HEAD COACH SEAN McVAY
A good team win. It seems like every single week you face adversity, and you have to be able to respond. I thought Matthew Stafford was excellent. They made a great play at the end of the half where we turned it over and then he was in total command in the second half. Davante (Adams) and Puka (Nacua) both made their plays. Thought we got the running game going as the game went on and I thought our defense was outstanding. I thought the turning point in the game was the forced fumble by Byron Young, Landman gets on it and then we're able to open the gates up. Some great learning ops as far as being able to finish drives in the red zone. Cam Ward, he's a fun guy to watch. What a play that he made throwing it back across the grain. But overall, I was pleased with the way we finished that game. I thought we had really great command in the second half. That's a really a tough football team. They go wire-to-wire, great game with Denver, who was a really good football team last week. They present a lot of issues defensively. Cam does some great stuff off schedule. You see the way that (Tony) Pollard can run when he gets behind his pads, and he's obviously dynamic and explosive. Really pleased to be able to get the win. I thought a lot of guys contributed. That's where you can see the depth of our football team. We'll enjoy this. It will make for a fun flight home. And what a great challenge we have against Philly next week.
Is the kind of impact you hope for when you brough in Davante Adams?
Yeah, I think so. I think there's going to be some cool learning ops for us as well. We had a couple things in the red zone where we want to be able to connect. But he had a bunch of good catch and runs. Makes another unbelievable catch on an end break when we're in a second down situation. Thought the touchdown was big. We had him on a little double move in the fringe. Good late hands. I thought he was excellent today. I believe he went over 100, got his TD. And Puka (Nacua), what a stud. He's so critical in crunch time situations, whether it's the fourth-and-one with a 45-yard touchdown run. Well blocked play, he ends up breaking the tackle, the safety. And then in the drive that we felt the game kind of opened up, two plays in a row to start, to lead to explosives, it was good. And then I was pleased with our team overall. But the answer is yes, Adam.
Jared Verse was taken off the field for a medical but he came back in. What happened there?
They just saw the way that he got up. That was buzzed down. That wasn't from anybody they were just being smart. He was just a little bit on the ground a little bit longer than usual. Just erring on the side of safety and caution so he's good, though.
On CB Ahkello Witherspoon
He got his clavicle, he broke his clavicle. So it's unfortunate. A big loss. I thought Darius Williams came in and made what a clutch breakup that he had on the third down to get us off the grass. (Emmanuel) Forbes Jr. and Cobie (Durant) continue to take steps in the right direction. I was really pleased with our defense. I thought it was awesome for D-Will to be ready. We said we've got four starting corners. We feel that way. I feel terrible for Ahkello. Love him. Such a bummer, but you do feel fortunate to have the depth where a guy like D-Will can step up to supplement both Cobie and Forbes.
What have you seen through the first two games that gives you confidence going up against the Eagles?
Well, I think we've got a lot of work to do. I feel good that we're 2-0, Gary. I'll look at the tape. We'll have a lot of things that we can correct. But I thought the second half, you talk about being able to put it together on both sides, and then in the kicking game as well.
That felt like when you can put it all together what it can look like, where you can be in control and command of the game. That's felt like where we were midway in the third and into the fourth quarter. But we've got a great challenge. We know what a great atmosphere and environment, reigning champs. I think they play Kansas City later this afternoon. So it'll be fun to be able to watch it as long as the damn WiFi on the plane works. It better work.
It ended up being a big game for Matthew Stafford but he did have that interception in the second quarter. What is it about him that lets him sort of just shake off a play like that and keep going?
Mental toughness, resilience, experience. All the things that lead to great players being great. You show me a great player, I'll show you a guy that's consistently overcome adversity and setbacks. It was a tough situation. I could have had a better—I could have put him in a better spot. He never flinches. He was disappointed because of the spot he put our team in where you're down three points right there. But you talk about a guy just doing what he can and doing the next right thing. He was in total command in the second half. I thought he threw the ball with great anticipation. They did a good job of being able to present some different pressure looks. But he found his guys and got the ball where he was supposed to. I think it's almost good sometimes because of the way that he's capable of responding, but he's a total stud.
What did you think about Blake Corum played?
He was awesome. That was much more in alignment. I thought Ron (Gould) did a great job. We've got two backs we feel good about and in a guy in Jarquez Hunter that's only going to get better. And you talk about a lot of good individual efforts by our rookies, by some younger players. I was really pleased with Blake. Thought the little gap run he had on the second-down-and-10 where he got through the back side A-gap, looked like he was going to come out clean. He's explosive. He's a good football player. I have a lot of trust in him, and we'll continue to see that moving forward. I thought that was good today, Sarah.
Also want to give a shout out to Terrance Ferguson. What an individual play when we got the extra point blocked to not allow them to be able to get two right there. You see the athleticism, be able to track that down. He's a guy we want to get going. But I thought (Tyler) Higbee did a nice job today, as well as Davis Allen.
You mentioned this week that Byron Young was coming off of what you felt was one of the most complete games of his career.
Yeah. I'll say that against this one too. What did you think?
I would agree. How would you describe today?
Same. I thought he took his game to the next level. I thought his pursuit, you see when (Cam) Ward is able to extend plays, he's got the speed to track him down. I think he made the game-changing play where he forces the sack-fumble. His presence, I think our outside back room, Jared (Verse) does such a great job as well. Those two guys impose their will, they set edges in the run game, they can be able to create whether it's some of the movements or winning on individual rush situations. Byron Young was outstanding. It was cool to be able to give him the game ball. He said it was the first one. So I've been shorting for him a couple times because he's deserved it before in the locker room actually, instead of waiting until Monday when we do it.
What made it difficult to run through the first three quarters?
They were changing—they did a good job. We weren't really getting through on the second level. Some of their linebackers were fast over the top, and we were getting picked off and not really being able to get through. They did a nice job. I thought we were able to loosen them up with things we were able to do that allowed us to run the football more efficiently in the latter parts of the game. But you give them credit. They mix it up. Dennard (Wilson) does an excellent job of creating a bunch of issues, really that system in general. And they've got some really good football players across that front. A lot of the issues came up from us not being able to get through on some back side combinations, where their backers were free over the top.
