For the second week in a row, Sean McVay essentially declined to answer any questions about the Rams’ quarterback situation. With Jared Goff and John Wolford both banged up, it’s unclear who will get the start against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday afternoon.
McVay is trying to keep the decision under wraps by not revealing his choice in the week leading up to the game, but what speaks louder than his words is the injury report. John Wolford was listed as a non-participant on both Tuesday and Wednesday, while Goff was a full participant both days.
Wolford is dealing with a stinger and although he did some work on the side Wednesday, he didn’t take any reps in practice.
“John did a couple of things, but he was a non-participant at practice. So, we’re taking it a day at a time with him as well,” McVay said.
After previously saying that Cooper Kupp could play against the Packers without practicing at all, he wouldn’t say the same about Wolford.
“We’re just going to take it a day at a time right now,” he said.
Last week, it was reported that Wolford got the majority of the reps in practice before ultimately earning the start in Seattle. Goff even said he only threw to receivers last week and didn’t go up against the defense.
He was still thrust onto the field when Wolford went down, but the plan was for Wolford to play the whole game. Now that the roles are flipped, with Goff taking every rep in practice, it’s presumed that he’ll be the one starting against the Packers.
Not to mention, he named Wolford the starter early last week, not even giving Goff a chance to prove he was healthy enough late in the week to earn the start. Why would that be any different this week? Preparation is important in the playoffs and it’s highly unlikely Wolford would start with no more than one practice under his belt.
“I think it’s really, for a talkative guy just saying, ‘We’ll take it a day at a time’ and that’s what I’m sticking to,” he said of whether the situation is tough to navigate. “It’s not hard behind the scenes because you communicate to your players. But I don’t think it does us any benefit making those announcements right now, whether we know or whether we don’t know what that scenario is. It’s the first time, but you get a little bit shorter answers from me than you’re accustomed to, I guess.”
McVay said Goff has “done a really nice job” in practice and is “definitely making very good progress” in all settings of practice – both individual drills and team situations. Wolford is falling behind due to his stinger and unless McVay really feels strongly about starting him despite missing a lot of practice time, it’s almost certain to be Goff taking the field first on Saturday.
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