the same job title with the Chargers.
• Said one reason he gave running backs coach Thomas Brown the role of assistant head coach, after Joe Barry left for the Packers, is that “he’s always going to tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear.”
• Said he passed over in-house possibilities for defensive coordinator, after Brandon Staley left to become Chargers’ coach, to grab “the chance to reconnect with Raheem Morris,” a former Tampa Bay and Washington colleague whom McVay described as “a big brother in a lot of ways to me.”
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