Sean McVay has proved to be one of the smartest and most innovative offensive coaches in the league, completely turning around a Rams team that hadn’t finished top 10 in scoring since 2006 before he arrived in 2017. While he’s not a perfect play caller, his track record as a play designer is quite impressive.
49ers defensive back Jimmie Ward just has one question: Why does McVay always target him in coverage?
Ward has faced McVay’s Rams five times since 2017. In those games, he has 23 tackles, three passes defensed and a tackle for a loss, playing every defensive snaps in the games he was active for.
But he gets the sense that McVay likes to pick on him, for whatever reason.
“Yeah. What’s with their coach? Does he have the big head? I don’t want to say he has the big head, because I think he’s a hell of a coach. But what does he have against me to make him go at me every game and lose?” Ward said in an interview with Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated. “And I don’t even talk (expletive) when we play the Rams. I don’t remember me talking (expletive). But I’ve had some good games against them. I don’t understand why he tries to go at me. I think I would try to go at somebody else.”
Ward feels like he has a great track record against the Rams in his career, even saying he’s dominated them. Since 2017, the 49ers are 4-1 against the Rams when Ward plays, so he clearly has a positive impact defensively.
“If you look at my track record, you’d be like, ‘Damn, this (expletive) dominated against the Rams.’ I even blocked a punt against them. Why even go at me? I don’t know, maybe there’s film,” he continued.
Ward doesn’t expect the high number of targets to change this season, either. He believes McVay will continue to call plays to test him in coverage, which he’s fine with because that could lead to a raise.
“I know (McVay) is going to try to at me this year,” Ward said. “I’ve been talking a lot of (expletive). I’m pretty sure it’s going to get to him, so we’ll see. I’ll get more balls thrown to me, so I’ll get more action, and if I can back up what I’m talking about now and this whole offseason, hopefully I’ll get paid more money.”
The Rams face the 49ers in Week 10, which will be on Monday Night Football, and again in Week 18, which could be flexed to prime time depending on the playoff implications. Needless to say, those will be two of the most important games of the year.
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