Sean McVay Says 1 Narrative With Jared Goff Is Unfair
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 20: Head coach Sean McVay speaks with Jared Goff #16 of the Los Angeles Rams during the first quarter of a game against the New York Jets at SoFi Stadium on December 20, 2020 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
It seems like just yesterday the Los Angeles Rams were crowning Jared Goff as the franchise's next great quarterback.
Leading the team to a Super Bowl appearance during in 2018, Goff wowed the Rams' front office with his emerging QB talent. In 2019, the former Cal standout was rewarded for his NFL success with a massive contract extension that had him staying in Los Angeles through 2024.
But, what was once a match made in heaven quickly deteriorated over the next two seasons. After some lackluster play in 2020, the Rams decided to include Goff in a blockbuster trade with the Detroit Lions for veteran QB Matthew Stafford this offseason.
Goff took the brunt of the blame for LA's offensive struggles in 2020. In a press conference on Thursday, head coach Sean McVay took his end of the responsibility.
“I think the unfair narrative has been that some of our decrease in production is exclusively on the quarterback,” McVay said. “That’s not true at all. I think certainly, I have a big hand in that. I have to be able to look myself in the mirror and acknowledge and be able to evolve, improve, and take ownership in that.
“I’m not going to run away from the blame that’s deserved on my end. But what I do think is important that the narrative [that] becomes, ‘Oh, this is the outlet for why the offense wasn’t what it was’ — that’s unfair to Jared. And I think it’s disrespectful to what he’s done over the last four years.”
In 2020, Goff threw for 3,952 yards, 20 touchdowns (lowest total since rookie season) and 13 interceptions. The struggling Rams offensive unit never scored more than 40 points in a single game.
McVay attributed his quarterback's struggles to the unfair expectations placed on him so early in his career.
“You know, I don’t know that really a lot changed,” McVay said. “I mean, there’s just so many things that have taken place since then. I think what I would say that I’ve learned over the last handful of years is, things change by the day and you probably want to be careful making blanket statements when you can’t predict the future.”
Goff will take over as starting QB for the new-look Lions team in 2021.
