What are the Los Angeles Rams players and coaches saying ahead of Sunday's matchup with the Lions in LA? Let's find out:
1. With quarterback Jared Goff heading back to Los Angeles this week to play his former team, Rams head coach Sean McVay expressed regret about how the trade that sent Goff and draft picks to Detroit for Matthew Stafford went down.
"Yes, I wish there was better, clearer communication," McVay told ESPN Monday. "To say that it was perfectly handled on my end, I wouldn't be totally accurate in that. I'll never claim to be perfect, but I will try to learn from some things that I can do better, and I think that was one of them without a doubt."
McVay said the trade came together much faster than anyone expected. He also said he expects Goff to be well received by the LA faithful after spending his first five seasons with the Rams and winning a lot of football games there.
2. As for Stafford, he said he's treating this week like any other game. He acknowledged the long history with Detroit after Sunday's win over the Giants, and said there were old teammates, friends and members of the Ford family he planned to say hi to before the game, but he said it's just another football game to him as soon as the ball is snapped.
3. Asked about Detroit's 0-6 record, McVay said Sunday's loss against Cincinnati got away from Detroit, but he said the record as a whole isn't reflective of the caliber of opponent the Lions are this week.
McVay said the Ravens are playing as well as anyone in the league right now and if not for a couple crazy plays at the end of that game, Detroit wins that contest. McVay said Minnesota is one of the better 3-3 teams he's seen, and he acknowledged Detroit was a play away from winning that game too.
4. Offensive lineman Rob Havenstein echoed his coach's sentiment on facing the winless Lions this week. He said there is no way the Rams will look past them.
"This is the NFL. They've damn near won every game they've been in," Haverstein said. "They've had some bad breaks. Even if we were playing a team that had gotten blown out the whole time, it's still never time to let your guard down. I know you can't look past anyone.
"You turn on the film and they play really hard and that's something we're going to have to contend with."
5. Havenstein was also very complimentary of Detroit's defensive front. He knows former teammate and current Lions defensive end Michael Brockers very well, as they battled in training camp and practice for six years. He said Brockers knows the Rams offensive linemen well too. Havenstein said Detroit's defensive front has great players who make plays, and he thinks they'll present a particularly tough challenge for the Rams o-line this week.
