Jared Goff hasn’t played a single snap in the preseason since 2017. And he may never play another one as long as Sean McVay is his head coach.
McVay has played it extremely safe with his stars in the preseason over the last two years, keeping most of them on the sideline during these exhibition games. He figures to do the same this year, even if the NFL shortens the preseason by two games, as it has discussed with the NFLPA.
Goff would be fine with that change and feels the preseason should only be two games regardless. Here’s how he reacted to the possibility of a two-game preseason during a conference call with reporters Wednesday.
Jared Goff on a potential 2-game NFL preseason: "Great. That's how it should be, I think."
He still doesn't expect to play, though: "We don't play in 4 (preseason) games. I don't know why we'd play in 2."
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) June 10, 2020
Goff is entrenched as the Rams’ starting quarterback for the next three or four years, so it’s not as if there will be any sort of camp/preseason competition. Behind Goff is a group of inexperienced quarterbacks, led by second-year player John Wolford. Undrafted rookies Bryce Perkins and Josh Love are also in the mix to back up Goff, too.
They need the preseason snaps far more than Goff does, so regardless of whether the NFL plays two or four games before the regular season, the backups will most likely get all of the snaps.
That’s fine by Goff, too. He’s OK with sitting those games out to protect himself from injury.