#seanmcvay

During his tenure with the Los Angeles Rams as the team’s head coach, Sean McVay has had one constant that he could always count on being there: the presence of defensive tackle Aaron Donald.  That is no longer an option for McVay. Or the Rams. Donald and all of his offensive backfield wrecking ways retired in the offseason leaving a deficit in the Rams’ defensive line. “We were so fortunate and blessed to have such a special player in Aaron Donald be around,” McVay said after a team’s practice on Wednesday, Sept. 4. “What I thought was cool is he set a great example for guys that saw him play. I can use him as stories all the time. 

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay paces the sidelines during a 2024 preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 11, 2024, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Photo by Mark Hammond/News4usonline “He was around last week. I just saw him the other day. It's pretty special that he's earned the right to be able to be so content, complete, and full to use his words. He's coaching his son's football team, loving that,” he added.  Donald played 10 seasons in the NFL, all with the Rams. He was an eight-time All-Pro selection. He was named Defensive Player of the Year three times. And every season he played in the NFL, Donald was tapped as a Pro Bowl player.   Donald was more than just a mainstay for the defensive line of the Rams. He was the pulse of the defensive unit as well as being the heartbeat of the team.  Now that Donald is enjoying retirement, McVay has had to re-tool and revamp his defensive line with rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske and second-year players Kobie Turner and Byron Young being at the center of the overall. 

Aaron Donald (99) proved to be the anchor of the Los Angeles Rams during the 10 years he played in the NFL. Now that he has retired, the Rams will depend on multiple players to fill the void that Donald left behind. Photo by Mark Hammond/News4usonline When he was wreaking havoc on the football field, Donald became the center of attention for opponents' offensive schemes. He routinely squared off and handled double-teams like a fly-swatter easily flicking off annoying pests. Now, Donald’s bigger-than-life stature as the premier defensive player in the NFL has cast a large shadow over the Rams’ defensive line.  To move on to the team’s new chapter (life without Aaron Donald), McVay wants his young players and the defensive unit as a whole to go out and do their thing.    "I want them to play the way that they're capable of the way that they've played throughout the offseason, through training camp,” McVay remarked. “I want them to be able to play within themselves. Go enjoy it. I want them to have a great week of preparation so that they can go play with a quieted mind and cut it loose. I really love this group that we've been around.”  

During his tenure with the Los Angeles Rams as the team’s head coach, Sean McVay has had one constant that he could always count on being there: the presence of defensive tackle Aaron Donald.  That is no longer an option for McVay. Or the Rams. Donald and all of his offensive backfield wrecking ways retired in the offseason leaving a deficit in the Rams’ defensive line. “We were so fortunate and blessed to have such a special player in Aaron Donald be around,” McVay said after a team’s practice on Wednesday, Sept. 4. “What I thought was cool is he set a great example for guys that saw him play. I can use him as stories all the time. 

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay paces the sidelines during a 2024 preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 11, 2024, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Photo by Mark Hammond/News4usonline “He was around last week. I just saw him the other day. It's pretty special that he's earned the right to be able to be so content, complete, and full to use his words. He's coaching his son's football team, loving that,” he added.  Donald played 10 seasons in the NFL, all with the Rams. He was an eight-time All-Pro selection. He was named Defensive Player of the Year three times. And every season he played in the NFL, Donald was tapped as a Pro Bowl player.   Donald was more than just a mainstay for the defensive line of the Rams. He was the pulse of the defensive unit as well as being the heartbeat of the team.  Now that Donald is enjoying retirement, McVay has had to re-tool and revamp his defensive line with rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske and second-year players Kobie Turner and Byron Young being at the center of the overall. 

Aaron Donald (99) proved to be the anchor of the Los Angeles Rams during the 10 years he played in the NFL. Now that he has retired, the Rams will depend on multiple players to fill the void that Donald left behind. Photo by Mark Hammond/News4usonline When he was wreaking havoc on the football field, Donald became the center of attention for opponents' offensive schemes. He routinely squared off and handled double-teams like a fly-swatter easily flicking off annoying pests. Now, Donald’s bigger-than-life stature as the premier defensive player in the NFL has cast a large shadow over the Rams’ defensive line.  To move on to the team’s new chapter (life without Aaron Donald), McVay wants his young players and the defensive unit as a whole to go out and do their thing.    "I want them to play the way that they're capable of the way that they've played throughout the offseason, through training camp,” McVay remarked. “I want them to be able to play within themselves. Go enjoy it. I want them to have a great week of preparation so that they can go play with a quieted mind and cut it loose. I really love this group that we've been around.”  

Rams head coach Sean McVay said Wednesday that he regrets the way that his team treated quarterback Jared Goff before trading him to the Detroit Lions. 

THOUSAND OAKS, C (News4usonline) - One of the most difficult days to navigate as an NFL head coach is trimming the team’s roster to the league’s mandate of 53 players. It is a day that players dread but one that they all know is coming.   The preseason is behind the Los Angeles Rams. Now it’s on to defending their Super Bowl LVI title. The Rams open the season on Sept. 8 against the Buffalo Bills. The task for Rams head coach Sean McVay and his staff is to put together the best 53-man roster possible in order to do that.

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay confers with starting quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) during a 2022 training camp practice at UC Irvine. Photo by Mark Hammond for News4usonline In order to do that, McVay and his staff would have to go through their preseason roster to sift what players to keep and what players to waive. It’s not an easy process, said McVay, who admitted that the task of releasing and keeping players is difficult.   “Yeah, it is,” said McVay. “You always want it to be challenging. You never want it to get any easier because you want to make sure that the right empathy is demonstrated. But I think the best thing that I could say in a lot of instances, you got your 53, you got your 48, but then you've got 16 guys that are going to be on the practice squad that in my mind are still part of this team. I think there's this narrative if you just watch Hard Knocks that soon as the 53 is done then that's it.” McVay went on to say that not making the 53-player roster is not the end of the story for other hopefuls. “There's a lot of fluidity that goes on as you guys know as well as I do,” McVay added. “So there's going to be some tough decisions, but in my mind, a lot of these guys that are here with these 80 are going to be a part of our team as it relates to being on the practice squad. If a guy ends up…if we release him and he gets claimed by another team, you're nothing but happy for those guys. There's been a lot of good tape that players have put out there. They will make tough decisions for us, but I'm excited about really today kind of representing the first opportunity to trim our focus towards an excellent football team on the eighth and the sense of urgency has picked up a little.” The Rams are deep and loaded at some positions. This will make some decisions harder than others, said McVay. “Absolutely,” remarked McVay. “That's what we're getting ready to meet on as a coaching staff here and talk with (General Manager) Les (Snead), but that's the goal. These guys have made these decisions difficult for us. There are a lot of layers to it, but we never go into it where there's a finite number of certain positions. It's that 53, but then that 48 drastically shapes the latter part of the roster, if you will. There'll be some challenging, but the right types of discussions and then we'll let make those decisions tomorrow.” Going into training camp, making this Rams team was going to be slim pickings. When you’re the champions like the Rams, teams don’t usually like to mess around too much in tinkering with their roster. Even with the certain allotment of free agent defections, the Rams have just about all of the key ingredients from their Super Bowl LVI win against the Cincinnati Bengals intact. One of the deepest units on the team is at the wide receiver spot. And yet, this has been one of the most talked about areas of the team all through training camp and throughout the preseason with the emergence of undrafted Montana State rookie Lance McCutcheon, who has simply played as if he belongs on the roster.