LA Rams transcripts: Training camp press conference with Kevin Demoff, Les Snead and Sean McVay

(Opening Remarks)

Demoff: “Really good day for the organization as we open up training camp to be able to announce extensions for the two men to my right (Head Coach Sean McVay and General Manager Les Snead), who have done a fantastic job leading this franchise. The only thing I’ll say – and then it’s really opened up to them – I think what (Owner/Chairman E.) Stan (Kroenke) said in his quote about why these extensions happened is correct. It’s about the culture, the leadership, what they’ve built for this organization. The wins are fantastic, obviously. The two division titles and the success we’ve had the past few years, but that alone wouldn’t have merited such a commitment. I think it’s their partnership, how they relate to each other, how they relate to the players, the way that they lead this franchise in the Los Angeles community. For our future going into Hollywood Park, there couldn’t be anything more exciting than having the two of them to open that building for many years to come.”

McVay: “I think a lot of the same. It’s a blessing, but it’s also a reflection of a great collaboration of everybody’s work together. To be able to work for such a great family in the Kroenke family as our ownership group, and the really good gesture in terms of when you have a few years left (on a contract), to even acknowledge the fact that ‘Hey, we appreciate what’s been done over the last couple years and want to reward you and your staff accordingly’ is very humbling and flattering. But, to be able to work with these guys, with the organization, our players, our coaches, it’s certainly – you’re not going to work any harder – but it makes you want to work to make them right in the decision to place a lot of faith in us as a coaching staff. Certainly, we’re excited to roll our sleeves up and get to work.”

Snead: “Like Sean, definitely thank the Stan Kroenke family. When you partner with them you definitely feel like family. They basically put together an environment that enables all of us to thrive. It’s (General Manager) Kevin (Demoff) in that group as well. I think our extension represents continuity and I think the best payout, or the most useful dividend that continuity brings is ultimately we get to keep the right people – like Sean said – around and we were able to have them in the right places to let them go dominate their roles and help us continuously improve and that’s where we’re at today. With that, I think we should congratulate Sean on his engagement as well.”

McVay: “Thank you, Les. I appreciate that.”

Snead: “Ultimately, (McVay’s Fiancée) Veronika is an unbelievable human being, a great partner and I think all of this shows from a standpoint of partnership and collaboration that if you have a great partner at work and home, you’ve got a chance.”

Demoff: “I think we did tell Sean that there would be no extension until there was an engagement. (Laughs)”

(On his extension and the things McVay is looking for in camp going into this season)

McVay: “That’s a great point. I think the thing is that you feel humbled, you feel certainly blessed that this was even a conversation that we had. I thought Kevin and (McVay’s Agent) Bob (LaMonte) did a great job getting it figured out. I think we’re just excited to go to work. That’s the one thing, it’s never really been a distraction, you’re just excited to get to camp, see these players coming in and get to work tomorrow. But, I think the biggest thing for us is evaluating and producing in the present. We’ve said it over and over, but, control what we can control. That’s maximizing the day and trying to create our edge by the way that we plan, practice, prepare and it ultimately leads to good performances. To be able to have all our guys here and accounted for is exciting and we can’t wait to get on the grass tomorrow.”

(On what McVay’s focus is now that he has five more years with the Rams)

McVay: “I think the thing that was so good about you know when you get a chance to just sit down and interview with Kevin and Les and (Vice President, Football & Business Administration) Tony (Pastoors) was there was a shared vision and we said that that day and we’ve been able to see that play out over the last couple years. There’s certainly been some things that we can learn from. Really every day provides a learning opportunity for us, but I think it’s just doing things at a higher level. I think the last draft and really this last offseason has really been a breath of fresh air going into year three. You talk about the continuity that our coaching staff shares with Les and his staff, where you can be so specific when you got the right kind of guys in place and then you can have a vision for the types of players and people you want to onboard, it helps you be a little bit more strategic and how he and his group go about putting together the players we want to identify to bring in and help to try to improve from last season’s team. We got to earn it every single day. But, I think, with the players, with the coaches, with the people in our building, we certainly feel like if we keep attacking it the right way, then we’ll give ourselves a chance to improve.”

(On the plan for RB Todd Gurley II during training camp)

McVay: “The plan is (RB) Todd’s (Gurley II) going to be ready to go. We’ve got a specific plan in terms of monitoring his work load and really a lot of that will predicated on his feedback that he gives to us. But he’s feeling good. He’s going be on the field tomorrow and can’t wait to see Todd back out there with us”

(On a possible extension of QB Jared Goff’s contract)

Demoff: “Well, I think, I’ll let Sean and Les kind of address their feelings for Jared. I think we’ve said all along that this is something we’ve stayed in communication with him. I think everybody’s sense of awareness got heightened when (QB) Carson (Wentz) signed his deal in Philadelphia, which was the right deal for the Eagles and Carson at the right time. And, I think, we are looking to do the right deal for (QB) Jared (Goff) and The Rams at the right time. But I think for any of that I would differ to Sean and Les.”

McVay: “I think the biggest thing is that dialogue with these guys and (Jared Goff’s agent) Ryan Tollmer is constant and ongoing. We feel great about Jared as our leader. He is a huge priority to us and that’s something that we’re constantly going back and forth with those guys. As far as a timetable, I think when you hear Jared’s comments it just makes you want to continue to work with him that much more because of the way that he’s handled this with class. And that’s really what he’s demonstrated as a leader since he’s been with this organization. We hope to figure something out that makes him stuck with us like we’ve talked about. But he’s in a great place. Watching him continue to grow and we feel really good about Jared Goff as our quarterback. We’ll see when that happens.”

Snead: “Not a matter of if, it’s just when, so we’ll continue working. But, I second what Sean said. It’s awesome that all of us here, especially Jared right, once you get to this point you know that there’s a 2019 journey and climb that is the focal point or the big rock, the main thing, that we’re all concerned about and some of the personal individual parts, the me’s of the we, that’s secondary. But not a matter of if, just when.”

(On WR Cooper Kupp’s expected participation in training camp)

McVay: “He’s going to be ready to go, similar to Todd, but a little bit different. We’ve got kind of basically a volume that we have targeted for each day of practice. (Senior Director of Sports Medicine and Performance) Reggie (Scott) and (Director of Strength Training and Performance) Ted (Rath) and those guys have done an excellent job building out a plan that’s conducive for building up to that Carolina game. But, he’s been cleared. He can partake in really all the activities. We’ll monitor him and kind of pick and choose which periods that he’ll end up being a full participant in. But he’s excited, he’s ready to go, and he looks great.”

(On any clarification on what Rath’s role is with the team moving forward)

McVay: “He finished up that investigation. He’s back with the team, back to his role. We’re glad to have him back. I think it was certainly a good learning experience for all of us and for Ted especially. I think it gives you that much better perspective and appreciation for the blessing that we have to be able to do this for a living and be in these types of environments and atmospheres.”

(On what McVay is looking forward to most about training camp and what he would say to the fans)

McVay: “I think the thing we’re most excited about is just getting back out on the field with our players. Seeing these guys around gives you an energy and an enthusiasm and you remember why you love coaching so much, but just helping these guys improve and really kind of figuring out the identity of our team and what that’s really about is the ownership that our players take. We’ll continue to figure that out one day at a time, but I think with the core group of leaders that we have, some of the young players that we’ve brought in, feel really good about the direction knowing that we’ve got to earn it every day. I think the fans can be excited about seeing guys come out, compete, get better every single day and we’ll have a couple opportunities to do that. We’ll go to the (Los Angeles) Chargers once, they’ll come here, but we’ve got a great opportunity to get some good work in, in front some great fans at UC Irvine.”

(On McVay’s concerns with the problems that could come with changing the training camp routine)

McVay: “I don’t think so. I think you’ve always got to be ready to navigate through the inevitable problems that will arise, whether it be a change of scenery or what have you. I think being able to do it in a hotel, you know, being able to have camp in a hotel in terms of where we’re kind of mainly located will be more convenient and more efficient in terms of the meetings, the way that we get from place to place. Now, obviously that presents a little bit of a challenge with getting to the walks-thrus, to and from there and UC Irvine, but then the fields. So far its been great, I think we’ve gotten a lot of good, positive feedback. Every year presents new challenges and I think we’re just excited to take them on and make sure that we’re learning every day.”

(On the importance of training camp for developing players)

McVay: “It is vital and I think really in a lot of ways we were able to kind of get a jump start based on the way that we approached some of the things in the offseason, where you get some of those younger guys more reps than they typically would be accustomed to in those settings in the offseason. Really our focus and concentration is certainly on developing all of our players, but we’re also getting ready to play the Carolina Panthers and you don’t have too much time and you cant afford to waste any day. There’s going to be a lot of focus on developing every player but those guys are really going to get a little bit, probably more limited opportunities to compete now. Certainly, you guys know we’ll probably take a very similar approach in the preseason, but we’ve still got some time until we have to figure those things out. That’ll provide an opportunity for those guys to compete and then we’ll have some different things at the end of practice that enables some of our coaches to get with those younger players that might not have gotten the reps that you’d want them to get otherwise. This is focused on getting better every day, really trying to finalize and find our best 53 players and ultimately 46 (-man gameday roster) that are going to hopefully go help us compete to the best of our ability at Carolina.”

(On whether the veterans have more work in training camp and scrimmages with this year’s approach to preseason games)

McVay: “Yeah, it does, and I think in an ideal situation, that’s where you feel good about getting two practices against the Chargers, two practices against the (Oakland) Raiders. We’ve definitely been accustomed to having some inner-squad scrimmages as well. I think you can try to create some competitive atmospheres and environments where you’re at least limiting the risk and exposure to injuries. You can’t be afraid of it, but I think if we feel like we’re getting enough good work, that’s something that most importantly our players will feel comfortable that they’ve gotten the work to feel as crisp as possible by the time Carolina rolls around.”

(On how McVay will approach DT Aaron Donald at this year’s training camp)

McVay: “Depends on how much he’s wrecking practice (laughs). If he’s really, you know, upsetting me by winning a lot, then he’ll be standing next to me a lot. No, but we do have a plan for him that’s going to be a daily thing that we monitor, but there’s certain guys, whether it be the veteran players or players like (DT) Aaron (Donald) that do have a similar practice format, but certain guys, you know, that’s where our sports science group with Reggie and those guys do such an excellent job of outlining a plan that we feel like is geared towards them peaking against Carolina. So, you know, Aaron, that was part of why Les and I got extended, if we could get him to show up to camp then they said they would extend us so, that’s a good thing for us (laughs).”

(On what McVay’s pitfalls are this year to have an even more successful season this year)

McVay: “I think the biggest thing is everybody appreciates and understands that it’s a new year. We can build on a lot of the things that can give you confidence going into this season and what we’ve been able to do over the last couple of years developing a foundation, but our players know you earn it every day in this league. There’s 32 teams in this league that feel really good, everybody’s undefeated right now. All we can do is learn from last year, but we’ve got to produce right now and that’s what our players mindset and mentality is. I think there’s a confidence that this group has, but that confidence is earned by the way they approach every single day and this year will be no different.”