Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, shown here during Super Bowl 53, is upbeat over the team starting its offseason workouts which finally include his veteran players. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Rams gang was nearly all together for the first time since the last time and that’s super in coach Sean McVay’s eyes.
Maybe “super” isn’t quite the right word with the Los Angeles’ 13-3 Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots still lingering.
Then again, McVay isn’t one to peek backward. Instead he was looking around the Rams’ offseason workouts which finally included the veterans and smiled.
“It was a good first day,” he said. “It was good to get out there with the guys.”
One player is never easy to miss and that’s Aaron Donald, the two-time reigning NFL defensive player of the year. But for the first spring, McVay could eye Donald, his stud tackle, up-close.
“I forgot how much I enjoyed him,” McVay said.
Donald had skipped the past two years’ offseason sessions while trying to wrangle a long-term deal from the Rams. He signed his $135 million extension before last season, so he’s under contract and as overwhelming as usual.
“One of the things you really appreciate about the great ones is that they bring the others along with them,” McVay said. “They raise the level of play of everyone around them.”
Someone not on site was Todd Gurley. The star running back with the cranky knees was training elsewhere and that was fine with McVay.
“As long as we are on the same page, we are good about that,” he said. “He is staying up to date, that is the main thing.”
Linebacker Dante Fowler, the team’s edge rusher who returned under a one-year, $12 million deal, was also missing but with an excused absence.
Two newcomers were bouncing around in linebacker Clay Matthews and safety Eric Weddle. Matthews landed in LA on a two-year, $9.2 million pact, while Weddle arrived after signing a two-year, $10.5 million contact.
“They love football and you feel that right away,” McVay said. “I’m glad they are on our team.”
But the Rams’ energetic coach had little to say about starting cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aquib Talib. Both have contracts that are entering their final years and McVay didn’t sound as if much progress was made in extending either player.
“We really haven’t had a chance to do anything because we have been so busy getting ready for this,” McVay said. “But those are conversations that will be on the docket the next couple of weeks.”
McVay is always anticipating what’s on the horizon so it’s no surprise the only thing better that day one of this offseason phase is what follows.
“We always have good energy from this group,” he said. “I’m excited about going into day two.”