Sean McVay expects bounce-back performance for Rams QB Jared Goff
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Unusually critical of his quarterback after a poor performance in a fourth straight loss to the San Francisco 49ers last week, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay was back to his positive, supportive self on Wednesday.
And while McVay does not take back his harsh words on his assessment of Jared Goff’s performance, he also continues to believe in the Cal product’s ability to respond to adversity.
To help Goff and his team in that effort, McVay will move practice indoors on Thursday to the comfy confines of SoFi Stadium due to high winds at the team’s headquarters in Thousand Oaks.
“You have to attack the week the right way with a great week of preparation and then we have to play when the game counts,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “You can never truly simulate that once you get to this point in the season, but you can create competitive reps. That’s something that we try to do. Try to stress our guys throughout the course of the week and that’s really for all three phases.
“But I liked the way that he started out. One of the things that you do really appreciate about him is he steady, he’s neutral. He’s coming back ready to go, and that’s what you want. You don’t want somebody that’s going to ride the emotional roller coaster. I think there’s too many ebbs and flows, especially at that quarterback position. I am looking forward to seeing him bounce back.”
McVay only needs to look to earlier this season to see how Goff responds to poor performances.
After a two-turnover effort in an earlier, 24-16 loss San Francisco in Week 6, Goff threw for 220 yards and two scores in a 24-10 home victory over the Chicago Bears the following week.
And after an embarrassing, four turnover performance against the Miami Dolphins in Week 8, Goff used the bye week to work on some things and then put together back-to-back, 300-yard efforts in wins over the Seattle Seahawks (302 passing yards) and the Tampa Bay Bucs (season-high 376 passing yards).
The issue for Goff remains balancing pushing the ball down the field and taking risks to make explosive plays with being mindful and not reckless with the football.
Goff is tied with Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins for second-most turnovers in the NFL this season with 14. However, the Rams are No. 10 in the NFL with 38 passing plays of 20-plus yards.
Terez Paylor of Yahoo Sports points to an issue for Goff’s turnovers this season, defensive linemen dropping back into hook zones into hot routes for interceptions.
“It’s just being smarter decision-making,” Goff said. “You’re still being aggressive. I don’t think that will ever leave me and just confidence wise, I’ve always been confident and been able to overcome mistakes. But at the same time, I don’t want to keep sitting here and saying that I need to take care of the ball better. I mean, I’ll just be smarter with it, make better decisions.
“I think, prior to last week, I thought I was doing a pretty good job of it and then last week, I let it get away from me a little bit. Just getting back on track, I’ve played for a long time and have a lot of confidence in myself, in my ability and my ability to take care of the football. So, It’s just get back to being me. Just taking care of the ball and still being an aggressive, absolutely. I still need to be aggressive.”
As far as the criticism from his head coach, Goff understands that comes with the territory.
“Yeah. If he was lying, I’d feel differently about it,” Goff said. “He’s absolutely right and I’m a big boy. I can handle it. We have a great relationship and I’m accountable for myself. I need to be better than that. I need to take care of the football and he’s absolutely right and I will. I have done that for majority of my entire football career and will continue to take care of the football better.”
He gets a chance to redeem himself on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, which has proven in the past as soothing balm for ails Goff.
In seven games against the Cardinals Goff is 6-1, completing 69 percent of his passes for 1,888 yards, with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
“The one thing too is, with the position being as difficult as it is, inevitably, I don’t care how great you are, there’s always going to be a couple of plays each game you want back,” McVay said. “We just have to make sure that, situationally, we have a great understanding and like we talked about, continue doing a great job of trying to take care of the football and make good decisions snap in and snap out.
“This isn’t an ability question. It’s just let’s go get an opportunity to play at the level that he has, and now we have to do it.”
