Rams Talk COVID Then Seahawks Game Plan

(On what the last three days have been like)...“I’ll tell you what. It’s been challenging, but I couldn’t be prouder of just the way that our players, our staff, the people that are kind of at the frontline of helping facilitate – trying to get this as organized as possible. Been really pleased with that. And you’re trying to learn as much as you can with this new variant and how volatile it’s been. So, incredibly emotional week. You have a great win on Monday. Then Tuesday morning, you wake up, you find out there’s a handful of players that tested positive. So, then you really go into, okay, what’s the next step in terms of trying to prevent this spread, getting the appropriate information delivered to our players. And really, it’s been a whirlwind for the last couple days, as we’ve kind of tried to figure out where you know the numbers are only just going to continue to compound. We had meetings with our players a couple days ago on Zoom, and we’ve kind of started to incrementally put the game plan in.

It did become apparent, and I really, I think – I want to start by saying how appreciative I am of just the league’s ability to work in coordination with us as well as the PA to try to really come to a situation and a solve that enables us to be able to play the game and have the appropriate amount of bodies available from a safety and health perspective. And then what I’ve also been educated on is, based on this Omicron variant and how quickly that half-life is – some of the symptoms are much less significant. People are turning over faster and being able to move this game back to Tuesday, which we already saw from some players we were able to get off the COVID list is going to enable us to be able to play the game where you’re not having to have guys take double duty in some positions where you might need four players and you only have three, and so that was a big deal. And that was something that we’re very appreciative of because, in our players’ defense and all the people that have been caught up in this, these are all vaccinated individuals that are following the parameters and everything that we ask. I think you just realize how easily this thing can be spread based on what’s occurred with our team and then some of those others that we’re seeing as well where this variant is prevalent.”

(On if they have figured out the pattern of how and where the new variant is spread)… “I think you could have a couple ideas, but really it’s so difficult because when you play a game and – I think the challenging thing is there is so much cross contact exposure – whether you’re talking about the locker room, playing a game, just some of that interaction that takes place with what we do. And you’re having some delayed positives from guys that they might have been feeling something a couple days ago, but they’re still testing. They’re coming back negative, so you’re thinking, alright, maybe it’s a common cold, it’s flu season. And then two days later, a couple of these guys are popping. And so, we try to kind of go down that road, but it’s kind of a never-ending journey that you’re trying to go on to figure that out, so, it’s hard to really discover where this thing first started.”

(On if there will be multiple game plans depending on who is able to play on Tuesday)…“The difference between last week and this scenario is at least you’re saying, okay, yesterday, this is the roster that we anticipate having available. Here’s the guys. Here’s some of the contingency plans. And then based on the ways that guys can test out, you do monitor the numbers as far as their CT levels, or if a guy has a negative and then you wait for some of the lab reports. And so, what I’ve learned over the last couple days is, let’s have a plan for the guys that we know we have available for sure, and then let’s also look at, alright, based on some of the projections, these are guys that if they keep trending in the right direction, they’re likely to be able to return to us and be available for Tuesday at four o’clock. And so, it’s a combination of both as opposed to, On Sunday, you find out three significant pieces are out once you’ve finished up the preparation. And then Monday morning before I’m getting ready to address the team before we have a team meal in about an hour to go over to Arizona’s Stadium, you tell me (CB) Jalen Ramsey and (TE) Tyler Higbee are out. So, that was a little bit different challenge. Both of which are challenging, but again, our guys have handled it really well. We’re not going to make any excuses and we’re going to do the best we can to compete to the best of our ability, get ready to go. I couldn’t be more pleased and proud of the way that these guys have handled a very uncertain last couple days. And we just finished up doing some stuff with them in person and just makes you very grateful for these guys.”

(On what it was like being in the tent again)… “We’ll be in the tent. We still did Zoom meetings today, and then we did just kind of a jog through on the field. But I’m sitting here – (Vice President, Football and Business Administration) Tony Pastoors, and (Director, Football Operations) Sophie (Harlan), and a lot of these very important people are going to get that thing going. And I’m going to have to probably park at Cal Lu (California Lutheran University) again like I did all last year, but I’ll take it any day.”

(On if he is able to confirm that he is negative) …“Here’s what I would say. You’re in the right direction, but in all seriousness though, out of just respect for the other people, I do want to wait until Monday to deliver that information as it pertains to our coaching staff.”

(On what’s in been like working with QB Matthew Stafford during this time and if he’s been steady) …“He has. He’s been steady. He’s remained very neutral and he’s got just such a great way about him. Never gets too high, never gets too low. Couldn’t have been more impressed with what we really did was just kind of combined a couple day’s worth of work in terms of what we just did in that practice setting and how quickly he handled it, where he’s an extension of the coaching staff. And then, really the one benefit that we do have to be able to navigate through this in a little bit more seamless way, is that you are so much more familiar with how to use some of the technology to communicate remotely. Whether it be via Zoom and we can watch film. So, you can get a lot of stuff. And he’s got such great focus and concentration where he can maintain a certain level for an extended period of time. The hardest thing is, is on Zoom, it’s hard enough to keep guys attention for elongated periods of time. That takes real mental stamina, and I think that’s one of (QB) Matthew’s (Stafford) great traits. He can really sit there and stay locked in, stay engaged, ask good questions. And so, he’s a pro’s pro. Feel very fortunate that as you’re working through this, you’re doing it with a veteran quarterback leading the way like a Matthew Stafford with his demeanor, his disposition, and all the things that you guys know I love so much about him.”…

(On the level of severity of DL Aaron Donald’s knee injury)… “He’s feeling good. I was just talking to (Director, Sports Science) Tyler Williams on my way over here and he said that (DL) Aaron (Donald) is feeling good. A little bit harder to evaluate just based on the tempo that we had today, but I feel confident that he’s going to be okay. It’s kind of more semantics than anything else is my understanding there.”

(On what tomorrow looks like in terms of practice and if the team will do something different the day before the game)… “I think that’s something that we’re exploring, so it it’ll be very similar. What we were able to do, the challenge is you’re used to having a lot of numbers where you can kind of have a one spot where you’ve got you’re starting offense or starting defense, and then you have a service team. We don’t have enough guys available. We had coaches, staff jumping on the look teams today to be able to two-spot and to be able to get things done in an efficient manner. So, good thing we got a lot of athletes on our coaching staff and our staff to be able to jump in and give some good looks, but it’s more individually driven. You forget too, these guys haven’t really done anything physically since Monday night. And so, here it is already, this is the first time we’ve gotten together. You could feel the guys we’re kind of really just being able to work out some kinks. But I anticipate tomorrow being very similar in terms of morning Zoom meetings, afternoon kind of practice/jog through if you will. And then on Monday, really kind of figuring that out, but I would imagine that we’ll have some meetings and a jog through where you’re kind of approaching it like a modified short week/what you do on a Thursday game just based on us starting our preparation in person this late in the week based on everything we’ve gone through.”

(On how effective Seahawks QB Russell Wilson and that offense is at this stage of the season)…“They played really good football these last two weeks. I have just a tremendous amount of respect for (Seahawks QB) Russell Wilson and how he is mentally wired. They had a little bit of adversity, but he just kept believing. They had a great game and made enough plays to be able to win against the San Francisco team that has really been hot over the last month of the season. And then they did a great job playing good efficient ball against Houston last week. So, you know what they’re capable of. Russell Wilson has been doing it at such a high level for such a long period of time. He’s such a great competitor. So, I don’t really care what’s going on, I just know he’s a great player and he’s going to be ready to go on Tuesday. He has got great players around him. We’ll see if they get a couple of their guys back that are on COVID-IR. But anytime that Russell Wilson is behind the center, they’re going to be a really tough outfit to defend and they certainly have great play makers. And I think (Seahawks Offensive Coordinator) Shane (Waldron) does a nice job being able to put them in good spots.”

(On what the plan is if he were to not be available to coach the game)…“Well, the plan would be, you really lean on your coordinators, your leaders, (Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs Coach) Thomas Brown being the Assistant Head Coach, (Defensive Coordinator) Raheem (Morris), (Special Teams Coordinator) Joe DeCamillas, (Offensive Coordinator) Kevin O’Connell, those guys would certainly (lead). They’re already great leaders and very important. But they would be asserted into even more of a leadership role with some of the roles and responsibilities that I have. But, we’ve kind of got all those contingency plans in place. I thought we were past this, but you say, ‘Hey, what did we do last year? What did we have in alignment? Okay. Let’s dust that thing off.’ And we talk about that. But I think the best part about what we’ve got going is that everybody has a role in responsibility, but then we have other people in similar departments or coaches that are certainly ready for that next step up, if that’s what they’re asked and required. No different than players being asked to step up like what we saw on Monday. So that would kind of be what that looks like. As far as exactly who’s responsible for what, we’ve kind of talked about that, but that would be something that we would be able to handle and be ready for on Tuesday.”

(On how he would describe circumstances the last three days as he previously labeled the situation as “mind numbing”)…
“That was a mild expression considering what we’ve gone through now. Whatever’s worse than mind numbing (laughter). I don’t know. You know what though, it has almost been hard to believe, but as you really just kind of take a step and the first thing that you do realize before anything else that gives you perspective is this affects a lot of people in a lot of different ways. When you talk to our players and stuff like that, we have been very fortunate that none of these symptoms have seemed like they’ve been really extreme for guys. They’re mild. They’re not feeling great, but the first can concern for most of these guys, which is why you love them and care about them and know they’re such great people, it’s not really them. It’s their family. It’s their kids. It’s how are the loved ones affected? And that’s where even for me, sometimes you forget about that. You’re just, ‘Okay, let’s get ready for the Seahawks game.’ It’s like, ‘Hold on a second. Let’s take a deep breath. Let’s take a step back. Let’s care about these people that are affected by it because it hits everybody in different ways. And that’s been the first thing that I couldn’t be more proud of just the way people have handled it, (Vice President of Sports Medicine and Performance) Reggie Scott’s leadership and guidance, (Analyst in Football Administration) Kassandra Garcia, there’s just so many people that I can name that have done such a wonderful job of helping us work through a situation that I don’t think any of us anticipated. It does look like we’re going in the positive direction now. You’re starting to see some of these test results. We had a significantly less number of positives yesterday. Guys are not feeling symptomatic. We know those testing procedures have changed. We’re getting some guys that are going to be testing out that are feeling better. So the first thing has been about the player’s safety and health and their families and the consideration for that. Then you say, ‘Man, we are very fortunate that the game was moved back a couple days.’ So, now you can start to say, ‘Alright, let’s first make sure everybody’s good. And then we can start to pivot and shift our focus to giving ourselves the best opportunity compete and try to go get our 10th win on Tuesday.”

(On who would play right tackle if none of the current depth charted players for that position are available to play)…“You got a couple guys, when you’re just really looking at it. Getting (OL Alaric) AJ Jackson back, both of our guards, (OL Austin) Corbett and (OL) David Edwards have started at the tackle position. They both played on the left and the right side. (OL) Coleman Shelton can swing inside. So we’ve got some options, but there is a chance that a couple of those guys (on COVID-IR currently) test back out and we have them available. But fortunately what you’re saying is, I think our job as coaches is to figure out with the guys we have available, what’s the best five and getting them in the right spots. Some of those starting guards do have tackle flexibility as well for us where they could potentially do that.”

(On if he has any hunch why this is affecting his team more than others)…“I’m certainly not an expert in that arena. What I do believe is that our players have followed everything that we’ve asked. They all got vaccinated. I have total trust and confidence that they’re smart with the decisions that they’re making and in a lot of instances too, when you think you’re vaccinated (you think), ‘Okay, I can go have a nice meal at a restaurant with a family member.’ But I think in large part, my understanding is it’s kind of a circumstance of the location that we’re at. Where it started, I don’t know that, but I do know how volatile this thing is where it can spread like wildfire and it can go really fast. But I don’t believe it was because of any reckless decisions or behavior that our players were taking part in. And that goes for staff too, because it’s not exclusive to players with people that have been affected by this. I think you’re seeing that with some of these other teams. And I think it’s more of a reflection of the area. I hope that I’m wrong, but it doesn’t seem like those other teams are going to be extinct from having to go through this. Just based on what I’m learning about this variant and how volatile it is. So to answer your original question though, I don’t think it was anything that they could have done to change this. I think it was more of a victim of kind of the area that we live in and maybe one guy exposed and then it spreads very quickly as a result of that.”

(On if it seems like anything is certain given the TE Tyler Higbee COVID situation throughout the week)…“No (laughter). There’s no question. Even when you’re getting the test results back, the trajectory of that, you can ride an emotional roller coaster. ‘Okay. Here’s the first test. Oh no, it’s a false positive. Oh no, it’s a real positive. Oh, we’ll wait for the lab,’ so there’s a lot of different things that you go through. But if there’s one thing that we’ve got to have more so than ever, it’s support for the people that are affected by this and then being ready to pivot if that’s necessary. And (TE Tyler) Higbee is a great example. You talk about a guy that wants to play and be a part of this more than anybody. And as a result of some semantics, he wasn’t able to play when it was a false positive on Monday. And then now, it ends up being that he has a confirmed positive a couple days later. So (it) certainly is crazy.”

(On people finding his burner Twitter account eventually)…“Yeah, I don’t have that (laughter).”

(On if he’s seen the new protocol that will be in place moving forward after this week of games and if so, what’s his reaction to it)…“My reaction is, I have seen them, they might have even updated them since I’ve been out at the practice. But my thing is this, everything is geared towards helping us finish the season, but first and foremost, players health and safety. I think the league and the PA (players’ association) have done a great job working in coordination to get that thing figured out where you can check the boxes on both of those things. And that’s what I think the new protocols are reflective of.”

(On his reaction to opposing teams that are affected by the postponement of games and their frustration of having to deal with a short week right after that)…“Absolutely. I think the first thing I would say is, I understand from their perspective where there would be frustration. On the flip side, what I would hope for from their approach is that there’s an empathetic understanding that this wasn’t because of reckless behavior. All of these guys were vaccinated, trying to do whatever they could with what the league and what we had asked to try to not allow COVID to be something that affects our ability to play the games on the schedule that was set. This was something that I don’t know whether it could have been prevented or not. But I do, in my heart of hearts, truly believe that our players weren’t making reckless decisions and things weren’t done with any sort of malicious intent or reckless intent. And so for that, I’m grateful that the league and the PA figured out a solution to make it better for our us. Do I understand why Seattle or some of these other teams that were ready to go would be frustrated? Absolutely. Nobody wants to have to play on a shorter week, but I do think one of the greatest things about the NFL is it’s based on equity, trying to create a fair playing field, great competition. And this enables us to be able to have that based on the circumstances and the situation we were dealing with. And so, (I’m) definitely understanding of their frustration, but very appreciative that there was a willingness to try to accommodate us and play this game on Tuesday where it looks like we will get some people back. I think that was the biggest thing is, there’s health and safety concerns with the number of players. And then just the amount of that were affected for us to have even been able to field the team on Sunday. Is that Seattle’s problem? Absolutely not. But as a result of, ‘Hey, we ended up being able to move that back.’ What we’ve learned about this variant is it does look like we’re going get some more players back and ultimately the intent was, have more players available to try to have that equity and that fair playing field based on something that all of us are learning about on the fly as it relates to COVID.”

[QB Matthew Stafford]

(On what the first day of practice has been like and what the last few days have been like trying to prepare for the game)…“It’s been a little bit different. There’s no question about that. Just trying to do everything we can to figure out who we’re going to have available, who we’re not going to have available, when we’re going to play, all those kinds of things. Kind of feel set in stone obviously about when we’re going to play now, which we feel good about. Kind of gives us an end date for our preparation. I believe that the personnel side of it will probably be fluid all the way up until game day, based on the new protocols. But we got a really strong group of guys, a strong group of leaders. We’re just putting the work in where we can. Obviously, that’s Zoom meetings at the moment. (We were) able to get on the field and run around a little bit today with some guys, which is good to get back and just get back into the flow of doing football activities. But we’re taking it one day at a time and trying to be as prepared as we possibly can come Tuesday.”

(On how difficult it is having to go from working with the same guys and knowing who is out there to now not really knowing)…“I mean it’s difficult. Luckily for us on the offensive side of the ball, we’ve got a decent amount of guys that have played some football for us that are going to be available and maybe we get some more back. I don’t know. I know defensively, we probably had a few more guys on the list than we did on offense. So, for us on offense, it’s been pretty normal as far as personnel who’s out there, obviously not a normal week when it comes to all the stuff, but I feel good about where we are and where we’re going.”

(On if all that is going on makes him more observant and more focused on who will be on the field with him or if he tries to look at it differently)…“I think at the moment, (I’m) just trying to look at scheme and all those kinds of things and like I said, just kind of figure out personnel as it becomes available or unavailable. It’s a fluid situation. It was a little bit fluid, frankly, going into last week as well – knowing that we had some game day tests. We might have some issues with some guys. We ended up having a couple issues with some guys and had to adjust on the fly there. So, I feel like last week was a little bit of a precursor as far as what we may have to do throughout the week to be available and be ready to go – this on a larger scale this week probably.”

(On what it is about Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll’s team that makes his defense tough no matter who he has on the field)…“They’re really well coached. They’re assignment sound and they’ve got playmakers – both on the defensive side of the ball and on the offensive side of the ball. (Seahawks QB) Russell’s (Wilson) done a heck of a job coming back from his injury with his finger and started to really play some high-quality football as of late, making big plays like he always has. And then on the defensive side, they’re still affecting the quarterback, doing a good job against the run, and guys on the back end making plays on the football. So, it’s about us going out there and executing our game, playing, and playing well within ourselves at home, and trying to get a win.”

(On if he has been going through gameplans and offensive meetings virtually and what the last 3 days have looked like for him)…“A little bit like that. Trying to go through and get together as much as we can. But at the same time with who you’re going to have available, the fluidity of that game plan has changed, I guess, or the concepts and some of the stuff that we were thinking about running maybe early in the week are a little bit different now. But it was good to get on the grass today and run around.”

(On if the possibility of potentially testing positive crosses his mind)…“I think just given the recent events, yes. I mean, I think that’s part of it. Can’t be a human being and not be thinking about that at the moment, considering how many guys on our team have been affected by it already. Really biggest thing is (I) just want those guys to be feeling as good as they possibly can. (I) hope those guys are doing as good as they can at the moment. (I) want those guys to get back as fast as possible and as fast as they feel right and healthy to do. And then we’ll go play the games and go from there.”

(On what has been the biggest emotional challenge coming off a big win and now having to manage the new COVID changes)…“I think just change in the day to day – that’s the biggest thing is what we were used to doing after we played a game – whether we won or lost – was come in, meet together, have lunch together, talk it out, figure it out what we did well, what we didn’t do well. And that obviously changed pretty rapidly. I got to give (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) a bunch of credit. He’s been really transparent with us as a team – what’s going on, he’s our next move. He’s had a great plan all week – both from a schematic standpoint, but also from a logistics standpoint, which is tough to navigate. So, we just kind of take our orders from him and kind of go from there. And he’s done a great job of laying out a plan for us. Guys are dialed in. (I) felt we had a great kind of a jog through – half fast, half jog through practice today and just looking forward to getting back out there and playing ball and feel normal.”

(On if a COVID outbreak such as this one and around the league stops him in his tracks)…“It wasn’t something that I think anybody could see coming, including the NFL. We had to kind of make the appropriate adjustments on the fly and that’s tough to do. But I don’t think it was anything that we saw coming. I don’t think the players, or the coaches, or the league probably saw this one coming at such a mass scale, I would say. But I think they did the right thing. We’ll move forward and, hopefully, can do a better job of just having things ready to go for when things happen and play the games.”

(On how many variations of a game plan have they been through thus far and how many iterations does he think they will see before it’s finalized)…“A few. I would imagine that, like you said. As players, we are expecting this thing to hopefully stay the same, but it might change – both for the positive and the negative. We don’t really know which way that’s going to go. We could have guys test out and come back. And now a bunch of stuff that we thought we had earlier in the week or we’re thinking about doing comes back to us. Or maybe it goes the other way. We don’t know, so we just got to be able to adjust and adapt. We were able to do that last Monday, really, on the day of the game and (we’re) still be able to make some things happen. So hopefully, we don’t have to do too much adjusting. If we do, it’s on the positive end of it. We’ll see.”

(On if there is a safety concern around guys coming in “cold” off the practice squad or guys who have been in a waiting-and-holding pattern who haven’t practiced)…“I think really, to be honest with you, today was the first time a lot of guys had probably done football movements. You can work out at your house or do whatever, but (no one has participated in) football movements since Monday. That’s kind of a decent break for us as well. I thought our guys did a great job of kind of letting us build up into practice, get guys moving around again. We’ll do a little bit of that again tomorrow I would imagine, try to get as much full speed as we deem appropriate. But at the same time, have everybody’s safety involved. I think that’s a part of it. The following week’s going to be another short week for us late into the season, but that’s just the way it is. We’re used to adapting – whatever the situation needs to be. Injuries come up in season and guys that haven’t played a lot are now (are being) asked to play the whole game. I think about (OL) Coleman (Shelton) and (OL) Brian (Allen) a couple of weeks ago. Coleman hadn’t played a whole lot and then all of a sudden Brian goes down, Coleman plays a whole game. That’s a big ask for him. But he steps up and does it. So, I’ve got a lot of confidence in the guys on our team and our training staff. We do a great job of keeping guys ready to go. But (I have) a lot of confidence in the guys on our team to ask, to complete whatever task is, really, put in front of them.”

(On what he does differently given the uncertain nature of what personnel he might be working with on Tuesday)…“No. My communication with those guys is pretty constant. Whether it’s in the meeting rooms or on the practice field, we’re always talking to maybe a different guy in a different spot. We’ve got guys that are smart enough to move positions and move around if we need to. I think our guys up front do a great job of communicating as well. And that’s what it boils down to, if I can communicate to a guy in a huddle what he’s got on certain play. I feel really comfortable about going out there and executing with all of our guys. We got talented players and they know where to be in the right time, in the right spot. It’s on me to just go out there and throw a good pass to him, hand it off to him, get us in the right protection, whatever it is, it all comes down to communication which is something we stress around here and try to do at a really high level.”

(On being in the NFL for a long time, has he ever seen anything like this)…“No. It’s crazy. It was interesting today just to show up to practice and half the guys you are used to seeing just aren’t here. That’s just a different feeling. But once the ball’s put down and it’s time to go practice and play. I feel like we do a great job of eliminating all the distractions and going out there and practicing and playing. I thought we got a lot of really good work in today. Hopefully, we’ll continue to do that throughout the week and hopefully get some guys back – that would be a huge plus.”

(On if he’s concerned who’s going to play right tackle given that OL Rob Havenstein, OL Bobby Evans and OL Joe Noteboom are on the Reserve/COVID-19 list)…“As long as I don’t have to play, I think we’ll be good (laughter). No, I got a lot of trust and belief in those guys. Who knows, we might get some of those guys back. Listen, we’ve got enough guys to go out there and play. We’ll do a great job. I’m excited for those guys that are going to be getting opportunities. And if they don’t, maybe we get one or two of those guys back and it goes back to status quo, and we play ball from there. At this point in week, (we’re) just trying dial in the game plan and make sure that we go out there and attack.”

(On when he realized things were getting “weird” with the COVID-19 situation)…“I don’t know, probably Tuesday as well. Monday, when we had the couple positives on game day, (I) kind of (thought) that was strange. And then, I feel like Tuesday was the day maybe we had the most guys added to the list. I’m not sure on the number or if that’s right or not, but (it) seemed like a big number on Tuesday. That was kind of immediately uncertainty in the air from our perspective, especially because we were kind of at that point, working on the protocols kind of from last year/the ones that they had set forth at the beginning of this year, as far as return to play goes. So, those numbers were going to be really slim on those because it was going to be a full 10 days or whatever those protocols were. Guys were (going to be) out a little bit longer. The uncertainty kind of happened then. And then, (it’s) just been fluid ever since, trying to figure out what the best way to go about it is.”