THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Rams head coach Sean McVay, defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, offensive coordinator Liam Coen, linebacker Bobby Wagner and quarterback Bryce Perkins each met with the media on Wednesday to preview Sunday's game against the Chiefs, discussing Matthew Stafford being out for the game, Perkins potentially making his first career start, what needs to change for the defense after the last two games and more.
Defensive lineman Aaron Donald spoke to the media on Friday, discussing Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and other topics.
Here are some of the highlights and key takeaways from those conversations, which you can watch in their entirety below.
"We're working through that kind of stuff." – McVay
- The Rams are still figuring out who will start in place of Stafford for Sunday's game.
- Perkins took over for Stafford last week with John Wolford (neck) inactive and handled most of the workload in practice Wednesday, but McVay said they would also see how Wolford progresses during the week.
"It's hard to fill a guy's shoes like A'Shawn Robinson with one guy. You got to do it by committee." – Morris
- Robinson will miss the rest of the season after tearing his meniscus against the Saints last week, an injury that will require surgery.
- Morris said he's confident in players like defensive tackle Marquise Copeland and defensive tackle Bobby Brown III being up to the challenge, as well as defensive line coach/run game coordinator Eric Henderson.
"For a young guy with limited experience, his preparation, his attention to detail, his play energy, the way that he goes about his business, those are the types of things that led us to believe that this would be a good movie for us to watch with (RB) Kyren (Williams) in there." – Coen
- Williams handled a bigger workload in Week 12 and produced seven carries for 36 yards, plus one catch for eight yards.
- "Again, similar to the week before, couple things we can clean up with him, couple things detail-wise, but he plays his tail off and ultimately, that's what we're looking for," Coen said.
"I think the explosives in those key moments have definitely hurt us." – Wagner
- When it comes to correcting things on defense from the last two games, Wagner pointed to the untimely big plays allowed.
- "It's definitely played a part so we just got to be more on the details," he said.
"Getting the ball out of my hand, trying to be aware of check downs, being more disciplined with my feet." – Perkins
- When it comes to takeaways from his Week 12 performance that he would apply to this week, Perkins pointed to the above areas.
- "(The) biggest thing is put the ball where it needs to go, keep it in play, and limit the negatives," Perkins said.
"Definitely gonna miss (A'Shawn Robinson). He plays a huge part, definitely in the run game." – Donald
- Robinson will miss the rest of the season after tearing his meniscus against the Saints, leaving a big void for the Rams to fill.
- Donald said it's "next guy up" mentality when it comes to making up for the absence of Robinson.