'Helpful For Me': Rams Coach Sean McVay Lauds Bobby Wagner's Leadership
In a championship defense conjured from the depths of the football netherworld, the Los Angeles Rams have been blessed with a bit of a godsend.
Head coach Sean McVay opened the Rams' penultimate week of the 2022-23 season with special kudos for linebacker Bobby Wagner. In a year full of disappointment and medical woes, Wagner has been a rare silver lining and a consistent producer. He's the Rams' leader in tackles at 126 (9 for a loss) and is one of only four Los Angeles defenders to start all 15 games thus far this year.
McVay, however, is impressed with the way Wagner's leadership hasn't wavered despite the Rams' title defense reaching historically dire levels.
"This has been anything but ideal and really, it’s the first time when you look at it in this role where there’s been a failure and in a lot of instances or we’re not getting the results that we want," McVay explained. "That weighs on me a lot because you want it to be like what today is for these players, for these coaches and you want to be able to do the things that you can impact within the framework of your role and it takes everybody."
"But that’s where just seeing the way he’s handled it has been helpful for me in what has been a really challenging, difficult year.”
Wagner went a bit viral for his efforts in Sunday's blowout win over the Denver Broncos, forcing an interception from the arm of former Seattle teammate and fellow divisional rival Russell Wilson. Wagner also earned a sack of Wilson in the 51-14 triumph.
Though several holiday heroes rose to the occasion in the blowout, particularly on the defensive side, McVay believed that it was primarily indicative of how Wagner's mental impact has kept the team relatively sane as it plays through increasingly meaningless contests.
"I think when you look at what the team did today, I think that's a great reflection on the leadership, the way Bobby Wagner has influenced this whole locker room and really the coaching staff," McVay told the team's official site. "I've always respected him from afar but watching the way that he has been so steady and so consistent with the way he's handled a season that has gone totally different than I think what any of us expected and anticipated, but his consistency to me says everything you need to know about the human being."
While the Rams (5-10) have plenty of uncomfortable decisions to make in the upcoming offseason, they won't have to worry about Wagner, who inked a five-year deal worth $50 million in March. He'll have two more opportunities to lead the Rams into battle in January, starting with Sunday's SoFi Stadium civil war against the Los Angeles Chargers (1:25 p.m. PT, CBS).
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