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Lindsay ThiriESPN
Thosand Oaks, California. – Sean McVeigh’s words came true, but not before the Los Angeles RMS coach answered a directive question about Jared Goff’s position as Rams quarterback.
“Yeah, that’s our quarterback,” McWay said during a zoom session with reporters, “right now.”
It was Saturday, with the Green Bay Packers losing on an immediate basis to a 32-18 divisional-round playoff ending in the Rams season.
On Sunday, during a final video conference with reporters before Seison broke down, McVeigh was asked to clarify his statement.
“Everything is being evaluated,” McWay said. “I’m not prepared to make any kind of statements about anyone – whether we start the situation or not, our level of competition will depend on what we do.”
McVeigh has emphasized roster competition during his four seasons as coach, but this is the first time quarterbacks have been explicitly included by the theme.
Goff has four seasons left on his $ 110 million guarantee deal, but on Sunday the MVQ will not guarantee Goff’s place on the roster going forward.
“We’re in a position where we’re in evaluation mode,” McVeigh said when asked if there was a scenario where Goff would not come on the 20s in 2021. “We’re moving forward, we’re looking forward, and I can’t answer any of those questions until I take a step back and evaluate everything that is in Rams’ best interests.”
The Rams offense performed inconsistently during season 10-6, and the frustration between McCoy and Goff became apparent as the season progressed. Goff, who passed with 3,962 yards and 20 touchdowns with 17 turnovers, publicly criticized McWay for the first time in his four seasons after a 12-week defeat against division rival San Francisco 49ers, when he lost 23-20.
“Our quarterback will take better care of the football of Lane,” McWay said after the game.
With the division title in the Week 16, the Seattle Seahawks suffered a 20-9 loss, Goff went through a disruption for 234 yards that he said was one of the worst plays of his five-year career, but he also got the credit. Complete the game after breaking his toe at the end of the third quarter.
Goff underwent surgery a day later, hoping to return to the playoffs on time.
Backup John Wolford, a former uncertified free agent, made his NFL debut early in Week 17 and helped the Rams win 18-7.
As the Rams prepared for a rematch against the Seahawks the following week in a wild-card playoff, Goff told McVeigh he was able to play, but McVeigh chose to name Wolford a starter earlier in the week because Goff continued to recover.
However, a neck injury forced Wolfford out in the first quarter against the Seahawks in the wild-card round, and Goff went for 155 yards and a touchdown, giving the Rams a 30-30 victory.
After the game, Goff said it was difficult when McWay told him earlier in the week that Wolford would start.
“As a rival, of course I wanted to be out there and I wanted to play and I felt I could make a difference,” Goff said. “He’s the coach, he had to decide he needed to take it early in the week to come out against some stuff. I got it. But as a rival, I wanted to play of course and I was ready to play.”
Wolfford ruled out a divisional round match against the Packers. Goff – less than three weeks away from thumb surgery – started and completed 21 of 27 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown.
“My job is to win the game,” Goff was asked after the game if he felt any sense of personal achievement from his performance. “Especially in the playoffs there’s no moral victory.”
“You really saw a guy who took the step. He did what he could, I thought he did some plays, thought he saw the field well,” McWay said after the game. “He did a good job today.”
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