Just because the Los Angeles Rams made major changes to their roster and coaching staff doesn’t mean they’re going through a rebuilding phase. That occurred in 2017 when Sean McVay and Wade Phillips were hired, Andrew Whitworth and Robert Woods were signed and the front office took a more aggressive approach to roster-building.
McVay is aware that the Rams fell short of expectations last season. He knows the decisions to part ways with Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks seem like reactionary ones. He’s also aware of the talent Los Angeles still has on the field and the potential that this coaching staff has.
And for that reason, he won’t say the Rams are in rebuilding mode after three straight years of finishing above .500 with one Super Bowl appearance.
“I would never refer to it as that. I think that’s making excuses and running away from the expectations, which we’ll never do,” he said this week. “We expect to win, we expect to prepare to win. We’ve got great people in this building – coaches, players alike. Our goal and expectation is to prepare to win every single game we play in. I believe we go into it that way. We didn’t do what we needed to do last year. I own that. I take full responsibility for it.”
Expectations for the Rams have been set lower this offseason after a 9-7 finish in 2019. Oddsmakers have set their win total at only 8.5, while their Super Bowl odds as of two weeks ago were 14th-best in the NFL at 30/1.
And with the NFC West looking like the toughest division in football, the deck is somewhat stacked against the Rams. McVay doesn’t care what the public perception is, though, and is only focused on improving in 2020.
“I don’t really care what the narrative is, I care about the belief I have in our players, our coaches, and how excited I am for us to attack this opportunity and write our own story, really.”
[vertical-gallery id=633004]