Sean McVay - Head Coach, rams Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-14 | Full transcript (primary source).
Sean McVay, Head Coach of the Rams, addressed the media during a press conference on September 14, 2026. The focus of the conference was on player injuries and preparations for the upcoming game against the New York Giants following a recent loss.
Transcript
McVay: Good. How are you doing?
Reporter: Uh, wanted to ask you to just, um, uh, honestly, unfortunately, uh, miles gear for quite some time. Um, was there any talk about, um, how to maintain an injury throughout the, before you guys got the news? Um, was it started or anything like that? Just to kind of, um, maybe handle this a little bit sooner or earlier, uh, so it wouldn't miss so much time in the season.
McVay: Oh yeah. This was something it ultimately what it really boils down to Nick. And I think I heard it. It was kind of choppy, but I think I understood your question. The, the reality is is our job is to put our players in our team and positions to have successful outcomes. Thought we would take an approach where he'd be feeling good enough to go, uh, contribute positive change and be the player that he's capable of. That wasn't the case. And so the next right thing for us is to be able to get this thing fixed. In the meantime, you know, we'll, uh, we'll look forward to whenever that time is that we get them back. But, um, that was, that was kind of what went into the decision and, uh, and now we're moving forward.
Reporter: Also too, for you and just the coaching staff, um, what did you all learn obviously from the loss and as you guys move forward and prepare for the New York giants coming in, um, where there's some techniques or where there's some adjustments that you guys feel like you need to make as far as how you, the preparation or what were some of the things that went into that went into that?
McVay: There's a lot of, there's a lot of things, you know, you, you know, me, Nick, the first thing we'll always do is look inward and how many ways can we put our guys in positions that have successful outcomes? Um, then what are the things within the framework of what we're being asked? Are we playing the techniques? Are we playing with the play style? And so, man, there's so many things that I'm excited about just moving forward. Um, that, that game, you give the Niners credit. Like I talked about, that is over with that's in our rear view mirror. We're all eyes moving forward. We make our corrections and then we figure out how do we establish the identity, the play style, the different things that we want to be able to have come to life and how do we really continue to emphasize that? Cause what we emphasize with this group we get, um, and we're just excited about moving forward.
Reporter: Thank you coach.
McVay: You got it, man.
Reporter: Hey Sean. Uh, at what point did you guys realize that Miles knew was that a situation where IR was a possibility? Like at what point did it get to that severe that the IR was what you wanted to do?
McVay: It was right after, I mean, honestly, after I talked with him after the game, after I had spoken with you guys and just seeing, you know, just how he felt, you know, where, uh, you look at it, we thought it was something that we'd be able to kind of manage it. That wasn't necessarily the case. And so having that evidence and then being able to say what's the next right thing. So, uh, it was right after the game just in terms of listening to how he felt, how he was able to impact the game, you know, and even just like what you guys saw with how limited that we had to be with him. Obviously we thought we were doing the right thing, but in hindsight, you know, you always be able to learn from it. I'll never hang on to whether you want to say as a mistake or just different things to be able to kind of change course, if that's the right, um, line of trajectory. And so it was right after the game that we kind of knew that was the direction that we thought. And obviously you're talking to him and seeing how he and his group feels. And, uh, you know, and that's, that's what we made the decision on.
Reporter: You guys made the decision to not travel with Aaron Donald to, to kind of let him have more time to ramp up. Was that a conversation you had with miles or what kind of went into the decision to have him play that game rather than kind of rest it for at least a week or so?
McVay: Uh, just the, the things that we had really talked about, it wasn't like time was going to make a difference. And so it was more, what are you asking me about? How does that affect Aaron or what? I'm not sure I'm understanding the question.
Reporter: I was just, you guys decided to not travel with Aaron to kind of give him more time. And I just wondered if that was the conversation with miles, uh, just given the state of his knee.
McVay: No, those are two totally separate, you know, the, the, the direction that we went with miles and the direction we went with Aaron are totally separate, um, situations and circumstances with miles. It was more along the lines of, you know, we had been, you know, aware of this thought it was something that he would be able to, you know, work through, obviously being out there and playing in a real game. You learn like, Hey, maybe that's not the case. So let's change course with that. And then Aaron is more just getting him up to speed.
Reporter: Thanks.
McVay: You got it.
Reporter: Hey Sean, do you have, uh, an idea of what miles timeline looks like as far as, is it closer to that minimum four games or could it potentially be longer?
McVay: Yeah, I don't get really yet. You know, I think it's, it's all contingent upon how do things go today? You feel good about it. Um, but I think it'd be unfair to him or, you know, really just without having the totality of all the information, um, to put any sort of timeline on it. We know that it'll be available on four weeks potentially. And so we'll just take that a day at a time.
Reporter: And presumably that would mean more being asked of somebody like Josiah Stewart, just what have you seen from him since he's gotten here and, and what can he potentially add in a potentially bigger role?
McVay: Consistent growth, you know, I've seen consistent growth. I thought he did a lot of good things the other day. Uh, I think he's a complete player that can really be a positive contributor in both phases, defending the run, uh, rush in the passer. And so, uh, you know, he'll be asked to step up as well. Really everybody in that group. And, um, I'm confident in those guys and excited. And that's a lot of the group that we've been playing with throughout the course of camp as well.
Reporter: Appreciate it. Thank you.
McVay: You got it, sir.
Reporter: Well, Aaron, play on Monday.
McVay: Uh, we have, I haven't decided that yet. He's going to continue to work his process and, you know, we'll see what that looks like.
Reporter: I know they don't play the same position, but how do you balance Aaron's comeback and playing in a game and wanting to ease him in the way you guys have with losing miles?
McVay: Those are two, they don't have anything to do with one another. Um, you know, it's, it's more about, you know, Aaron and how he can contribute to the collective. What does that look like with how he's feeling? You know, to be able to resume, you know, 11 on 11 and being able to play and do the things that he's capable of. So they're kind of, you know, Aaron is, his situation is totally independent of miles.
Reporter: Throughout your career coaching him, have you ever felt that Aaron puts pressure on himself? Um, or does that, not kind of how he operates?
McVay: You know, I don't know if I look at his pressure or just, you know, the standards that he has for himself are different than I think anyone could place on him. And I think that's been consistent with the greats that I've been around. There's an intrinsic motivation. There's a rage to master your craft. Um, and there's an ability to pick things up quickly in your domain and he's checking all of those boxes. And so, um, you know, this guy's as driven as anybody I've been around the work capacity, the competitive stamina. And, uh, you know, I love everything this guy's about.
Reporter: When he does come back whenever that is, do you expect him to be at the level he was when he retired two years ago?
McVay: I do. Yeah. Yeah. That's what my expectations are in my level of confidence in him.
Reporter: Thank you.
McVay: You're welcome.
Reporter: Hey Sean. Uh, first I just wanted to check in on a clarification. Um, uh, was, was miles in pain with his knee, something he communicated during the game or was it something you learned after the game?
McVay: Yeah, I didn't get a chance to, you know, I know that he wasn't capable of being the player that he is. And that was something after the game, after I'd even spoken with you guys. Um, you know, cause you know, I know Sarah had asked me about that afterwards, but we knew that we were managing a situation. It's why he had missed so much practice time felt like he was still going to be able to affect and influence positive change. And then getting out there in those true settings revealed, okay, maybe we, you know, that, that wasn't the case. And so what's the next right thing for us? And that's the next step that we took.
Reporter: And then our lastly for me, coach, um, Nate Landman, Kim curl and Davis Allen, I think all had different things happen during the game and the updates on them.
McVay: Yeah. Kim curl returned. Um, he's good. He had some ankle soreness, um, Landman, you know, got his shoulder in his thumb, but you know, he's going to be, you know, he'll be, uh, we'll be smart with him throughout this week, but we expect him to be ready to go. And then Davis returned to the game as well. So that's positive on those three guys, as far as, uh, you know, what you're asking that.
Reporter: Hey Sean, just want to ask about, uh, two performances, both Q Lake and Blake quorum, Q Lake with the interception and then Blake quorum with over five a carry, um, just how you see them and their performance and also how they can, you know, contribute to the team moving forward and both kind of building on roles from, from previous years.
McVay: Yeah, I thought Q did a great job. You know, Q's active. He's got a bunch of different roles that he's playing for us. His communication, his ownership is understanding that pick was a, was a great play by him. Um, you know, and then he was really active in the run game. You know, he's going to continue to, you know, be a big factor. And I thought Blake did a nice job with the opportunities that he did have the one good cut back run, you know, had some good things. And I think there's always growth opportunities for everybody, but those two guys are going to be major positive contributors for us. They're going to be key factors for us. Um, I don't think really the game the other day was really any sort of reflection of the way that we want to play in any of the three phases on a consistent basis, even though there were some positive things that we saw. And, um, and like I told you guys, you know, I'm, I'm excited about how we can say, Hey, what does that identity look like as we continue to establish it, learn about this team? How do we put them in the most favorable spots? And then how can our play style come to life where we can play complimentary ball off with one another? And, and the other day was like, I told you guys, one of those humbling days, um, we correct it. We look at ourselves in the mirror and we say, how can we move forward and be a part of the solution? And it's exactly what you're going to get from this group.
Reporter: Appreciate it, son. Thanks.
McVay: You got it.
Reporter: Dennis. Hi, coach. How are you?
McVay: Good. How are you?
Reporter: Great. Um, coach, how do you guard, um, from your team from overreacting to what happened last weekend? Uh, the second question I have is, uh, the running game. How do you continue to sustain a good running attack?
McVay: Yeah, I thought, uh, you know, the first thing is, I think you talk about it, just kind of with what your question is. And, and really it's more about, Hey, let's be totally and completely present. Let's not ignore the things that we can learn from, but we can't allow that game. We can't lose twice to that. And we've got to be able to move forward. All the things that I kind of discussed afterwards, uh, I feel that much stronger about it. And the only way that I know to get this taste out of my mouth is to go back to work, uh, apply the growth mindset, all the things that we've talked about. I thought, uh, you know, there was a lot of positives in the run game. You know, I, I don't know. I'm not interested in necessarily what the final numbers I'm looking at, the removal, the space that we created. There's always going to be areas of improvement, but I did think that we did a nice job in terms of creating space, uh, being able to reset the line of scrimmage and doing some different things like that. There was, uh, there was some things we can build on for sure there.
Reporter: Thank you.
McVay: Good.
Reporter: You're welcome.
Reporter: We're rival with you gear.
Reporter: Hey Sean, um, uh, I think did Omar also have an issue coming out of the game?
McVay: He did. He got a little bit of a hip pointer. He's got some swelling there, but you know, we'll, we'll kind of manage him throughout the week, but he's, he's feeling better than what we had anticipated. He's as tough as it gets. And so he's making positive, uh, you know, gains right now.
Reporter: Um, you know, you, you often talk about how, you know, the adversity is going to come at some point in the season with, you know, with that performance and now with miles situation. Um, is this a little earlier than you anticipated for that kind of stuff?
McVay: You know what? I don't have a few, I, you know, I don't have a crystal ball. I just know this Gary, that these are the opportunities to really separate yourself with how you handle them. And, uh, and what we're not going to do is, is, is change. It's easy to be positive, say all these things before you have it, but now here you go, you get tested. Um, and I'm more interested in seeing than anything that I say or that we say, how do we go back to work? How do we make sure that, you know, we're playing at the level that we're capable of, we're committed to our process. And then ultimately, when we get our next opportunity to swing, um, let's go be courageous enough to go do that. And, and, uh, you know, and I'm, I'm excited about putting everything I got into that with this group.
Reporter: When you, when you went back and looked at, uh, the tape specifically on offense, what, I know you said there were some good things, but where there's some, what, what did you see overall from the offensive performance?
McVay: Yeah, the, the lack of, uh, you know, efficiency and effectiveness in the past game, you know, prevented us from getting any continuity. Um, you know, we weren't able to sustain drives. We weren't, uh, efficient on the conversion downs. Um, and so it's, there there's a lot of things that we could really go through there, but the, the big area of focus improvement will be the, you know, in regards to the past game and some of the different things that we can do, uh, collectively. And like I told you, it always starts with me.
Reporter: Thanks very much.
McVay: You're welcome.
Reporter: Thanks, Coach.
McVay: Okay. Thanks guys.
