Sean McVay isn’t in the business of making excuses for the Rams’ issues this season. He knows it’s been a tough year, but he’s not going to use injuries or roster turnover as an excuse for the team’s 4-9 record through 13 weeks.
He told reporters this week that doing so is a waste of emotional energy because injuries aren’t something the Rams (or any team, for that matter) can control.
“I think more than anything, you make the convenient excuses of these injuries or whatever,” he said. “It’s wasting your emotional energy on things that you have no control over. Knowing and feeling are very different things and I’ve learned that this year more than ever. But I do think that being around people that have a similar approach and being able to be authentic, be real, but then being able to keep it moving and not dwell on that stuff I think has been at least a healthy balance for me. But it’s all about being surrounded by the people.”
What’s helped keep McVay focused and thinking positively is seeing the way players work each and every week despite not coming away with the results they want on game days. McVay has been so impressed by the work everyone puts in throughout the week, and it paid off with a dramatic win over the Raiders last week.
“The easiest way to be reset is to see the way that these guys come back in the building consistently, even after some of the setbacks,” he said. “I can’t tell you how impressed I was where you see the energy that was expended on the Sunday game against Seattle and to see these guys come back in here on Tuesday and Wednesday and work the way that they did, be locked in in meetings, be intentional about the walkthroughs or even the practice that we had on Wednesday, and then see them go perform the way that they did. That to me, when you’re reminded of that, that’s easy to get up for those guys.”
The Rams have built some momentum heading into Week 15 after stunning the Raiders a week ago, and they’re hoping to build on that with another win in prime time against an equally desperate Packers team. The playoffs are still way out of reach, but each win they come away with down the stretch will help team morale before the offseason.
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