The coronavirus pandemic brought everyday life to a screeching halt this spring, forcing people across the country to first self-isolate with businesses everywhere closed, and then practice social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus. Working out and staying in shape was a challenge with gyms closed, and with the majority of employees working from home, it’s been easy to put on a few pounds.
Jared Goff hasn’t just been lounging on the couch all spring and summer, but even he admitted he gained a little bit of weight during the pandemic – either muscle or from the burgers he ate.
“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,” he joked on a conference call Monday. “But I feel good. … 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.”
Goff and the rest of the Rams’ players weren’t afforded the chance to work together during OTAs and minicamp this year, so they had to train on their own. Goff did organize some small-group workouts for those out in Los Angeles, just throwing the ball around and doing some light training, but the lack of team practices has been tough.
He’s done a lot of work on his own, particularly with regards to his footwork. He’s tried to improve that aspect of his game, even training at 3DQB, which is a renowned quarterback training facility in California.
“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,” he said. “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 [an] 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.”
The Rams finally got on the field together for the first time Monday, going through a walk-thru as a team. Goff could see an extra level of energy from his teammates after months of isolation.
“It felt good, man. It felt really good,” he said. “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 walk-thru tempo, and understandably so. Everyone was. It was fun and it was a good day.”